Site and Scene
Volume 4, Number 1
Fall 2002

Dedication of Saluda Memorial in Lexington, Missouri
Fred E. Woods

Lexington Saluda commemoration, 9 April 2002, Lexington, Missouri. Left to right: JoAnna Woods, Fred E. Woods (Associate professor, Church History and Doctrine, BYU), William G. Hartley (Associate professor, Joseph Fielding Smith Institute, BYU), Michael L. Hutchings (Secretary, Mormon Historic Sites Foundation), Martha Hutchings, Roger Slusher (Lexington Historian, Wentworth Academy instructor), Brant Neer (Co-chairman of the Saluda 150-year committee), Tom Hayes (Mayor of Lexington). Photograph by Fred E. Woods.

On April 12, 2002, the Lexington News reported: “the Lexington Historical Association held a crowded dedication ceremony at a memorial for victims of the Saluda explosion April 9. A large group that included descendants of the passengers of the Saluda gathered at the site . . . Michael Hutchings, of the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation, and Thomas Brailsford who represents regional Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregations, offered their appreciation to the city for its efforts to remember the victims. Mayor Tom Hayes presented copies of a proclamation honoring the sesquicentennial of the tragedy.”

This Saluda sesquicentennial commemoration was the highlight of the Lexington Steamboat Days which were held April 6-9. On the final day of Lexington’s festivities, the commemoration recalled the tragic event of the explosion of the steamboat Saluda in which many were killed, including 26 Latter-day Saint emigrants who were traveling west on the Missouri River, bound for the Salt Lake Valley. The Mormon Historic Sites Foundation provided a generous contribution to create a beautiful plaque listing the names of all known victims. It was erected at a quaint little park specifically donated for the commemoration, located on the northwest corner of 13th and Franklin Avenues. This historic site is also home to a bell which is from the same era as the bell which was blown from the Saluda. During the ceremony, several descendants of Saluda victims each took turns ringing the bell in remembrance of their lost loved ones.

Local citizens portraying injured Saluda victims for an upcoming KBYU film documentary depicting the disaster. Photograph by Fred E. Woods.

This eventful commemoration was echoed through radio programs, Missouri newspapers, and was even reported nationally by the Associated Press. Each report seemed to herald the kindness extended to the victims and their families by the efforts of the benevolent Missouri citizens of Lexington. Abraham Smoot, a Mormon emigrant leader who was an eye-witness of the Saluda tragedy recalled, “I shall never forget the kindness of the citizens of Lexington in caring for the living and burying the dead . . . prominent citizens did all they could to comfort and help the afflicted survivors.” An extension of this same kindness was demonstrated by present citizens of Lexington who wanted to pay respect to the descendants of the Saluda victims. A sweet mutual affection between them and the families of the victims prevailed throughout the festivities. BYU professors, William G. Hartley and Fred E. Woods wrote a book for the occasion titled, Explosion of the Steamboat Saluda (Salt Lake City: Millennial Press), which they dedicated to the people of Lexington.

This moving story will be told on KBYU-TV this coming fall in a historical documentary which is currently being produced by Professor Woods.