Vanished! The Mystery of the Iron Mountain

While doing some research prompted by another thread, I came across this article about the Iron Mountain, a riverboat lost on the Mississippi River in the late 19th century. The story has been described and retold in at least three books or publications dealing with unexplained phenomenon, including the Reader's Digest.

According to legend:

The Iron Mountain was a giant of a riverboat, more than 180-feet long, 35-feet wide, with a double sternwheel, and 4 boilers. On June 26, 1872 the boat pulled out of the port at Vicksburg, Mississippi heading north with a load of cotton, molasses, and 52 passengers. The boat also pushed several barges ahead of her attached to the bow.

Around 9 a.m. that morning, the boat pulled out of Vicksburg and rounded the first bend. Within minutes, the barges were seen floating loose down the river. It was assumed the Iron Mountain had run into trouble and cut the barges loose. But, as the story goes:

Not a trace was ever found of the boat or the 52 passengers on board. It was front page news everywhere when it happened. And the mystery has never been solved. At least that’s what lots of books tell us.

Oddly enough, the boat was sighted at various ports along the Mississippi over the next ten years. The story of the vanishing riverboat and its ghostly sightings spread.

The author of the article in Alternate Perceptions Magazine, Dr. Greg Little, was intrigued by the story and did some digging. His research eventually led him to Captain Fred Way, an authority on the riverboats used in the 1800's. According to Captain Way, the Iron Mountain sunk in 1882, not 1872. There was one casualty, not 52. And it didn't "vanish without a trace" as per the story; rather, it had settled to the hurricane deck. A perfectly rational and normal event had been warped and embellished over the years, to the point of becoming an "Unexplained Phenomenon".

He laughed a bit and then explained that there was only one boat named Iron Mountain but that river stories were commonly made up. It’s a lot like the telling of ghost stories where actual events are changed, embellished, and made more mysterious for amusement.

My point in posting this is to emphasize how easily a normal event can turn into a paranormal one; not by being deliberately hoaxed but due to human error (ie. dates inaccurately recalled) and natural embellishment.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Here's the original article from Alternate Perceptions Magazine.

reply to post by avocadoshag


S&F - its amazing how many people believe anything they read regardless of absence of evidence

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
reply to post by avocadoshag

 

S&F - its amazing how many people believe anything they read

regardless of absence of evidence

You just believed everthing you just read with ZERO evidence!
GOD DAMN I love hypocracy!!!!

reply to post by Screwed


I was about to ask where were the papers from the Capt saying the boat went to the the hurricane dock? Surely they had to register?

Originally posted by NowanKenubi
reply to post by Screwed

 

I was about to ask where were the papers from the Capt saying the boat went to the the hurricane dock? Surely they had to register?

According to the article, the author had been looking for newspaper reports of the sinking but he was looking at archives dated from the 1870's. The legend of the Iron Mountain, as described by various sources, gave the date as 1872.

When he spoke to Captain Way he learned that the boat had sunk 10 years later, in 1882. Next the author looked up newspaper archives from 1882 and found the original story of the sinking.

The March 28, 1882 issue of the Daily Memphis Avalanche published this small story: “Towboat Sank. Vicksburg, March 26—The towboat Iron Mountain, en route to St. Louis with five empty barges in tow, sunk this morning at Stumpy Point, twenty miles above here. The chambermaid was drowned. The boat settled to the hurricane deck and will prove a total loss. The Iron Mountain belonged to the Mound City Transportation Company of St. Louis.”

Presumably there would be insurance documents, registry info, cargo manifests, etc, if anyone cared to look into it.

Excuse my ignorance but what is a hurricane deck?

And how could that be misconstrued as a sinking?

reply to post by Screwed


did i really ???? talk about unfounded assumption

reply to post by Chukkles


hurricane deck [ on river steamers ] is the decl ontop of the superstructure

see this external image

the person waving his hat is on a hurricane deck

a vessel sunk to this level - would require a considerable salvage operation - and the value of the ship might make salvage uneconomical - forcing abandonment

Sounds like a bermuda triangle incident. Whatever vortex is down there seems to expand and contract at times.

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
reply to post by avocadoshag

 

S&F - its amazing how many people believe anything they read

regardless of absence of evidence

Of course...because absence of evidence ONLY leaves a belief Otherwise it wouldnt be a belief, but fact

The problem is that many such beliefs (like...uhm..96% of stories on ATS etc.) are exactly that, lacking evidence (or logic or/and common sense)...and then re-told and re-believed by others, MOSTLY because there is some emotions behind it which makes "believing" a story more attractive. (Sometimes even unconsciously)

Eg..even the latest "doomsday" theories (Elenin etc.) have a hidden "attractiveness" to them since they promise a cleansing of the "oh so bad world" etc......its ALL about emotions.

K sorry for being OT