1 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of iHeartRadio and 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 1: Grim and Mild from Aaron Monkey. The Sultana was a 3 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:23,440 Speaker 1: beautiful steamboat, up hulking vessel of wood and paddle wheels. 4 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,799 Speaker 1: She was only about two years old, but roughly the 5 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: size of a football field and featured twin smokestacks from 6 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: which hung a pair of elk antlers. They were given 7 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: to her as a trophy for being the fastest boat around. 8 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,480 Speaker 1: She was also a workhorse. The Sultana was originally built 9 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: to fairy cotton, but when the Civil War broke out, 10 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,239 Speaker 1: she got a new assignment. She became tasked with ferrying 11 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: Union troops and supplies up and down the Mississippi River. 12 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: In time, she'd begin carrying that cotton again alongside passengers 13 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: from New Orleans to her home in Saint Louis, Missouri. 14 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: Her captain, a man by the name of James Mason, 15 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: was proud of her contributions to the war efforts and 16 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: how well she continued to provide an integral lifeline to 17 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: communities up and down the river. And when he got 18 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: word of Abraham Lincoln's death, he decided that he was 19 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,559 Speaker 1: going to once again put her speed to the test. 20 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,479 Speaker 1: He wanted to be the first boat in New Orleans 21 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,400 Speaker 1: to break the news of the President's assassination. So off 22 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: they went, a captain and his ship sailing downstream bearing 23 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 1: bad news. A quick stop in Vicksburg, Mississippi was meant 24 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,040 Speaker 1: to address the Sultanah's boiler issues, which seemed to be 25 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: exacerbated under the quick pace of her run. While he 26 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: was there, Captain Mason received a lucrative offer. The Union 27 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: Army wanted him and his ship to ferry home. Their 28 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: prisoners of war are recently released from Confederate hands, and 29 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: they would pay him well. He opted into the deal 30 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: and decided he had better get moving. A decision was 31 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: made too simply patched the boilers, rather than spending time 32 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: in port executing more meticulous and costly repairs. The Sultana 33 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: was steadfast. What hurt could come from one quick run, 34 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: So Captain Mason loaded the Sultana, stuffing her holds and 35 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: decks with about twenty two hundred men, more than sixteen 36 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,680 Speaker 1: hundred over her capacity. Each man had a price on 37 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: his head, and the money math made it hard for 38 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: him to see that he had made a very fatal 39 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: miscalculation with his newly sprung charges on board, men who 40 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,959 Speaker 1: had seen horrors the young country had never before witnessed, 41 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: and lived through it all. The Sultana set off northbound 42 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: into the cold spring thaw. The ship creaked, the wheels 43 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: churned laboriously, the boiler strained, and the men slept, and 44 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: at just about two in the morning, she gave way. 45 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: Unable to take what was being asked of her, the 46 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: Sultanah's first boiler gave out and exploded. This set off 47 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: a chain reaction and caused her other two boilers to 48 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: go off like bombs, incinerating the sleeping people in her hold. 49 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: Her shrapnel flew in all directions, and boiling water from 50 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: her belly effectively cooked men to death. Those who managed 51 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: to survive began to swim. They clawed their way through 52 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 1: the cold, shopping waves, aiming for shore. They pulled themselves 53 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: up on the river's banks, having landed in the former 54 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: Confederate territory of Arkansas. For men still wearing their Union uniforms, 55 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: this could have been a second fright, but instead they 56 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: found something entirely different, a sense of unity and humanity 57 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: they hadn't seen in all their time. Away for war. 58 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: The locals headed for the explosion and ran into the water, 59 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: and there they began to fish out the Union soldiers, 60 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: bringing them safety. Some quickly built a raft to begin 61 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: rescuing men stranded in the remainder of the Sultana's slowly 62 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: sinking wreckage. They brought them into their homes and tended 63 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: to the wounded and dying. All in all, historians believe 64 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: almost twelve hundred of the twenty two hundred men aboard 65 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: the ship died. To this day, it remains among the 66 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: deadliest maritime disasters in the United States history. These soldiers 67 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: had come so far and were so close to home 68 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: after surviving the war. What should have been as celebration 69 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: a homecoming, ended not in another chance at life, but 70 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: in their funerals. I'm lorn Vogebaum. Welcome to American shadows. 