USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 8
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the mail with the Pony Express. But it was a hard contract. A defect in any of the links along the bleak stretch of desert and mountain would threaten the bond and mean a tremendous financial loss to the men who had put their all in the enterprise.
To insure the faithful performance of his duty the Pony Rider was required to take the following oath :
"I, -- , do hereby swear, before the Great and Living God, that during my engagement and while I am in the employ of Russell, Majors & Waddle, I will, under no circumstances, use profane language, that I will drink no intoxicating liquors, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employe of the firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties and so direct all my actions as to win the confidence of all my employers. So help me. God."
In " Roughing It," the book which made him famous, "Mark Twain" (Samuel L. Clemens), gives a graphic picture of the Pony Rider, as good a piece of descriptive work as can be found in any of his large number of books :
"In a little while all interest was taken up in stretching our necks and watching for the Pony Rider-the fleet messenger who sped across the continent from St. Joseph to Sacramento, carrying letters 1,900 miles in eight days. Think of that for perishable horse and human flesh and blood to do! No matter what time of the day or night his watch came on, and no matter whether it was winter or summer, raining, snowing, hailing or sleeting, or whether his beat was a level straight road, or a crazy trail over mountain crags and precipices, or whether it led through peaceful regions or regions that swarmed with hostile Indians, he must be always ready to leap into the saddle and be off like the wind! There was no idling time for a Pony Rider on duty. He rode fifty miles without stopping, by daylight, moonlight, starlight, or through the blackness of darkness-just as it happened.
"He rode a splendid horse that was born for a racer and fed and lodged like a gentleman; kept him at his utmost speed for ten miles, and then, as he came crashing up to the station where stood two men holding fast a fresh, impatient steed, the transfer or rider and mail bags was made in the twinkling of an eye, and away flew the eager pair and were out of sight before the spectator could hardly get the ghost of a look.
"There were about eighty Pony Riders in the saddle all the time, night and day, stretching in a long, scattering procession from Missouri to California, forty flying eastward, and forty westward, and among
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them making 400 gallant horses earn a stirring livelihood and see a deal of scenery every single day of the year.
"We had a consuming desire, from the beginning, to see a Pony Rider, but somehow or other all that passed us and all that met us managed to streak by in the night and so we heard only a whiz and a hail, and the swift phantom of the desert was gone before we could get our heads out of the window. But now we were expecting one along every moment, and would see him in broad daylight. Presently the driver exclaims :
" 'Here he comes.'
"Every neck is stretched further, and every eye strained wider. Away across the endless dead level of the prairie a black speck appears against the sky, and it is plain that it moves. Well, I should think so! In a second or two it becomes a horse and rider, rising and falling, rising and falling-sweeping toward us nearer and nearer-growing more and more distinet, more and more sharply defined-nearer and still nearer, and the flutter of the hoofs comes faintly to our ear- another instant a whoop and a hurrah from our upper deck, a wave of the rider's hand, but no reply and man and horse burst past our excited faces, and go winging away like a belated fragment of a storm!"
The Pony Express' life was short but busy. When the Pacific rail- road was completed to California, in the early years of the Civil war, it put the Pony Rider out of a job. There is now a large claim in the hands of Macon attorneys (R. S. Matthews & Sons), bronght by the heirs of Russell against the government for a large amount of property of the Pony Rider service, taken as a military necessity.
In the first year or two of its existence the Hannibal and St. Joe made enough history to fill a big book. The war came on and developed that wild and picturesque character that became so widely known and dreaded-the "bushwhacker." He looked at the railroad as his legiti- mate prey, and it was rarely that a train journeyed across the state without carrying into the terminal marks of his attention. His work was especially in evidence at the big bridges. The worst disaster that ever occurred on the road was a result of his handiwork. A train loaded with people was wrecked on Platte River bridge, September 3, 1861, killing sixteen and injuring over sixty. The New York Herald of Sep- tember 7 contained this account of the occurrence :
"Terrible Road Catastrophe-Diabolical Outrage on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad-Seventeen lives lost and a large number wounded," etc. It recites through correspondence with St. Louis papers, the wrecking of a passenger train, bound west, September 3.
