On January 27, 1855, the boiler on the steamboat “Pearl” exploded while trying to race the steamer “Enterprise.” The Pearl, one of the steamboats belonging to the was traveling from Marysville to Sacramento on the Sacramento River and was near the mouth of the American River at 1pm when the boiler burst. Of the 101 individuals that were on the steamer, the explosion killed 55, including Captain E.G. Davis. The dead were brought to the City Hall & Water Works building at Front and I Streets (where the Sacramento History Museum is today) in hopes the victims could be identified. Not that many were claimed, and a public funeral was held at the Sacramento City Cemetery on January 29th with 2,500 individuals in attendance. Many of those who attended the public funeral were Chinese citizens to mourn the 18 Chinese victims that were on the Pearl. The coroner’s report found that the recklessness of the ship’s engineer was to blame. The engineer, Andrew Wadleigh, was reportedly nowhere to be seen after the explosion as one eyewitness account saw the person jump off the boat and swim ashore just before the boiler burst. Wadleigh was arrested two days later but it was determined that there was conflicting evidence as to why the boiler burst. Wadleigh was later found not guilty of criminal negligence. In this video, Shawn discusses the explosion of the Pearl while near the location of the tragedy.
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