71 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: From the Lenape to the Dutch, to the British, and 72 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: then to the Americans. The spit of land now known 73 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: as New York City had long been a hub of trade, culture, 74 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 1: and immigration. Indigenous peoples and colonists like depended on the 75 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: area's waterways for fishing, trade, and communication. Traditional birch bark 76 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: canoes and other. Smaller vessels were long popular for navigating 77 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: New York's lakes and rivers, while larger boats were necessary 78 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: to venture out into the wide open Atlantic. But as 79 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: the country was colonized, the ports became even more central 80 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:25,919 Speaker 1: to commerce and immigration. By the turn of the nineteenth century, 81 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: hundreds of boats and thousands of people docked in New 82 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: York City daily, many of them chasing after stories about 83 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 1: a certain American dream. For the hopeful folks who survived 84 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: the long trip from Europe, and many were left figuring 85 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: out their next steps. And many came young and unattached, 86 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: hopeful that someone they knew in this new land might 87 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,600 Speaker 1: make good on the promise of helping them get started. 88 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: Some had no one. Others arrived too, well established communities 89 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: but waiting for them with open arms, and if they 90 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 1: were lucky enough, these seaweary passengers didn't have to go 91 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: far from the boat dock. In the case of those 92 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 1: immigrating from Germany, many found themselves a new home in 93 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 1: Klinedeutschland or Little Germany, in the area that's now known 94 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 1: as the Lower East Side. By eighteen fifty five, New 95 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: York City had the third largest German population in any 96 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: city worldwide, surpassed only by Berlin in Vienna. Their little 97 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: corner of the city burst with the vibrancy of the 98 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: old country, the sense of home cooking and comforting dialects 99 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: mingling with the unfamiliar sounds and smells of Manhattan's southern point. 100 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 1: It's here that they worked to establish a new rhythm 101 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: of a new life, borrowing enough of the old ways 102 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:46,520 Speaker 1: to feel brave enough to be in this unfamiliar place. 103 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,360 Speaker 1: A One of the central ways folks found recipite from 104 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: the streets, which were decidedly not paved with gold as promised, 105 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: was to join church communities. A Saint Mark's Evangelical Lutheran 106 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: Church in the heart of Blindeutschland was one of these places. 107 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: For decades, the church had been the center of the 108 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: Little Germany community. Beyond providing prayers and absolution for its parishioners, 109 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: it also provided camaraderie in play. And it was on 110 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: June fifteenth of nineteen oh four, but the church had 111 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: made plans for a long summer day's outing. That morning, 112 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: a crowd of mostly women and children were seen off 113 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: by their husbands, who were largely on their way to work. 114 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: The general Slocum, a paddle steamer, sat and docked and 115 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: ready to ferry folks away for a day of leisure. 116 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: It was a treat to have an entire day to themselves, 117 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: and since it was just about the beginning of summer, 118 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: the days were still growing just a bit longer, if 119 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: only for a little while. The school year had come 120 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 1: to an end. It was a hopeful season. That sunny morning, 121 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: over thirteen hundred members of the Saint Mark's community showed up. 122 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: The children were dressed in their finest clothes, shouting and 123 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: giggling as their mothers corralled them on the docks. Music 124 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: from a German band added to the sense of celebration, 125 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: while tiny German flags waved in small hands. As more 126 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: families gathered, lugging their baskets of meats and sweets, it 127 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: became clear that this was going to be a church 128 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: picnic for the ages. They looked upon their boat, and 129 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 1: she was a beautiful thing. The Slocum, to her credit, 130 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: was said to be the largest and most splendid excursion 131 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,319 Speaker 1: steamer in the whole state. She was a wooden triple 132 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: decker side paddler with a main cabin filled with glossed 133 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: wood and red velvet trimmings. Her name was emblazoned in 134 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: gold over her white paint. There was an immense sense 135 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: of anticipation in getting a chance to take to the 136 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: waters on one of these famous pleasure crafts. Just before 137 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: the clock struck ten am, the Slocum rang her bell 138 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: and began to pull away from the dock. They were 139 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: going north up the East River and heading for a 140 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 1: picnic ground on the north shore of Long Island. On 141 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: a good day, which this one very much was. The 142 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: trip should take no longer than two hours. The passengers 143 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: leaned over the railings, waving to those who remained on shore. 