“We are again called upon to record one of those awful catastrophes, incidental to steam navigation, carrying distress and dismay to the survivors, and death and deformity to the sufferers.” So read the article in the Daily Alta California on April 12, 1853.
PHOTO: EXPLOSION
On April 11, the sidewheel steamer Jenny Lind, named after the opera singer P.T. Barnum called “The Swedish Nightingale,” was sailing from the then-thriving settlement of Alviso (at the southernmost point of San Francisco Bay) to the city of San Francisco. Just after noon, as the passengers were being seated for lunch, “the plate on the after head of her boiler blew out, sweeping away, in its course, and followed by the whole body of steam, the cabin bulk head and the exhaustion pipe of the engine.”
The victims of this disaster included Jacob Hoppe, first postmaster of San Jose and one of the founders of the Daily Alta California newspaper. Thirty other people were killed, including Charles White, a rancher who served as the mayor of the Pueblo of San Jose, and Bernard Murphy, who had come to California in 1844 in the first wagon train to cross the Sierras. The Daily Alta California reported that, “It appears that those only who were in the cabin at the time, or on a line with the volume of steam were injured; all those on deck, on the guards and forward of the boilers received no damage… Had the explosion happened but five minutes previous it is said that not a soul would have been injured as the cabin was empty, all hands being on deck; no other part of the boat has sustained any injury, the cabin only having been blown to pieces.”
“The scene on board beggars all description,” continued the reporter. “Here a fond wife, herself sinking in the arms of death, looking at the last struggles of an affectionate and long tried husband, surrounded by the dead bodies of their four innocent offspring, but a few hours before buoyant with life, health, happiness and hope. In another spot was the dying mother, endeavoring with her raw and scalded arms to embrace the only child of her bosom, a cold, stiff corpse, untimely hurried to eternity by a violent and dreadful death. There laid a strong man, convulsively wrestling with Death, whilst the hoarse rattle in his throat and the galvanic quivering of his eyes, gave token of rapid dissolution. In another spot were the torn and mangled remains of a once beautiful woman, wearing even in her horrible death a sweet smile of peace and tranquility. Ranged side by side were the dead, dying, and the sufferers of excruciating agony. Medical attendance was on hand, and every thing done that human skill and ingenuity could do ; but the circumstance, with its attendant horrors, will leave an indelible impression on the minds of all who saw it.”
PHOTO: FERRIES
The Jenny Lind’s exact location at the time of the blast is uncertain. The Daily Alta California reported she was abreast of Pulgas Rancho (possibly the land grant that covered much of the Peninsula). Professor John Haskell Kemble, author of “San Francisco Bay,” a 1957 “pictorial maritime history,” wrote that the ship was “off San Francisquito Creek,” which would be near present-day East Palo Alto. Kemble also wrote that the steamboat was carrying 125 passengers when the boiler blew, killing 31 “either on the spot…or soon after from injuries received.”
Most modern accounts place the location of the explosion somewhere between the Dumbarton and San Mateo bridges—but don’t try diving on the site. Shockingly, despite the damage, the Jenny Lind was repaired and eventually sailed again.
This disaster nearly finished the town of Alviso. Today it’s home to a Santa Clara County Park. You can book a Salt Marsh Safari and view the plentiful wildlife in the area. In 1853, however, Alviso was “a major player” in the Bay area, its docks enabling Santa Clara County to ship hay, lumber, local produce, and other products to San Francisco and beyond. Passengers could avoid the slow (and uncomfortable) stagecoach ride and sail to and from San Francisco in relative comfort. Business in Alviso declined soon after the Jenny Lind explosion, but the major reason was competition from the San Francisco-San Jose railroad that was completed in 1864. However, until the 1890s, the ferry sailed out of Alviso for San Francisco once a day.
Paul Bernal, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge and the official historian of San Jose, tells us that “the memorial of the Jenny Lind disaster is a wonderful educational tool for residents, visitors, and schoolchildren… In 1853, during the critical transition time between Mexican rule and the American era, the Jenny Lind represented cutting-edge technology in what would later become Silicon Valley.” It would be nice to be able to report that this tragedy led to reform and the end of steamboat disasters, at least in California. “But the cast-iron boilers of river and bay steamers exploded regularly for many years.” Between 1850 and 1898, a total of 270 souls met their end in a steamboat explosion.
PHOTO: JENNY LIND
Even if your characters weren’t around for the Jenny Lind disaster, they could have experienced the horror of steamboat explosions, either in person or via the news. Perhaps a relative or someone they knew was onboard, or they were familiar with a famous passenger. History is rife with tragedy and you can utilize it in your stories.
J.E.S. Hays
Sources:
“Awful Steamboat Explosion,” Daily Alta California, April 12. 1853
Clifford, Jim, “Steamboat Tragedy of 1853 Killed 31,” San Mateo Daily Journal, August 27, 2018
Nolte, Carl, “Jenny Lind Ferry Disaster Commemoration,” SFGate, August 12, 2013
