USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > The history of Buchanan County, Missouri > Part 61
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the proposed park on the section line, to a point near A. P. Goff's resi- dence, making a splendid boulevard two miles long. Mrs. Corby has consented to give half the road where it strikes her line, and, also, to. give the right of way, one hundred feet wide, through her land for a drive, which will deflect to the east and run partly through her land and partly through the park to a point on the Rochester Road, just north of Ashland. The drive will continue on the Rochester Road to a point known as "Lovers' Lane," returning on that drive will pass A. P. Goff's residence, and intersect the boulevard, running north from Twenty-sec- ond Street. This makes a drive of about five miles, a great portion of which is beautifully shaded. Frederick Avenue, from Twenty-second Street and the Rochester Road, passing W. G. Fairleigh's, Captain Charles West's, John B. Hundley's, and William Carson's places, to intersect the boulevard passing east out of the park, will also form one of the beautiful drives.
NEW ULM PARK.
New Ulm Park is located about one mile north from the limits of the city, and is accessible by the street railroad. The grounds were laid out about fifteen years ago, and contain eighteen acres of ground, eight of which are enclosed. The grounds are handsomely ornamented with cultivated shade trees of different varieties. At present, there are in the park, as objects of attraction, a few deer, bear, wolves, white rabbits, etc., and several species of birds. Schaeffer & Rosemund are the pro- prietors.
CEMETERIES.
Ashland Cemetery .- Situated on the Rochester Road, one mile northeast of the city limits.
Catholic Cemetery .- Situated southeast of the city limits.
City Cemetery .- Situated on Amazonia Road, one and a quarter miles from the city limits.
King Hill Cemetery .- Situated on the DeKalb Road, two miles south of the city.
Jewish Cemetery .- Situated on the Rochester Road, one and a half miles northeast of the city.
Corby Chapel Cemetery .- Situated on the Amazonia Road, one and a half miles from the city.
Mount Mora Cemetery .- Situated north side of Ridenbaugh, between Thirteenth and Sixteenth Streets.
Oakland Cemetery .- Situated on the Rochester Road, one mile northeast of the city.
DEATH OF JOSEPH ROBIDOUX.
Having, in a former chapter, given a brief biographical sketch of Joseph Robidoux, we shall now record the date of his death, which
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occurred on the 27th day of May, A. D. 1868, at the age of nearly eighty- five years.
The Herald, of May 28, 1868, contains the following in reference to his funeral obsequies :
"The funeral obsequies of the late Joseph Robidoux most con- clusively manifested that the citizens of St. Joseph were not unmind- ful of the deep obligations due to the deceased, the founder of the city, who had so cheerfully sacrificed his time and money to aid the growth and establish the prosperity of St. Joseph.
At noon all the places of business were closed, and in all parts of the city there was a general suspension of business during the remainder of the day. Edmond Street, in the neighborhood of the residence of Jule Robidoux, Sr., was densely crowded during the early hours of the afternoon, by the old and young, all anxious to take a last look at the remains of the old pioneer, whose name is inseparably connected with the city of St. Joseph. Before the hour named for the funeral proces- sion, the neighboring streets were literally packed with conveyances, while the sidewalks were crowded with hundreds of our residents.
Simeon Kemper, Wm. Fowler, Robert Carter, E. W. Welch, Judge Schreiber and Governor R. M. Stewart, all old citizens, officiated as pall-bearers.
At three o'clock, the funeral procession was formed as follows : Police, delegation of firemen, the hearse with the remains of the deceased, guarded by his grand-children, relations of the deceased, the old settlers, the Mayor and members of the City Council, and citizens in general.
The remains of the deceased were taken to the Catholic cemetery and there consigned to their last resting place with all respect."
We know not whether the site of his grave is marked by marble slab or granite shaft, or whether anything exists to tell the stranger of the exact burial place of Joseph Robidoux. We do know, however, that the grandest and most enduring monument of him, is the city he founded. His name, and the names of his children, will live co-extensive in his- tory with the name of St. Joseph.
THE PONY EXPRESS.
One of the most noted events in the history of St. Joseph was the starting, on Tuesday evening, April 3d, 1860, of the pony express for San Francisco.