144 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,960 Speaker 1: They laughed as their loved ones and dock workers alike 145 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: became specks in the distance, anticipating what lay ahead for 146 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: them up river. The Slocum was named after Henry Warner Slocum, 147 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: a distinguished union general, and had been in operation for 148 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: thirteen years. However, a series of mishaps in the years 149 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,719 Speaker 1: since her commission might have given her passengers pause had 150 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: they known about them, and just four months after her 151 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: initial launch in eighteen ninety one, she ran aground. She 152 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: was okay, but three years later did the same thing. 153 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: This time with thousands of passengers on board, and just 154 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: a month after that, a terrible storm ran she and 155 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:08,079 Speaker 1: her passengers aground again near Coney Island, and then later 156 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:11,719 Speaker 1: that year she collided with another ship in eighteen ninety eight, 157 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,680 Speaker 1: should have another collision in nineteen o two, she would 158 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: run aground one more time, stranding her hundreds of passengers 159 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 1: overnight until help could come in the morning. How was it, then, 160 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: given this track record, that the Slocum was the prize 161 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 1: ship in the Harbor oh During this time, boat accidents 162 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: were relatively common, and since so few had been hurt 163 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: in her incidents over the years, she continued to paddle on. 164 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 1: This was all part and parcel of the paddle boat experience, 165 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: or so Rider's thought. Her captain, William Van Shake, was 166 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: an experienced mariner who knew the New York waterways well. 167 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: Of note on this sunny June morning was an infamously 168 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: turbulent spot in the river known as the hell Gate. 169 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:00,080 Speaker 1: It had sunk hundreds of ships over the years, but 170 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: he knew he had the dexterity and wherewithal to ferry 171 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 1: his passengers through safely. But as he would soon realize, 172 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: this wouldn't be his chief concern of the day. To 173 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: his horror, any concern about the hell gate was about 174 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,959 Speaker 1: to be overshadowed by something far more sinister. About thirty 175 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: minutes into their voyage, the first guests noticed that something 176 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 1: was terribly wrong. A group of children alerted their parents 177 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: that a small fire had started in a room just 178 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,960 Speaker 1: below the main deck. A crewman, trying to think, quickly 179 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 1: decided that the best way to put it out would 180 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: be to both stomp it and throw handfuls of charcoal 181 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: atop the fire to smother it. This, of course, only 182 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: fed the flames. Then a scream, and soon a word 183 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: was spreading even faster than the flames, and a general 184 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:56,559 Speaker 1: panic erupted across the decks. The crew on board relatively 185 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: untrained on what to do in the event of a fire. 186 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:04,319 Speaker 1: The smoke began to billow near the bow of the boat. 187 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 1: The passengers rushed to the lifeboats and jackets, only to 188 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 1: find that they couldn't be untied. The jackets were old 189 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:16,559 Speaker 1: and moldering, their job function long expired. Amidst the yells 190 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:20,199 Speaker 1: and footsteps stampeding around the decks, families called for their 191 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: loved ones, so began a brutal accounting for as they 192 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,200 Speaker 1: gathered their flocks in preparation for what was yet to come. 193 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: The ship was barely passing East ninety seventh Street when 194 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: folks on shore spotted the flames, and then the passengers 195 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,839 Speaker 1: started tumbling. The people on land watched in horror as 196 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: passengers began jumping overboard, and due to the heavy clothes 197 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,079 Speaker 1: of the day and many of them lacking swimming experience, 198 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: they were bobbing, screaming, and grappling in the current that 199 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: was working hard to pull them under and away. People 200 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 1: at the docks began screaming to the captain, begging him 201 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: to turn the boat inward and head to shore. The 202 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: distance was short enough that he possibly could have made it. 203 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: Captain von Shake made a different decision, though, to take 204 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: his chances and gun the Slocum further up the river. 