The Final Voyage Of The Columbia
In the early 1900's, one of the most booming trades in the Peoria area was to be on the Illinois River as a steamboat captain. With riverboats offering both daytime and evening cruises, it was a popular attraction for families to board and enjoy food, drinks and dancing. One of these popular steamers was the Columbia. Owned and operated by the Herman F. Mehl Excursion Company, the current captain of the ship was none other than it's stockholder, Mr. Mehl himself. In an interesting twist of fate, the Columbia was dubbed "the safest boat on western waters" by Federal Inspectors.
Built in 1898 the Columbia had 3 decks of cabins with the pilothouse on the top and was licensed to carry up to 1,000 passengers at a time. On the fateful night of July 5th, 1918, the steamer was booked by both the South Side Social Club of Pekin and the Peoria, Pekin and Western Railroad. The railroad was hosting a family night for it's employees while the social club had simply booked a night of dancing by the light of the moon. Cap. Mehl and pilot Tom Williams were looking for an easy river excursion that evening, leaving Pekin for Peoria's AL Fresco Park. The first part of the trip went uneventful, with the Columbia arriving at the park and passengers disembarking to enjoy themselves in the evening's festivities.
A silent fog had moved off the river onto the deck by the time the Columbia set off on it's return trip to Pekin at 11:00pm. Pilot Tom Williams was at the wheel and had entered a narrow river bend around the area of modern day Creve Couer. Storms the previous weekend had raised the river level about a foot and now the river forced the Columbia over the bank, where it glanced off a submerged tree stump. At the time, the cruise ship had been going full speed. Captain Mehl assumed at first they'd simply hit a sandbar, and halted the ship. Williams then telephoned the engine room to reverse the ship, and as it pulled away out onto the open river, the two men realized their mistakes.
The Columbia began listing as water flooded the lower level. Mehl descended to find the boat sinking, and they were roughly now 200 yards from shore. Williams headed in vain for the shoreline but too late. Passengers climbed over each other in sheer panic in an effort to jump overboard and swim to shore. Captain Mehl tried to calm the crowd, but his voice was lost over their voices. Complete panic broke out in the aftermath. As the boat collapsed, 87 people drowned from being trapped under wreckage or pinned while trying to escape. Watches of the deceased pinpointed the time of the disaster to be at 12:05am.
As the sun rose, the gruesome scene was outlined for all to see. The Columbia lay, listlessly in the water close to shore. Various objects floated in the water, from slippers to hats, and handbags while hundreds of unused life preservers laid in the muddy shoreline. The upper deck had collapsed in on itself, making the once regal steamship look like a discarded child's toy. Volunteers came from around the area in an attempt to help pull bodies from the wreckage.
Once the bodies were recovered, they were taken to Pekin and unloaded into the now vacant Empire building on Court St. Some were identified with tags, other's were covered with white sheets until they too could be taken to Pekin on barges and unloaded. Families would be asked to file past the deceased and identify them, which meant they may have had to see multiple friends, coworkers and neighbors as they sought a loved one.
Entire families had perished, such as the Witchers. Clyde, the father was found clutching his wife and two small children as their bodies were recovered. A woman was pulled from the wreckage of the ship, still gripping a baby buggy with a small child within. Funerals from this disaster filled the next week, as divers and volunteers tore away the decks of the wreckage, recovering more bodies. Parts of the hull were left in the water, as both a memorial to the lost and as a warning to other riverboats that this part of the river could be treacherous area of which to pass.
Captain Mehl and Williams were both accused of operating the ship under the influence of alcohol and the National Guard had to be called in after threats were made to lynch them both. Following an official investigation though, no evidence was found to indicate either had been drinking that fateful night. It was concluded that the unfortunate accident occurred solely to improper seamanship. However, both men would lose their riverboat licenses as a consequence of their actions that evening.
Captain Mehl was also fined $800 and had to relinquish the remaining hull of the Columbia. In 1918 the hull came to the surface as attempts were made to remove it, then floated downstream about a hundred yards and grounded itself upon a sandbar until volunteers split it apart and removed the wreckage.
Today there's been multiple reports of a phantom steamboat in the vicinity where the Columbia wrecked. Another popular tale is that of a ghostly green light which appears in the water where the boat sunk. Some believe that this eerie glow is from spirits who perished in the wreckage, who are still searching for an escape from the watery fate of which they met all those years ago.
For more information regarding this tragedy, please visit to: http://genealogytrails.com/ill/tazewell/news_columbiadisaster.html
