Columbia (collapsed paddle steamer)

Last updated
Columbia's last voyage
DateJuly 5–6, 1918 (1918-07-05 – 1918-07-06)
Duration3:50:00
CauseFog
OutcomeCollapsed
Casualties
87

The Columbia, sometimes called the Steamer Columbia, was a paddle steamer excursion boat on which 87 people died, [1] [2] on the Illinois River on July 5, 1918, across from Creve Coeur, between Peoria and Pekin, Illinois. [3]

Contents

Pre-disaster

History
NameColumbia
OwnerHerman F. Mehl Excursion Company
OperatorHerman F. Mehl
Builder Howard Ship Company
FateCollapsed
General characteristics

The Columbia was built at Clinton, Iowa in 1897. Originally a packet boat, it was converted to an excursion boat in 1905. [4]

In 1912, a well-respected captain, Herman F. Mehl of Peoria, formed the Herman F. Mehl Excursion Company, [4] and bought the Columbia from Captain Walter Blair of Davenport, Iowa. [5] In autumn 1917, [4] the ship was rebuilt at the Howard Ship Company's Mound City yards, in time for the 1918 excursion season. [6] [7] Mehl spent almost $18,000 on renovations to meet safety standards, [7] after which the federal inspectors called the Columbia "the safest boat on western waters". [2] [7]

Last voyage

The Columbia excursion of July 5, 1918 was hosted by Pekin's South Side Social Club. [7] The club sold 563 tickets [8] at the price of 50 cents, or 25 cents for children. [4] One hundred of the passengers were picked up at Kingston Mines, [8] the boat leaving at 7:30 p.m.; [4] the rest were picked up in Pekin. [8] The boat left Pekin at 8:15 p.m. [4]

The Columbia docked at Al Fresco Park along the river in Richwoods Township (and now Peoria Heights) for 30 minutes, then returned downstream. [7]

Just after passing under the Peoria and Pekin Union Railway bridge, just upstream from Wesley City (now Creve Coeur), the boat encountered dense fog, which a passenger described as "like going from sunshine into darkness". [9] The pilot lost control of the vessel, which then drifted towards the Peoria County, Illinois side of the river. [7]

Captain Mehl told pilot Tom Williams to make for the shore, unaware of a large hole torn in the ship's side by a submerged log. Williams attempted to cross from the overgrown Peoria County side to the Tazewell County side, where there were populated shacks and a possible landing. However, the ship's decks quickly collapsed on top of each other. [7] It was determined that the boat sank at 12:05 a.m. on July 6. This was ascertained by the recovery of victim's watches that had stopped at that moment. [10]

Aftermath

The same inspectors who had declared the boat safe were the ones who conducted the federal investigation. Mehl and Williams both lost their licenses. The coroner implicated Mehl, Williams, and the purser of the Columbia, but the case never went to trial. [7]

The disaster ended the bulk of the riverboat excursion business on the Illinois River. [11]

Legacy

In July 1992, a memorial park to the disaster was dedicated in Creve Coeur by the Wesley City Historical Society. [3] An additional historical marker, serving as a memorial to the tragedy, was dedicated in Pekin by the Tazewell County Historical Places Society and the Illinois State Historical Society on July 5, 2003. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois River</span> Illinois tributary of the Mississippi River in the United States

The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately 273 miles (439 km) long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of 28,756.6 square miles (74,479 km2). The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines and Kankakee rivers in the Chicago metropolitan area, and it generally flows to the southwest across Illinois, until it empties into the Mississippi near Grafton, Illinois. Its drainage basin extends into southeastern Wisconsin, northwestern Indiana, and a very small area of southwestern Michigan in addition to central Illinois. Along its shores are several river ports, including Peoria, Illinois. Historic recreation areas on the river include Starved Rock and the internationally important wetlands of the Emiquon Complex and Dixon Waterfowl Refuge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tazewell County, Illinois</span> County in Illinois, United States

Tazewell County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 131,343. Its county seat and largest city is Pekin. It is pronounced with a short "a", to rhyme with "razz" rather than "raze."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pekin, Illinois</span> City in Illinois, United States