205 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: He feared that turning her quickly at an angle perpendicular 206 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 1: to the current would break her steering mechanism. He set 207 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: his sights on the docks at East one hundred and 208 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 1: thirty fourth Street, but before he could get the Slocum there, 209 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 1: he was waved off by a tugboat captain, who feared 210 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,439 Speaker 1: that the flames would endanger the shipyard, so Captain von 211 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:35,079 Speaker 1: Shake continued on for another mile, hoping to ground the 212 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 1: ship on North Brother Island. This calculation ultimately fed the flames. 213 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 1: Because fire needs oxygen, the ship's speed and the day's 214 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: wind only encouraged the blaze, which was quickly turning the 215 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: paddle boat into a floating inferno. Mothers tossed their children 216 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,199 Speaker 1: into the waves and followed in after them. Some held 217 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: each other on their way down. The remaining passenger huddled 218 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,199 Speaker 1: together in the hopes that they could safely reach land 219 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,439 Speaker 1: if they held out long enough. In time, the middle 220 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:10,360 Speaker 1: deck collapsed, plunging everyone gathered there down into the fire. 221 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: It said that in all of this a woman gave birth. 222 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: Wanting to save herself and her newborn baby, she pitched 223 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: herself and the infant into the churning waters below, never 224 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: to surface alive. The doctors and patients of North Brother 225 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: Island expected their day to come and go with the 226 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 1: same sense of isolation as any other. It was a 227 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: place where the sick were sent to quarantine, stashed away 228 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: from the general populace of New York City. You can 229 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: imagine their surprise then, when they found themselves with an 230 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: unexpected visitor. Captain Van Shak had grounded the burning slocum 231 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: twenty five feet from shore. Nurses ran to intercept the 232 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: boat and her passengers. They dove the waves, pulling whoever 233 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: languished there to safety, but they couldn't board the slocum herself, 234 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: for the heat was blistering and unbearable. A Mary McCann, 235 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 1: a seventeen year old Irish immigrant, was recovering at the 236 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: hospital and just shy of receiving her clean bill of 237 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,920 Speaker 1: health like everyone else on the island. She responded to 238 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: the emergency whistle and found herself running towards the fire. 239 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: She threw off her shawl and braced herself for the 240 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 1: cold water. She was able to pull a baby from 241 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: the waves and six more children before collapsing herself. The 242 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: tugboats followed in the Slocum's wake, pulling survivors and dead 243 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: alike from the waters. The beach was soon strewn over 244 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty bodies laid out peacefully side by side. 245 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: The rescuers watched as the slocum finally fully submerged around noon, 246 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: only two hours since its journey had begun. Bodies washed ashore. 247 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: For days following the disaster, they appeared down the lank 248 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: of the river, accounting for some of the one thousand 249 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: and twenty one lives that were lost in the slocan's wake. 250 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: The city watched in horror as thousands of people rushed 251 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: to the east twenty third Street Pier, which was deputized 252 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: as a temporary more open coffins, left the bodies on 253 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 1: full display. Some of those who had died were readily identifiable, 254 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 1: some were completely bloated, some charred beyond recognition. Men left factories, shops, 255 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: and docks in droves to find out if their mothers, sisters, 256 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: wives and children had survived. Those who couldn't be identified 257 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: were buried together in a mass grave. In the days 258 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: after the disaster, Klein Deutschland was a veritable ghost town, 259 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 1: save for the constant parade of funeral carriages and processions. 260 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: It said that the church bells rang almost constantly. Over 261 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: six hundred families lost at least one person. For other survivors, 262 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: their entire families were gone. I say survivors, but for 263 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: those who were left behind, there was so little life left. 264 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: The rest of the city was in an uproar. Everyone 265 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: wanted to know how this happened and who to blame. 