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
The timber of the Little Platte river bridge, nine miles east of St. Joseph, had been burned nearly through, and the entire train went down. Bushwhackers are blamed for the outrage.
Abe Hager, baggage-master of the railroad, furnished a graphic story of the wreck. The passenger cars were completely smashed, and he was the only one to escape unhurt. He came to St. Joseph, got an engine, physicians and necessities for the wounded, hurrying back to the scene of the wreck. He is quoted as saying: "The greatest excite- ment prevails in St. Joseph in regard to this inhuman outrage."
An additional account says that the train carried from eighty-five to one hundred passengers. The fire had been extinguished before entirely destroying the bridge, which was a substantial work of 100 feet span, leaving it a mere shell. But three persons, J. W. Parker, superintendent of the United States express, Mail Agent Mars and Hager, were able to afford assistance, the others who were not killed outright being so disabled as to be helpless.
Hager walked five miles out of the way back to St. Joseph, making the remainder of the trip on a handcar. He found a heavy oak tie bound across the track 200 yards from the bridge, and two miles further on he found the trestle work over a small stream was on fire.
Though the wreck occurred on September 3, and the story was printed four days later, there is no complete list of the killed or injured. The names of several victims are given, but there seems to have been great difficulty in getting the details of the wreck.
Trainmaster George H. Davis immediately organized a wrecking crew and surgeons' staff, and took charge of the train going to the relief of the victims. Some of the men who had caused the disaster were still standing about, viewing their deadly work. They recognized Mr. Davis as the leader of the rescue party and told him they would get him next time. Mr. Davis said to them :
"Well, I'll be there when you do it. I'm not afraid of men who would do such a cowardly thing as this."
Directly following the disaster the government, which depended largely on the road to transport men and supplies, established a system of block houses at all the large bridges across the state. There were thirteen of these altogether. These were garrisoned by Federal troops. Time has obliterated all these curious houseforts, the one on the Char- iton river, in Macon county, being the last to go. Having long outlived its usefulness as a war expedient, not much attention was paid to it, and one day a spark from a passing engine set fire to the roof and soon the
CHARITON BLOCK HOUSE
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historic old structure was in ashes. There were several notable encoun- ters here, and some lives were lost.
In an interesting little volume, entitled "Missions in Missouri," by the Rev. Bishop Hogan, is found a description of the Hannibal and St. Joseph block houses, and some of the exciting episodes that occurred near them during the Civil war. The Rev. Mr. Hogan, it seems, was engaged along in the fifties in establishing mission posts between Shelbina and Kansas City.
In the volume referred to is the following description of the mili- tary structure on the Chariton river.
"The subject of our sketch is the only one left of a half-dozen of the old landmarks which were built as a means of defense to the govern- ment's interest and the protection of her loyal citizens.
"There is, however, an old schoolhouse near Macon City, which, at one time, was used by the Union soldiers as a fort, and today there remains a hole shot into it by a cannon ball more than a third of a century ago.
"There were several block houses built along the line of road at the various bridges, but the one at the Chariton is the only one which remains standing, a third of a century after the close of the war.
"About the earliest reliable information was furnished us by Capt. Chas. P. Brown, of Ottumwa, Iowa, who, with his company D, 3d Jowa Infantry, was ordered into northern Missouri. Captain Brown says :
" ' At about 10 a. m., July 12, 1861, we reached the Chariton bridge and Company F was detached to guard it. An incident had occurred here just before our arrival, not a little exciting.
" 'A detachment of a dozen men from the 21st Iowa Infantry had come from the west to gnard the bridge, arriving early in the morning, they went to a log cabin near by to get breakfast, when a guerilla party . suddenly appeared and prepared to burn the bridge. The boys sprang to their guns and attacked the guerillas, scattering them in all direc- tions. The leader, who was a young man teaching school in the vicinity, hid in the tall grass near by, but being about to be discovered held np his hands. Unfortunately for him, they were covered with the tar used in setting fire to the bridge .. This evidence of guilt so exasperated one of the soldiers, that in the heat of the moment he shot the young man through the head, killing him instantly. The dead school teacher was buried by the company and a few days later some Union people from Callao came and removed the body, placing it in the hands of friends.
