On October 12, 1865, Rio Vista gained brief national attention when Sacramento's newest and most luxurious river steamboat, Yosemite, burst a boiler on her starboard side while bound downriver for San Francisco. The supposedly safer low-pressure boiler exploded and demolished all of the deck forward of the smokestack, yet the hull and decks behind the stack were undamaged, and more than 50 passengers escaped injury. Fifty-five people were killed and many more were scalded and injured, including 30 Chinese immigrants. One man who had run the Rio Vista Hotel was catapulted 30 feet into the air but rose unhurt and helped other passengers off the boat. Two crewmembers were arrested for stealing from the dead. The steamboat Chrysopolis arrived from San Francisco three hours after the explosion, spent two hours loading Yosemite's passengers and crewmembers, including the dead, and then headed for Sacramento. The next day Chrysopolis towed Yosemite toward San Francisco, where the steamer was repaired and returned to service.