266 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,199 Speaker 1: There were two targets to aim their vitriol at the 267 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: Knickerbocker Company, the outfit that owned the ship, and Captain 268 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 1: Von Shaik, who was left physically disabled and blind from 269 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: the tragedy, having barely escaped. It was said that he 270 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:36,160 Speaker 1: was the last person to abandon ship. A formal coroner's 271 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: inquest began on June twentieth of nineteen oh four and 272 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: featured eight days of testimony from surviving passengers, crew members, rescuers, 273 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: and the captain. And while it's true that Van Shaik 274 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: was responsible for piloting the ship, it was the Knickerbocker 275 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:56,440 Speaker 1: Company that was responsible for its upkeep and repairs. They 276 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 1: were quick to point fingers back at the captain, smitting 277 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: so very suspicious looking repair receipts to the court. Rumors 278 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: of corruption and bribery in the ranks swirled, feeding the 279 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: public's frenzy and outcry for justice, and Captain Von Shake 280 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 1: and the company were both found guilty of manslaughter, but 281 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:20,159 Speaker 1: only Von Shak was brought to trial. It took seventeen 282 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 1: days and Von Shake was found guilty once again. He 283 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,120 Speaker 1: went on to serve three years of his ten year 284 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: sentence and was later pardoned by President William Taft. Meanwhile, 285 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:36,400 Speaker 1: the steamboat industry drastically overhauled the necessary safety and inspection regulations. 286 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: There would be no happy ending for Klein Deutschland. The 287 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: community never recovered. It saw a mass exodus and a 288 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 1: spade of suicides in those who remained. Two years later, 289 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: a small child stood in Tompkins Square Park, surrounded by 290 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,679 Speaker 1: her remaining friends and family. She had been aboard the 291 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: boat that summer's day and has chosen as the person 292 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: to tug the draping off the new General Slocum Memorial Fountain. 293 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: It was a small gesture that sought to recognize an 294 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: incalculable tragedy. The fabric of the Kleindutchland community had burned 295 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: up in the fire, and perhaps this child couldn't remember it, 296 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 1: but she would go on to hear stories of that 297 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 1: fateful day. There was no way to reconcile what had 298 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: happened to her family and friends, but there was hope 299 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: that she would be able to carry on without many 300 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: of them. After all, she had no other choice. New 301 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: York City continued to be haunted by the General Slocum, 302 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,400 Speaker 1: not just because of what had happened, but because of 303 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,479 Speaker 1: what still floated in their harbor. There floated the General 304 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: Slocum sister ship, the Grand Republic, which was nearly identical. 305 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: It was very common to have a fleet of identical ships, 306 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 1: and the Knickerbocker Company did just that. You can imagine 307 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,879 Speaker 1: the jolt New Yorkers felt when they saw her placidly 308 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: paddling along, a striking reminder of what and who was 309 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:15,360 Speaker 1: still lost beneath the waters. The Grand Republic was intensely 310 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: scrutinized in the wake of the disaster, and even still 311 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 1: the boat operated as planned, or at least tried to. 312 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: It said that a week after the Slocum sank, only 313 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: a fourth that the Grand Republic's passengers showed up to 314 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: make good on their weekend plans. It was yet another 315 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:37,479 Speaker 1: church outing. Wanting to cut their losses, the Knickerbocker Company 316 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: decided to sell the Grand Republic, and just four days 317 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: after the sale, the boat crashed into another off the 318 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: coast of Coney Island. Five hundred passengers were aboard the ship, 319 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: and while there were no fatalities, they were dismayed to 320 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 1: find similarly rotting life preservers. Eventually the boat was surrendered 321 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 1: for government inspection. Her capacity was lower, and her owners 322 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: began losing even more money. More of accidents would follow, 323 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: though thankfully none resulted in death. Even still, it seemed 324 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: that riding the paddle boats was a risky business, though 325 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,359 Speaker 1: one that passengers still deemed necessary for their day to 326 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 1: day lives. After several years of largely quiet and uninterrupted service, 327 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 1: the Grand Republic went down the same way her sistership had. 328 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: She was taken by fire. On April twenty sixth of 329 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty four. A fire broke out late into the 330 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: night while she was docked. Thirty men were asleep on board, 331 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 1: but all awoke in time to flee. She sank into 332 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 1: the Hudson River that night, and despite the association with 333 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: the General Slocum and the accidents, she went to her 334 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,919 Speaker 1: own watery grave with some dignity still intact. The New 335 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 1: York Times stated, certainly the Grand Republic was a grand 336 00:21:56,359 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: success as an excursion boat. There's more to this story. 