" "At this time there was no block house, but we built of log and
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
sawdust a small square work around an old steam mill and it was called Fort Brown, after Lieutenant Brown of Company F, who planned it.'
"G. H. Davis, who was twice appointed captain of a railroad mili- tary company, for the purpose of protecting the line of road, which has now passed into the hands of the government so far as operations were concerned, tells of a block house being built in North river, Medicine creek and Platte river. The old relics of war times have long since been destroyed. The Chariton block house still stands in a fairly good state of preservation.
"Concerning this old landmark, Boone Baldwin, of Macon county, who was about twenty years of age at the time, relates this :
" 'The first attempt at burning the bridge took place in the spring of 1861. A neighbor called at our house and reported that the gueril- las were about to burn the bridge. I walked from my place to Lingo to apprise Section Foreman Reynolds, who telegraphed to Macon for help. Recruits came towards evening, and the spies finding the bridge guarded passed quietly by and applied the torch at Brush creek. Later on this bridge was the scene of the hanging of a man by guerrillas, who left their victim swinging to the bridge.
' 'The following morning the soldiers returned to Macon, and a few soldiers came down from Callao and were preparing breakfast when they noticed black smoke curling skyward from the bridge, and rushing out saw the "rebels" fleeing in all directions.
" 'The soldiers opened fire on them and killed one of the crowd, a young man by the name of Malone, living near old Bloomington. A report says that later on a man by the name of Fox was captured and shot for being implicated in the plot to burn the bridge. After the kill- ing of Malone the soldiers succeeded in extinguishing the fire and saving the bridge.
"'A second plan was formed near the close of 1862 to burn the bridge. In the dead hour of night, when all was in peaceful repose, the torch was applied and the bridge destroyed. This greatly embarrassed the government in the transportation of soldiers, supplies and munitions of war to the west.'
"With the opening of 1863 the bridge was rebuilt and a man by the name of Turner, in charge of a company of negroes, was sent there to guard the bridge and to erect the block house for its protection. The summer was spent in hewing the logs and shaping the structure. Many of the citizens now living in Macon county can testify as to the services afforded by the block house in protecting the road from the raiders.
"Mr. Baldwin relates a circumstance in this connection. When
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Jackson was returning from one of his famous raids through southern lowa Mr. Baldwin's mother eanght sight of the Jackson crowd coming over a hill and notified her sons. The young men slipped ont of the back door and erawled through the brush, making their way to a place of safety, just as the guerrillas rode up on the other side of the house. The rough riders of Jackson fed their horses and ordered supper for the gang, which consisted of thirteen men. Mrs. Baldwin, gratified at the escape of her sons, went about and prepared a good meal for her unwelcome guests."
Captain James G. McIntosh, long a resident of Macon, adds an interesting chapter to the early railroad days from the standpoint of a practical engineer. Captain McIntosh was one of the first men who entered a cab on the Hannibal & St. Joseph. That was in 1859, the year the road was completed. The approaching war was in the atmosphere and excitement was high. The qualifications of an engineer, as indi- cated by Mr. Wilber, were varied. He not only had to handle his engine well, but he had to exercise considerable judgment in order to keep the train out of trouble by bushwhackers and roving bands. Captain MeIn- tosh tells of his road experience up to the time he joined the army "to secure peace and quiet."
"Most of the engines were wood burners, using the old bonnet staek," said Mr. MeIntosh, "but ours used coal as an experiment on economy. I was the fireman and 'Deacon' Manly, a seven-foot Yankee from Vermont, was my engineer. He was a hard taskmaster. Not content with attending to his own important duties, he exercised a guardianship over mine to the smallest detail. Every shovelful of coal had to be nieely spread out on the 'deek' at the mouth of the fur- nace before my chief would permit me to toss it into the fire. He would examine it like a man searching for gold. Now and then he would piek out a lump containing sulphur and toss it out on the right-of-way. Not only did the 'Deacon' assume the responsibility for my professional duties, but he would take me to task regarding my spiritual obligations as well. He gravely told me that liars and blasphemers could never hope to pass the pearly gates, and said that if I didn't quit tobacco and swearing I would one day reach a much hotter fire than was my duty daily to keep up on his engine.
