The Iron Mountain was a stern-wheeler that plied the Mississippi River from 1864 until 1872.
Built in 1864, the boat was 54.86 meters long (180 feet) and had a 10.67 meter (35 foot) beam. Its fame comes from the fact that in June 1872 when traveling from New Orleans to Pittsburgh, loaded with cotton and sugar, it disappeared. It left Vicksburg with a string of barges following and 55 crew and passengers. It headed North and was never seen again. A following steamer, the Iroquois Chief, found the Iron Mountain's barges. The tow rope had been cut rather than broken. The barges were the only remains ever found.
This is the legend often told. In fact the Iron Mountain hit an obstruction at Stumpy Point, near Island 102, which cut a hole in her hull and she sank. The crew except the chambermaid scrambled onto one of the barges and escaped. The chambermaid, who was obviously caught below deck was killed and her body was recovered the next day with some wreckage. Further wreckage was found on June 30th, 1872 several miles where the boat was lost. However the main wreckage was never found.