At a given signal, a cannon shot from the Patee House, the fleet little animal with its light and active rider, darted from the doorway of the old Pike's Peak Stables, which then stood on Penn, between Ninth and Tenth Streets, opposite the Patee Park, and in a few minutes
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was at the United States Express office, on Third Street, between Felix and Edmond. Here, amid the cheers and huzzas of the vast throng assembled to witness the event, the rider received his light burden of . dispatches, and again, at 7:15 P. M., darted off, directing his course to the ferryboat at the foot of Jule Street, and, in a few minutes after, was pursuing his wild career to the distant West.
The St. Joseph Weekly Free Democrat of April 7, 1850, thus refers to this important occasion :
"On last Tuesday evening the pony express of Messrs. Majors, Rus- sell & Co., started from this city amid the shouts and cheers of hundreds of persons who had gathered together on the spot from whence it was to depart, to witness the opening of this grand enterprise.
" All being desirous of preserving a memento of the flying messen- ger, the little pony was almost robbed of his tail. The train which bore the messenger over the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, accomplished the distance from Palmyra to this city, in four hours and fifty minutes, averaging thirty-six miles per hour, including stoppages.
" The pony express made Kinnekuk, a distance of forty-five miles, in four hours and fifteen minutes, and was met by the express from Salt Lake 140 miles out, being then only thirteen hours from St. Joseph."
The Elwood Free Press of Saturday, April 7, 1860, says :
"The pony express from St. Joseph to San Francisco, left Elwood on Tuesday evening, the 3d inst. The following is the time table :
" Elwood* to Marysville, 12 hours ; Fort Kearney, 34 hours ; Lar- amie, 80 hours ; Bridger, 108 hours ; Salt Lake, 124 hours; Camp Floyd, 128 hours ; Carson City, 188 hours ; Placerville, 226 hours; Sacramento, 232 hours ; San Francisco, 240 hours.
"The express carries only telegraphic dispatches. It will run weekly from date."
As may be supposed, the transmission of messages over this line was effected at no trifling cost, and those who had occasion to avail themselves of its convenience made it a point to study brevity of expres- sion. An amusing incident is chronicled as having transpired in this connection. Baldwin, the leading theatrical manager of San Francisco, sent to Artemus Ward, in New York, the following dispatch: "What will you take for forty nights ?" The great humorist, who never lost an ·opportunity for a joke, promptly replied, at the expense of the manager, "Brandy and water." Baldwin, it appears, had the good sense to accept the joke, and by means of a perhaps less ambiguous communication, afterwards effected a mutually profitable engagement with the witty and jocose Artemus.
*Elwood, formerly a thriving, populous village of Kansas, opposite St. Joseph, now ( ISSI) -existing only in name, having long since disappeared by the caving of the Missouri River banks.
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The following interesting scrap of history is taken from the Herald :
The facts narrated constitute the most remarkable feat ever recorded in the annals of time. We regret that the article is not more lengthy, and that all the facts and incidents connected with this ride of two thou- sand miles are not given.
"In 1859, St. Joseph was the western terminus of railroad commu- nication. Beyond, the stage-coach, the saddle-horse and the ox-trains were the only means of commerce and communication with the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Slope. In the winter of 1860, there was a Wall Street lobby at Washington, trying to get $5,000,000 for carrying the mails overland one year between New York and San Francisco. The proposition was extremely cheeky, and Wm. H. Russell, backed by Secretary of War Floyd, resolved to give the lobby a cold shower-bath. He therefore offered to bet $200,000 that he could put on a mail line from San Francisco to St. Joseph that should make the distance-1,950 miles in ten days. The bet was taken and the 8th of April fixed upon as the day for starting. Mr. Russell called his partner and general manager of business upon the plains, Mr. A. B. Miller, now a citizen of Denver, and stated what he had done, and asked if he could perform the feat. Miller replied : 'Yes sir, I'll do it, and do it by pony express.' To accomplish this, Miller purchased 300 of the fleetest horses he could find in the west, and employed 125 men. Eighty of these men were to be post-riders. These were selected with reference to their light weight and their known bravery and courage. It was very essential that the horses should be loaded as light as possible : therefore the lighter the man the better. It was necessary that some portions of the route should be run at the rate. of twenty miles an hour. The horses were stationed from ten to twenty miles apart, and each rider would be required to ride sixty miles. For the change of animals and the shifting of the mails two minutes were allowed. Where there were no stage stations at proper distances, tents sufficient to hold one man and two horses were provided. Indians would sometimes give chase, but their cayuse ponies made very sorry show in their stern chase after Miller's thoroughbreds, many of which could make a single mile in a minute and fifty seconds.