"I grew to cordially dislike the old man and longed to get away from his dominion. I thought his puritanical teachings indicated weak- ness and dotage. An ineident taught me that I did him a great injustice.
"There was no feneing along the right-of-way and stock strayed on at its own sweet will. One dismal blaek night we ran into a flock of
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
sheep, the mortal dread of an engineman. I saw what was ahead of us and jumped off the cab. But the 'Deacon' held on to the levers, a sort of a second Jim Bludso, and went with the engine into the ditch. His loyalty saved the train from a fearful wreck, because if he hadn't hung on and tried to stop, the cars would have been smashed into kindling wood. I pulled him out of the cab. He was bruised up considerably, but still alive. He said he was sorry for the sheep!
"The engines at that period had a pump which only worked while the drive-wheels were in motion. When a long wait on a siding caused the water to run low in the boilers, you would have to unconple your engine and run up and down the main track to replenish the boiler. There were no inspirators, injectors, or glass gauges. The valves of the steam chest were oiled by hand from the running board.
"In the fall of 1861 I was given command of the 'Chickasaw,' as engineer. The 'Chickasaw' was one of the best machines on the road. The 'General Lyon' was another good engine which later on made a war record. Engines were all named just like steam-boats and the passengers had favorites among them. It was common to hear them say : 'We'll get in on time today because the "Chickasaw" is pulling us.'
"There were no through trains except the specials. We stopped at every station. If we were informed in time that parties were anxious to get away on the train but hadn't quite got their trunks packed, why, we would wait for them. It was the duty of the employees to be obliging.
"Fate didn't permit me to enjoy my career as boss of the 'Chick- asaw' very long. The incident which caused me to abandon railroading occurred in Buchanan county in 1862. The 'Chickasaw' was pulling a special containing officers of the road into St. Joseph. Much trouble had occurred of late through the activity of bushwhackers and we were keeping a sharp lookout. The 'Chickasaw,' with safety valve popping off, was rolling smoothly along, making good time, when we came in sight of the Platte river bridge. An instant later I saw a man step on the bridge and signal us to stop. About the same time we noticed great- volumes of smoke rolling up from the bridge. There were two guesses as to the motive of the man who was waving his hands at us. He might be a section hand warning us against danger or he might be a bandit intending to hold us up. I adopted the latter view of the dilemma and pulled the throttle wide open. The conductor, who had been looking out from the cars, took issue with me and signaled for me to stop. I felt a bit like a mutineer on the high seas, but as I knew the conductor's object as well as mine was to get the train through safely. I put my
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
judgment against his. As we swept on to the bridge a gang of long- haired fellows rose up out of the brush and fired into us. The conductor, in the meanwhile, had crossed the tender and come into the cab, laid flat on the deck with us and the train thundered safely across the bridge. The fire had been started too late to weaken the timbers. The only damage done was the shattering of glass in the car windows. There was considerable money on the train, and doubtless the bandits had learned of this. After getting a safe distance we slowed up and looked back. The bridge was entirely in flames.
"When we pulled into St. Joseph, Master Mechanic H. A. Rowley came up and congratulated us for the nerve he thought we had displayed in pulling the train out of danger. I told him for my part that I was much obliged, but I resigned my job as engineer right then and there, and soon afterwards joined the 9th Missouri Cavalry, under Colonel Odin Guitar. I slept easy of nights after that."
The North Missouri Railroad Company was organized in 1853-4. Its construction was effected by city, county and private subscriptions, aided by bonds loaned by the state, amounting to abont $6,000,000. St. Louis, by a vote, took a large amount of stock, and all the counties on the line, except Macon, took stock. According to the charter, the loca- tion was to be "along the ridge dividing the waters of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, or as near as may be."