Pekin is a city in and the county seat of Tazewell County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located on the Illinois River, Pekin is the largest city of Tazewell County and the second most populous municipality of the Peoria metropolitan area, after Peoria itself. As of the 2020 census, its population is 31,731. A small portion of the city limits extend into Peoria County. It is a suburb of Peoria and is part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creve Coeur, Illinois</span> Village in Illinois, United States

Creve Coeur is a village in Groveland Township, Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 4,934. Creve Coeur is a suburb of Peoria and is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Peoria, Illinois</span> City in Illinois, United States

East Peoria is a city in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,484 at the 2020 census. East Peoria is a suburb of Peoria and is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, located across the Illinois River from downtown Peoria. It is home to many Caterpillar Inc. facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Pekin, Illinois</span> Village in Illinois, United States

South Pekin is a village in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. The population was 996 at the 2020 census and is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois Route 29</span> Highway in Illinois

Illinois Route 29 is a two to four lane state highway that runs south from U.S. Route 6/Illinois Route 89 at Spring Valley to U.S. Route 51/Illinois Route 16 at Pana, running through Pekin, Peoria and Springfield. The nearest major north–south highway, Interstate 39, runs parallel to Illinois 29, but approximately fifty miles to the east. Illinois 29 is 175.36 miles (282.21 km) long.

<i>Julia Belle Swain</i> Authentic Mississippi River Sternwheeler

The Julia Belle Swain is a steam-powered sternwheeler currently under restoration in La Crosse, Wisconsin, US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois and Midland Railroad</span> Defunct American railway company

The Illinois and Midland Railroad is a railroad in the U.S. state of Illinois, serving Peoria, Springfield and Taylorville. Until 1996, when Genesee & Wyoming Inc. bought it, the company was named the Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway. It was once a Class I railroad, specializing in the hauling of coal. At the end of 1970 it operated 121 route-miles on 214 miles of track; it reported 255 million ton-miles of revenue freight that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tazewell and Peoria Railroad</span>

The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad (T&P) is a short-line railroad, running entirely in Peoria County and Tazewell County, Illinois, and formed by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. to lease the assets of the century-old Peoria and Pekin Union Railway (P&PU), which is owned by Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and Canadian National. It switches close to 100,000 cars per year and has about 142 miles of track. Genesee & Wyoming owns 81 miles of TZPR and can hold up to 286,000 pounds of supplies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shade–Lohmann Bridge</span> Bridge in Bartonville and Creve Coeur, Illinois

The Shade–Lohmann Bridge is a pair of twin cantilever bridges that carry Interstate 474 (I-474) and U.S. Route 24 (US 24) over the Illinois River near the Peoria Lock and Dam located at River Mile 158.0 in Tazewell County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. It connects Bartonville and Creve Coeur. Built in 1973, the bridge was named after Pekin's former mayor and Illinois legislator J. Norman Shade, and Martin B. Lohmann, who served in the Illinois Legislature continuously from 1923 to 1953.

<i>Bailey Gatzert</i> (sternwheeler)

The Bailey Gatzert was a sternwheel steamboat that ran on the Columbia River and Puget Sound from the 1890s to the 1920s. This vessel was considered one of the finest of its time. It was named after Bailey Gatzert, an early businessman and mayor of Seattle, who was one of the closest friends and business associates of John Leary – the person who financed the ship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peoria, Illinois, metropolitan area</span> Geographic area around Peoria, Illinois

The Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of six counties in Central Illinois, anchored by the city of Peoria. As of the 2020 census, the area had a population of 402,391. The City of Peoria, according to the 2020 US Census Bureau, has 113,150 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Crevecoeur</span> Historic site in present-day Creve Coeur, Illinois

Fort Crevecoeur was the first public building erected by Europeans within the boundaries of the modern state of Illinois and the first fort built in the West by the French. It was founded on the east bank of the Illinois River, in the Illinois Country near the present site of Creve Coeur, a suburb of Peoria, Illinois, in January 1680. It was destroyed on April 16, 1680 by members of La Salle's expedition, who mutinied and abandoned it, fearful of being attacked by the Iroquois League as the Beaver Wars extended into the area.