All arrangements being completed, a signal gun on the steamer at Sacramento proclaimed the meridian of April 8th, 1860, the hour for starting-when 'Border Ruffian,' Mr. Miller's private saddle horse, with Billy Baker in the saddle, bounded away toward the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, and made his ride of twenty miles in forty-nine minutes. The snows were deep in the mountains, and one rider was lost for several hours in a snow storm, and after Salt Lake Valley was reached additional speed became necessary to reach St. Joseph on time. From here on all went well until the Platte was to be crossed at Julesburg. The river was up and running rapidly, but the rider
.
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plunged his horse into the flood, only, however, to mire in quicksand and drown. The courier succeeded in reaching the shore, with his mail bag in hand, and traveled ten miles on foot to reach the next relay. Johnny Fry, a popular rider of his day, was to make the finish. He had sixty . miles to ride with six horses to do it. When the last courier arrived at the sixty-mile post, out from St. Joseph, he was one hour behind time. A heavy rain had set in and the roads were slippery. Two hundred thousand dollars might turn upon a single minute. Fry had just three hours and thirty minutes in which to win. This was the finish of the longest race and stake ever run in America. When the time for his arrival was nearly up, at least 5,000 people stood upon the river bank, with eyes turned toward the woods from which the horse and its rider should emerge into the open country in the rear of Elwood-one mile from the finish. Tick, tick, went thousands of watches! The time was nearly up ! But nearly seven minutes remained ! Hark ? a shout goes up from the assembled multitude ! 'He comes! he comes!' The noble little mare 'Sylph,' the daughter of little 'Arthur,' darts like an arrow from the bow and makes the run of the last mile in one minute and fifty seconds, landing upon the ferryboat with five minutes and a fraction to spare.
THE HOMES OF ST. JOSEPH.
Chief among the many attractions of St. Joseph, are the homes of its citizens. There is perhaps no city of its size in the United States that has a greater number of elegant mansions. St. Joseph is to her citizens · what Athens was to the Athenian of the age of Perricles; what Flor- ence was to the Florentine of the fifteenth century. They are not only proud of their city, because of its commercial importance, but especially proud of it because it is associated in their minds with all the domestic affections and endearments of loved homes ; homes to which the banker, the merchant and the shopkeeper repair when the evening shadows fall, knowing that the genial fireside, the social table and the quiet bed are all there. Appropos to the subject, we here quote from the report of the Board of Trade of 1881 :
"A larger percentage of its population live in houses and lots unen- cumbered, owned by their occupants, than any other city in the Great West. Outside of the massive structures of its compact business dis- tricts, stretching for miles, are the neat frame and brick residences of the mechanics, artisans and small shop-keepers, and the cleanly, white cot- tages of the laboring population, each surrounded by a liberal plot of ground, the whole covering a vast territory.
"The wealth of room and air thus afforded the poorer population is increased by numerous little parks and garden plots that dot its wide expanse of white and red with spots of green, so frequent that the chil-
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dren of every neighborhood have a convenient place of recreation in some of them. The first care of every lot owner seems to be to set out trees, principally indigenous elms and maples, which grow in rich luxu- riance, and are so numerous that, viewed from one of our towering bluffs, many portions of the city have the appearance of an unbroken forest or well-kept parks. The householders are equally solicitous about their patches of ground, and their lawns and blooming flower-beds are so com- mon that their absence is the rare exception. The homes of the St. Joseph mechanic are as interesting within as without. The works of refinement and comfort pervade them everywhere.
"The beauty of St. Joseph, unlike other cities, is reflected largely from the homes of its working classes, but it by no means depends entirely upon lovely cottages. Radiating through the avenues and streets devoted to residences, many of which rival the celebrated resi- dential districts of any of our great cities, in the splendor of its archi- tecture, the smoothness of its well-kept pavements, and the expanse and beauty of the grounds surrounding, are elegant mansions, which in some cases cover an entire square. These are not the growth of a day, but in some cases are the monuments of a life of industry and economy."
TOM. FARRIS.
