# @sachistorymuseum on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DeYG3aDhUJA
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/71457473-sachistorymuseum-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/5923a37792.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-10-12T02:00:55.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Sacramento History Museum (@sachistorymuseum) — https://gondola.cc/sachistorymuseum

## Caption

On October 12, 1865, the steamboat “Yosemite” exploded near Rio Vista (about 35 miles south of Sacramento) on the Sacramento River, killing at least 43 people. The steamer was constructed in 1862 and regularly traveled between San Francisco and Sacramento three days a week.

Steamboat explosions were common in the 1850s and 1860s but the boilers on the Yosemite were supposed to be a safer and have a lower pressure design. It was also reported that the Yosemite was not racing another steamboat like the cause of many other previous steamboat explosions on the river. 

In a report made several days later, it was found that the boilers were defective, but no criminal actions were taken against the crew of the steamer. The California Steam Navigation Company was later sued for damages and did end up paying for treatment of those who were injured. The Yosemite was not damaged by the explosion and was back in operation by December 1865. The Yosemite was in operation until it was wrecked in 1909 in Washington.

View looking west of the Steamboat Landing and the Pacific Railroad Depot at the foot of K Street in Sacramento, California. The Yosemite is docked next to the depot. Photograph published ca. 1865 by Thomas Houseworth & Company, courtesy of the California State Library.

#TodayInHistory #OnThisDay #sacramento #oldsacramento #sachistorymuseum

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## Tags

oldsacramento, sacramento, todayinhistory, onthisday, sachistorymuseum

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