When the road was completed to Mexico, strong efforts were made to have Macon county subscribe stock. Randolph county took $175,000 worth of stock, Adair also voted for stock and it was confidently sup- posed that Macon would follow suit.
Public meetings were held in the eastern and southeastern portions of the county in favor of submitting the matter to a vote. Major James T. Rollins of Boone county and Isaac Sturgeon of St. Louis addressed the citizens of Macon county at Bloomington, urging upon them the immense advantages the road would be to them. At a public meeting held at Bloomington, Dr. A. L. Knight of Macon was chosen chairman and J. M. Love secretary. The meeting passed a resolution requesting the County Court to submit a proposition subscribing $100,000 to secure the location and construction of the road through Macon county.
The resolution was presented to the County Court, and the court ordered an election. There were several propositions, mostly condi- tional. One was that the line should be located through Bloomington. The condition of the charter, "on the dividing ridge, or as near as may be," satisfied many that it could not legally be located through Bloom- ington, and the proposition was voted down at the election.
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
For some time after this the managers of the road talked of run- ning it through Shelby and Monroe counties, leaving Macon out in the cold. Perhaps this would have been done but for the mandate conveyed in the words of the charter. The road was finished to Macon in Feb- ruary, 1859. It curved up to the Hannibal and St. Joseph track and for some years there was a Union depot at Macon to serve both roads. Macon was the northern terminal. Later on the line was extended to Kansas City, the western division starting out at Moberly. The north- ern division was continued on to Des Moines, Iowa.
In the course of a few years the road was acquired by the Toledo, Wabash & Western railroad system and its name changed to the Wabash.
The construction of the North Missouri railroad to Macon gave that town, perhaps, the greatest boom it ever had. An auction sale of lots occurred in the presence of several thousand people. The bidding was lively and good prices realized for the property. This feature of Macon is treated in another chapter.
What was called the Alexandria and Bloomington road was sur- veyed from the Mississippi river to Bloomington in 1862. The purpose was to build another road across the state. The project was abandoned because of the war.
The last trunk line to go through Macon county was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. This was constructed in 1887, by the Chicago, Santa Fe and California Railway Company of Iowa. Construction contracts were let in December. 1886, and the first train was run over the road on the first day of January, 1888. The work was pushed very rapidly, because the engineers of the system were in a hurry to get a through line into Chicago. The road runs twenty-six miles through the western and northern portions of Macon county. During the first construction the permanent work on the roadbed was planned so as to admit of a double track, an improvement which has recently been made. The Santa Fe is the only double track system passing through Macon county. Following the building of this road many important towns sprang up in the north and west part of the county, and the large town of La Plata was given a decided commercial impetus.
One of the largest contractors' suits ever before a Missouri court developed ont of the construction of the Santa Fe railroad in this sec- tion. After the work approached its completion it became evident that the engineers for the railroad and those employed by the contractors, Benezette, Williams & Co., of Chicago, would never agree on the amount
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
due on the final estimates. The section in dispute started at the Grand river in Chariton county, and ran a short ways northeast of Ethel in Macon county, a distance of forty miles. The main contention was as to the character of the earth, which the contractors insisted was hard- pan, and should be classified as such. The method of classifying the material, allowances made for hauling and the alleged arbitrary change of grade at the Wabash road and also a change in the line, were among the points in dispute.
The plaintiffs claimed a balance due them on final estimates of $188,311.74. The railway engineers figured the balance due the con- tractors was only $30,399.06.
The litigation was filed in the Macon Circuit Court about the time the road began operating trains.
The parties appeared in court for the first time in September, 1889. The road introduced in evidence the contract signed by all the parties, according to which the measurements made by the railway engineers were to govern. The plaintiffs contended that while they had signed the contract in good faith, yet they had a right to set it aside if they could show fraud or capriciousness on the part of the railway engineers. Judge Ellison sustained the contract, refused to pass on the quantum meruit and the contractors appealed to the Supreme Court of Missouri. The Supreme Court reversed the case and remanded it for a hearing on the quantum meruit. This meant an inquiry into all the matters raised by the contractors.
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