The following we take from the St. Joseph Herald :
St. Joseph became again the headquarters of an organized band of thieves, from 1847 to 1851, who baffled all attempts of officers and law abiding citizens to convict, notwithstanding there are many of them well known, and their robberies almost of weekly occurrence. The gang was headed by one Tom. Farris, an old man of pleasant address and rather prepossessing appearance. He stole everything he wanted, and many things that he did not want, but he could never be detected.
John Corby was the first pork packer in St. Joseph, and he was annoyed very much by "Old Tom. Farris," as he was called, stealing hams from his smoke house for the use of his family and friends. When Mr. Corby proposed to him one day, that if he would take shoulders, he would supply him with all he and his family could use, but he didn't like to have him steal his hams, Old Farris replied that he would rather have hams.
·
During the great rush for California, in the days of '49, Tom. Farris was in his glory, and many a victim to his artful tricks was compelled to pay tribute to the old rogue. In the spring of 1849, the facilities for crossing the Missouri River, were limited to a few unweildy flat boats, and the waters being very high at that season of the year, made the crossing of the thousands of gold seekers very slow and tedious.
The hills and valleys round about St. Joseph were filled with the camps of the sturdy adventurers, and with their tents and camp-fires,
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their white covered wagons, the scene resembled more the camp of a grand army than anything else. It lacked only the blue coat and brass buttons, with the bugles sounding reveille, or retreat, to complete the picture.
Many were compelled to wait for weeks their turn to undergo the trying ordeal of crossing their trains. Tom Farris was busy then. A train of wagons, or perhaps a single outfit, would move to the river bank, preparatory to crossing in the morning, unhitch their cattle, drop their chains in a line, as is the usual custom, and camp for the night, eagerly looking for the morrow, when they would go on their way rejoicing. Lo, and behold ! when morning came they missed their chains and were unable to hitch up. The hind wheel of a wagon was gone. Their time had come to cross after waiting a week or two, and they could not move. No chains could be found in St. Joseph ; the sup- ply was exhausted. To have a new wheel made was next to impossible. What a straight ! There is always a way out of the greatest difficulties. Some ministering angel seems to work out our salvation when we think we are lost. Tom Farris was far from being an angel then ; we don't know what he may be now. However, he appeared as one of these men. A kind, portly, prepossessing old man as he was. He would walk down, with his cane in his hand, along the river bank, and coming to the camp of the unfortunates, would say, "Well, boys, your off to-day ; good luck to you." The conversation would at once turn upon the lost chains and missing wheel. Old Tom would extend his sympathy. "That is too bad ! too bad ! Some mischievious boys, they are always up to some mischief." Tom would engage himself to hunt the wheel up, of course they would pay him well. The old man would hunt diligently for a short time, and finally discover a stout rope fastened to a stake in the water's edge, draw it in, and with the missing wheel, to the joy of the owners. Of course he would get his ten or twenty dollars. "Now, boys, I guess I can help you out on a few chains, though I don't like to let them go, for there are none to be had in these parts, and they are worth money," would come from his generous lips. They would pay any price. Farris had a few barrels of chains salted down. When he would steal the new chains at night, he would put salt on them to rust them, and sell them back to their owners in the morning. Many stores and dwell- ings were robbed from time to time by Farris and his gang, but notwith- standing the leaders were well known, they always managed to evade the law, and it was impossible to fasten any evidence upon them.
·
One fine May day, the good people of St. Joseph became so tired of their stealing, that old Tom and his first lieutenant, a handsome and finely dressed man, was conducted to the top of Prospect Hill, and there received the kind admonitions of the raw-hide to the tune of one hun- dred each, with a pass through the lines good for thirty minutes. This broke up their thieving gang, and St. Joseph had a breathing spell.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE GREAT IRON BRIDGE AND UNION DEPOT.
HISTORY OF THE BRIDGE-DESCRIPTION-CELEBRATION IN HONOR OF ITS COMPLETION -RAILROAD TRAFFIC OVER IT -FOOT AND WAGON TRAFFIC-UNION DEPOT- DESCRIPTION-IT'S NECESSITY-IMPORTANCE TO ST. JOSEPH.
The necessity of a permanent and reliable means of crossing the "uncontrollable and treacherous" stream that flows by the fair City of St. Joseph had long suggested itself to the people of that section of the state, and several organizations had been perfected with a view to con- summating this project ; much time, talk and money had been expended, but nothing done.
