02/13/2026
On this day in 1869, tragedy struck Caddo Lake when the sidewheel steamboat Mittie Stephens caught fire during a voyage from New Orleans to Jefferson, Texas. Sixty-one men, women, and children lost their lives in the disaster. The vessel had been operating along the New Orleans, Red River route since 1866, at a time when Jefferson served as the head of navigation because a massive logjam on the Red River blocked further travel.
The Mittie Stephens departed New Orleans on February 5 carrying 107 passengers and crew, along with cargo that included 274 bales of hay. On the night of February 12, a gust of wind carried a spark from the torch baskets lighting the bow onto the hay. The fire spread quickly and could not be brought under control.
As flames consumed the boat, the crew steered toward shore, just 300 yards away, but the vessel ran aground in shallow water near Swanson’s Landing. In a desperate attempt to reach land, the pilot and engineer kept the paddlewheels turning. Tragically, the churning wheels pulled struggling passengers beneath them, causing many of the deaths.
The Mittie Stephens burned down to the waterline, and remnants of the wreck remained visible above the lake’s surface into the early twentieth century. Jefferson continued as Texas’ leading riverport until the Red River logjam was finally cleared in 1874.
