Unheeded Warning: William C. Dunbar's Foreboding Before the Saluda Steamboat Explosion (1852)
Published September 28, 2026 at 5:57 AM
William Cameron Dunbar, a deaf Scottish convert, was emigrating to Utah in 1852 with his wife and children. In St. Louis, hearing that the steamboat Saluda — chartered by Church emigration agents Eli Kelsey and David J. Ross — was not the most reliable vessel, he and two other Latter-day Saint passengers went aboard to inspect it. On entering the hold, 'a most horrible feeling came over us,' and all three felt an inexplicable impression that something awful was going to happen. Dunbar told Brother Campbell that if he had not already given his name for the steamer he would not go, but felt duty-bound not to disappoint the boat's officers or the Elders who had chartered her. Three separate providential delays then nearly kept his family off the boat: his supplies failed to arrive and he missed the departure, the second boat sent to catch the Saluda could not transfer passengers across the ice-choked river, and that boat was itself damaged by ice. Each time Dunbar pressed on and finally got his family aboard. On the morning of April 9, 1852, at Lexington, Missouri, Captain Francis T. Belt ordered the aging boilers to maximum pressure to force the notorious Lexington Bend; before the paddle wheels made three revolutions, they exploded. Roughly 90–100 of the 175 aboard were killed, including about 25 Latter-day Saint passengers. Dunbar was standing on deck preparing breakfast, saw the wheels turn twice, and woke on the riverbank with a broken spine beside his dead son; his wife died in the hospital before he could speak to her, and he later identified his daughter's mangled remains. Years afterward he testified: 'Although I did not understand it then, I am perfectly satisfied now that some friendly unseen power was at work in my behalf, trying to prevent me from going on board with my family on that illfated steamer.' Lexington citizens raised money, nursed the injured, buried the dead, and found homes for the orphans.
In Their Own Words
“I was in St. Louis, Missouri, in the spring of 1852, with my wife and two children, on our way to Utah. We had engaged passage on the steamer Saluda, which had been chartered by Elders Eli Kelsey and David J. Ross for the benefit of the Saints. Before the boat started, I, with two other brethren, went on board to see the boat and the accommodations. On entering the hold, a most horrible feeling came over us, and without knowing the cause of it, we had an impression that something awful was going to happen, somehow or other. I remarked to Brother Campbell that if I had not already given in my name to go with that steamer, I would not do so now; but under the circumstances we almost felt in duty bound to go, so as not to disappoint the officers of the boat, nor the Elders who had chartered her. We had three opportunities to avoid going on that boat, but we seemed to be urged on by an unseen power. The first time we missed the boat by our luggage not arriving in time. The second time, the boat we took to overtake the Saluda could not get near her on account of the ice. The third time, the boat we were on was so damaged by the ice that we had to return. Finally, we got on board the Saluda. On the morning of the 9th of April, 1852, at Lexington, Missouri, the captain of the boat, being anxious to make time, ordered the boilers to be fired up to their utmost capacity. I was on deck, preparing breakfast for my family, when I saw the paddle wheels make two revolutions, and that was the last I knew until I found myself on the river bank, with a broken spine, and my little son lying dead by my side. My wife was taken to a hospital, where she died before I could speak to her. My daughter was also killed. Although I did not understand it then, I am perfectly satisfied now that some friendly unseen power was at work in my behalf, trying to prevent me from going on board with my family on that ill-fated steamer.”
— William C. Dunbar, as recorded in Andrew Jenson, 'Church Emigration,' The Historical Record
Sources & References
Andrew Jenson, 'Church Emigration,' The Historical Record, 411 (Dunbar's own account); 'Tragedy for Mormon Pioneers: The Sinking of the Saluda,' historyofmormonism.com (https://historyofmormonism.com/2012/02/07/mormon-tragedy-sinking-saluda/); 'Awful Calamity: Explosion of the Steamer Saluda,' Liberty Tribune, 16 April 1852 Full first-person account: Andrew Jenson, 'Church Emigration,' The Historical Record, Vol. 9, p. 411 https://archive.org/details/historicalrecord09jens/page/411/mode/2up
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