The W. D. Boyce Council of the Boy Scouts of America serves youth in central Illinois, from Lincoln to Ottawa, and Peoria to Bloomington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steamboats on Lake Coeur d'Alene</span> Steamboats on lake in Idaho, USA

Steam navigation on Lake Coeur d'Alene lasted from the 1880s to the 1930s. More steamboats operated on Lake Coeur d’Alene than on any other lake west of the Great Lakes. The high point of steam navigation was probably from 1908 to 1913. After that railroads, and increasingly automobile and truck traffic on newly built highways supplanted steam navigation, although some vessels continued to be operated until the mid-1930s.

Verne Swain refers to three steamboats built by the Swain Shipyard of Stillwater, Minnesota. Swain built the first one in 1886, the second one in 1904, and the last one in 1913.

<i>Clara Parker</i> (sternwheeler)

Clara Parker was a sternwheel-driven steamboat which was operated on the lower Columbia and lower Willamette rivers in the 1880s. The steamer ran for about ten years out of Astoria, Oregon in towing and jobbing work. In 1890 Clara Parker was rebuilt and renamed Astorian.

George L. Saal was an American politician and businessman.

Mark A. Luft is a Republican member of the Illinois House from the 91st district since January 13, 2021 and the mayor of Pekin since April 2019. The 91st district, located in the Peoria metropolitan area, includes all or parts of Banner, Bartonville, Bryant, Canton, Creve Coeur, Cuba, Dunfermline, East Peoria, Fairview, Farmington, Glasford, Hanna City, Kingston Mines, Lake Camelot, Lewistown, Liverpool, Mapleton, Marquette Heights, Morton, Norris, North Pekin, Norwood, Pekin, South Pekin, and St. David.

References

  1. ↑ "Two generations of tragedy and loss". Pekin Daily Times . Gannett. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Bill Status of HR0435". 93rd General Assembly. Illinois General Assembly. 11 January 2005. Retrieved 6 December 2020. introduced 2003-07-01; expired without passing, 2005-01-11
  3. 1 2 Everett, Jennifer S. "Sinking of the Columbia Steamboat". Historic Illinois. Peoria, Illinois: Fox Tales International. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Morris, Leigh. "Steamboat Columbia begins a deadly trip". The Cass County Star-Gazette. Beardstown, Illinois: Beardstown Newspapers. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  5. ↑ Morris, Leigh. "In search of a Columbia scapegoat". The Cass County Star-Gazette. Beardstown, Illinois: Beardstown Newspapers. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  6. ↑ "Steamer Columbia Sinks At Wesley, Scores of Pekin Residents Drown". Pekin Daily Times . Pekin, Illinois. July 6, 1918. Retrieved 2013-12-03. Transcribed by Desiree Burrell Rodcay.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Residents learn family ties to wreck". PekinTimes.com. GateHouse Media. 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2013-12-03. (Warning: Site uses ad popups.)
  8. 1 2 3 "100 Drowned In Steamer Columbia Sinking". Peoria Star . Peoria, Illinois. July 6, 1918. Retrieved 2013-12-03. Transcribed by Desiree Burrell Rodcay.
  9. ↑ "Mehl Was Hero; Says Pekin Man". Pekin Daily Times . Pekin, Illinois. July 11, 1918. Retrieved 2013-12-02. Transcribed by Desiree Burrell Rodcay.
  10. ↑ "A moment of calm, then panic". The Cass County Star-Gazette. Beardstown, Illinois: Beardstown Newspapers. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  11. ↑ "Steamboats". Harvesting the River. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Museum . Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  12. ↑ "Historical Marker: Steamboat Columbia Disaster, The". Illinois State Historical Society. 5 July 2003. Retrieved 6 December 2020.

Further reading

40°34′16″N89°39′09″W / 40.571°N 89.6524°W / 40.571; -89.6524

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.