Dispairing of the success of any of the measures on foot, a number of practical men subscribed stock, organized a company, to be styled the "St. Joseph Bridge Building Company," prepared their articles of asso- ciation, and were incorporated.
At the first meeting of the incorporators, who were W. P. Hall, J. M. Hawley, J. H. R. Cundiff, J. B. Hinman, John L. Bittinger, James A. Matney, O. M. Smith, I. G. Kappner, John Pinger, J. D. McNeely, Wm. Z. Ransom, Mordecai Oliver and I. C. Parker, they proceeded to the elec- tion of officers, to hold their respective terms for one year, with the fol- lowing result : W. P. Hall, President ; W. Z. Ransom, Vice President ; I. G. Kappner, Treasurer ; John Pinger, Auditor ; J. M. Hawley, Secre- tary. The Finance Committee included Willard P. Hall, I. G. Kappner and James A. Matney.
The Committee on Survey was composed of Willard P. Hall, J. M. Hawley and J. B. Hinman.
On the 25th of January, 1871, there was submitted to the vote of the people of St. Joseph an ordinance authorizing a subscription of five thou- sand shares to the capital stock of the "St. Joseph Bridge Building Com- pany," amounting to $500,000, the bonds payable at the National Bank of Commerce, in the City of New York, twenty years after their date, bearing interest at the rate of ten per cent. per annum. The vote resulted in a unanimous majority-only nineteen votes being cast against the ordinance.
The services of Colonel E. D. Mason, an engineer whose works have since achieved him a national reputation, were immediately secured.
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By the 6th of February, H. H. Kelley, Col. Mason's first assistant, arrived in the city and commenced the preliminary survey, which extended from the rock bluffs near Belmont to a point seven miles below the city. The fall in the low water channel for that distance was found to be 82-100 of a foot to the mile.
The annual rain fall in the basin, drained by the river at St. Joseph, averages nineteen and a half inches, while that of the basin below is twenty-six inches; so, but three-fourths of the water flowing out of the Missouri River at its mouth passes the city.
As might have been expected, considerable difference of opinion existed as to the proper location of the bridge which, finally, however, was wisely left to the judgment of the engineer, Col. Mason.
The original ordinance subscribing $500,000 required an expenditure of $100,000 by the company. before $50,000 of the city bonds could be touched, and $100,000 more in order that the second $50,000 could be secured, and so on. Although every effort of the Directors of the Bridge Company was made to raise, by private subscription $100,000, the sum necessary to commence the work, only $18,000 was raised.
The Council met on the 2d of May to revise and modify the ordi- nance of the former subscription so as to authorize the payment of fifty per cent. of the city's subscription in bonds on calls.
At the election on the 23d of the same month, the amendment was carried by an overwhelming majority-a manifest evidence that the people of St. Joseph were fully alive to the vast importance of spanning the river between the Missouri and Kansas shores, with a bridge at this point, at the earliest possible moment.
June 10, 1871, the day appointed for opening the sealed proposals for constructing a railroad, wagon and foot bridge across the Missouri River at St. Joseph, according to the specifications of the Chief Engineer, Colonel E. D. Mason, showed the following bids from six great com- panies, which were as follows :
Baltimore Bridge Company. $1,175,000
King Wrought Iron Bridge Company 806,000
American Bridge Company 714,000
Keystone Bridge Company (for the superstructure alone) 260,000 Phoenixville Bridge Company (for the superstructure alone) . . 317,000 Detroit Bridge and Iron Works 710,000
The bids being considered, the following resolution was unanimously adopted :
Resolved, That, whereas, the Detroit Bridge and Iron Works Com- pany has shown its capacity for bridge building, by building bridges at Burlington, Quincy and Hannibal, and now has boats and all necessary machinery, etc., for the prosecution of the work ; therefore this company
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accepts the bid of the Detroit Bridge and Iron Works Company, it being the best and lowest bid.
The contractors' bond was fixed at $ 100,000.
On July 25, 1871, the first material arrived. This was in the shape of a train load of stone, on the St. Joseph and Denver City Road, from White's Camp, Kansas. The first stone was laid September 26th, in the presence of a large assemblage of people.
December 8, 1871, the arduous task of landing pier six on bed-rock was accomplished.
January 31, 1872, the caisson for pier five was landed on bed-rock.
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