David Nugent
Historical Marker in Port Allen, Louisiana honoring the more-than 300 Muscogee people killed in the 1837 Monmouth steamboat wreck.
In the 1830s, per the order of the Indian Removal Act, thousands of Native Americans of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Muscogee/Creek) were forcibly removed from their land in the southeastern U.S. to Indian Territory, or modern-day Oklahoma in order to expand white settlement and industry in the United States.
Many of the Indians were forced to walk the entire distance to Indian Territory on what became known as the Trail of Tears, but some were transported part of the way by boat.
In 1837, about 1,600 Muscogee were made to march from northern Alabama and Georgia to Pass Christian, Mississippi. Approximately one hundred of them died from yellow fever along the way. In October, the survivors were placed aboard three steamships that had been hired to take them up the Mississippi River to the mouth of the Arkansas River. From there, they would follow the Trail of Tears on to Indian Territory.
The 135-ton Monmouth was one of the small boats used to transport the Indians, and it arrived in New Orleans without mishap. Then, on the night of October 31, it proceeded upriver with 693 Muscogee onboard. The weather was cold and rainy, and large waves buffeted the river. One Muscogee recalled, years later, that some of the natives tried to convince the crew to postpone leaving until morning, but the boatmen insisted on departing right away.
When the Monmouth was near Profit Island, just downstream from St. Francisville, the steamboat Warren was spotted coming downstream towing another vessel named the Trenton. The passengers urged the Monmouth’s captain to yield the right of way and let the two ships pass by. Instead, the Monmouth seemed to suddenly spin out of control and began zigzagging across the river, until it rammed the Trenton.
The collision threw many of the Muscogee overboard and broke the Monmouth’s lower deck in two. Pandemonium erupted as screaming passengers tried to make their way to the cabin on the upper deck. The lower deck quickly sank out of sight, and the cabin portion of the ship drifted downstream in the dark, with perhaps two hundred people huddled on it. Eventually, it, too, broke apart.
Smaller craft and the other two steamships transporting the Muscogee searched the dark river and picked up what survivors they could find. A few others were rescued after daylight.
The disaster’s exact death toll will never be known for certain, but at the time it was estimated that 240 to 360 people had drowned. Today, it is believed that two of the crew (the bookkeeper and fireman) and 311 Muscogee died in the tragedy, with many others being seriously injured. The dead were gathered together and buried in a mass grave near Port Allen.
Recriminations began immediately. The Monmouth’s passengers said the ship was old and rotten and blamed the crew for the wreck. They claimed that there were boxes of liquor stored on the upper deck of the ship, and that the ship’s officers and some of the Muscogee became drunk, which caused a great deal of turmoil onboard.
The Monmouth’s owner, a Mr. Eastman, refuted these claims and said that the ship was only a year old and that the officers were sober and well trained. Eastman blamed the accident on the dark night, poor visibility due to the weather, and there being no running lights on the Trenton.
At the time, navigation rules called for ships going upstream to hold close to the bank where the current was slowest and for ships coming downstream to stay in the channel where the current was most swift. But doing so could be tricky, because the steamboats were difficult to steer, and sandbars and shifting channels made it hard to stay in the proper position.
Ships often had to maneuver back and forth across the river to stay in navigable water, which might explain the zigzagging course the passengers noted just before the collision. It seems apparent that the Monmouth’s helmsman lost control of his vessel, but it’s not certain if it was because he had been drinking or was instead hindered by the poor weather, violent waves, and fast current.
The wreck of the Monmouth was America’s worst maritime disaster until the Civil War. In 2025, a historical marker was dedicated in Port Allen to commemorate the Muscogee dead.
Dr. Terry L. Jones is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. An autographed copy of “Louisiana Pastimes,” a collection of the author’s stories, costs $25. Contact him at tljones505@gmail.com
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