5. The Lucy Walker disaster led to increased government legislation regarding steamboats
Lucy Walker was a river steamer owned by a Cherokee named Joseph Vann, who falsely claimed American citizenship in order to obtain certification from the government to operate the vessel. Its crew were slaves owned by Vann (who owned over 100 at his Georgia plantation) who had participated in a slave revolt. Vann placed them on the vessel in order to separate them from other slaves. Vann began operating Lucy Walker in 1843, advertising it as a “fast-running vessel”. The steamer operated primarily on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, usually as a special charter rather than as a scheduled packet service. At times the vessel contracted with the US Army.
On October 23, 1844, the vessel was on the Ohio River just below the town of New Albany, Indiana, when it stopped in mid-stream to perform maintenance on its engines. Just after five in the afternoon all three of the boat’s boilers exploded tearing the vessel’s upper works to pieces. Bodies living and dead were thrown into the air and the river, and the remnants of the boat quickly burned. At least 56 passengers and crew died, the exact number unknown because the manifest was destroyed in the fire. Vann was killed in the explosion. Changes to operating regulations were made as a result of the accident, including making steamboat racing illegal with passengers aboard, though there was little evidence the boat had been racing. The cause of the accident was never determined, though murder/suicide by a crew member was suspected.
