State to mark anniversary of steamboat explosion

LEXINGTON, Mo. -- Although Missouri has long been known as the state that violently evicted Mormons in the 1830s, another side of the story is being remembered in Lafayette County.

The 150th anniversary of the 1852 explosion on the steamboat Saluda is being commemorated with events that began Friday and run through Tuesday, culminating in a memorial dedication to the nearly 75 victims, many of them Mormons emigrating to Utah.

Some families near Lexington adopted children orphaned by the disaster. Others, after nursing Mormon emigrants and their children back to health, helped them find wagon trains to Utah.

"The people of Lexington could see where help was needed and they gave it," said Carol Garner of Liberty, a descendant of an explosion survivor. "I have deep appreciation for what they did and the way they helped our family."

Garner's great-great-grandfather, John Sargent, died in the disaster. Among his five children, four survived. One child was adopted by a Lexington family.

The Saluda, carrying perhaps 175 passengers, blew apart when its boilers exploded April 9, 1852. Passengers, baggage and parts of the boat were blown ashore or into the river.

The Saluda commemoration helps bring balance to the Missouri Mormon story, said Fred E. Woods, a history professor at Brigham Young University.

"You so often hear stories about the Missourians driving out the Mormons that the state gets kind of a bum rap," Woods said.