337 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,959 Speaker 1: Stick around after this brief sponsor break to hear all 338 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:16,120 Speaker 1: about it. On September eleventh of two thousand one, all 339 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: of New York City shut down in the city. That day, 340 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: two planes creened across the skies and into infamy. Lives ended, 341 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:28,480 Speaker 1: and the world changed. For those on the ground that day, 342 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: there was no way to get into the city, and 343 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,399 Speaker 1: there were very few ways out. The subway stopped, the 344 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:40,159 Speaker 1: bridges closed, but the water was open. Gregg Freydis was 345 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: a charterboat captain in New York for the summer, and 346 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 1: on that blue Bird morning, after a very late night, 347 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: he ambled over to his local coffee shop. As he 348 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: strolled in, he took a look at the television and 349 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: saw that he had missed something extraordinary. On the news 350 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,119 Speaker 1: was a replay of a plane crashing into the World 351 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: Trade Center. Like many people that day, he stood stunned. 352 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: But what was he seeing? How could this be happening? 353 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:10,960 Speaker 1: Surely an accident, of course, that's what many thought until 354 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 1: the second plane hit. We know how this story goes. 355 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:19,400 Speaker 1: But then Gregg, like many New Yorkers that day, did 356 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,720 Speaker 1: what he had to do. He jumped into action. He 357 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:26,479 Speaker 1: didn't know exactly what was needed from him, but he 358 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 1: was going to do what he knew how he headed 359 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: back to his boat yard. He was one of the 360 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: many boat captains who appeared that morning, and armed with 361 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 1: a fierce loyalty for their home and a lot of gumption. 362 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:41,360 Speaker 1: In what seemed like no time at all, they were 363 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:43,960 Speaker 1: met by thousands of people who had migrated to the 364 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:47,920 Speaker 1: water line trying to flee Lower Manhattans smoke and smolder, 365 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:52,360 Speaker 1: and some were old, some were young, some were bleeding. 366 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:56,120 Speaker 1: Some held their pets and the ash rained down. They 367 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: stood shoulder to shoulder on the shore line they wanted off. 368 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,119 Speaker 1: The boatmen had the benefit of having keeys and knowing 369 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: how to drive. By mid morning, the Coast Guard made 370 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,720 Speaker 1: the official call. They asked that all boats and all 371 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: captains available helped with an immediate evacuation effort, and soon 372 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: a veritable army of a hundred and thirty watercraft appeared 373 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: on the horizon of Lower Manhattan ready to help. There 374 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:27,200 Speaker 1: were troops of ferries and tugboats, fishing boats and multimillion 375 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:31,560 Speaker 1: dollar pleasure yachts and sightseeing ships and emergency service vehicles. 376 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: The Staten Island Ferry alone took more than fifty thousand 377 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: people across the river. They docked two waiting ambulances from 378 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: Ellice Island to Brooklyn to New Jersey, letting folks disembark 379 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: while loading up on supplies to bring back to emergency 380 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 1: efforts in Manhattan. At one point, among an order for 381 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: water bottles, boxygen, and food, there was a request for 382 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: twenty thousand body bags. On that day and in the 383 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:02,680 Speaker 1: ones that followed, and his compatriots pulled off the largest 384 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:07,360 Speaker 1: water evacuation in history. It's since been dubbed the nine 385 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: to eleven boat Lift. That day, nearly half a million 386 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: people were ferried to safety. What was also remarkable about 387 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,880 Speaker 1: the effort, which was nothing short of heroic, is that 388 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: not only did they do this without a plan, they 389 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: did it amidst utter and complete chaos. It was their 390 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: gift to the city, this herculean effort that's sometimes been 391 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,040 Speaker 1: overlooked in the telling of the nine to eleven story. 392 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:37,680 Speaker 1: But without a doubt, those who remember pulling away from 393 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,000 Speaker 1: the shoreline that day, knowing that their lives would never 394 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: be the same, they were thankful to those boat captains 395 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:55,680 Speaker 1: and the waters that ferried them to safety. American Shadows 396 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: as hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by 397 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 1: Robin Miniter, researched by Ali Steed, and produced by Miranda 398 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:07,920 Speaker 1: Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, 399 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,960 Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit 400 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: grimmanmile dot com. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 401 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.