Celebrating 125 years of trains

Cape Girardeau's first train rolled into town in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 125 years ago to much fanfare -- boisterous bands, cheering crowds and a huge celebration.

At least that's the way Louis Houck, the man who had the railroad built, told the story for years.

Except that's not exactly the way it happened.

William Penny, the train's chief engineer that night, summed it up years later with a less triumphant version. He said there were no people in sight, the saloons were all closed and there certainly was no band or cheering crowds.

In fact, the train would only operate in reverse, so it had to come into town backward, Rhodes said. If true, that means the mural depicting the scene on the downtown floodwall is less than accurate.

"He obviously embellished that story, and he liked to do that. He was a big self-promoter," said Joel Rhodes, a history professor at Southeast Missouri State University who is currently working on a biography of Houck.

In fact, Rhodes' research shows that Houck's construction of the city's first railroad was a "comedy of errors," riddled with construction problems, continuous setbacks and laborers who knew next to nothing about railroad construction.

Chief among those who knew little about railroad building was Houck himself, Rhodes said.

"He knew nothing about the railroad," Rhodes said. "He was ignorant of even the most rudimentary railroading concept."

But Rhodes speaks fondly of Houck and said how the railroad came to be doesn't diminish what it meant to the history of Cape Girardeau, which Rhodes contends saved it by allowing the logging industry to take root. In fact, he intends for his biography to be titled: "The Father of Southeast Missouri."

"By the early 20th century, Cape Girardeau starts to boom into a town," Rhodes said. "Houck's railroads were probably the impetus of that."

During his research, he found a quote in the old Cape Girardeau Democrat newspaper that said: "Jesus Christ saved the sinners and Louis Houck saved Cape Girardeau."

Jeanette Juden, whose husband Andy is the great-grandson of Louis Houck, also has studied her family's history. Louis Houck, originally of Mascoutah, Ill., originally had worked with his father in whatever German newspaper his father currently owned or worked for as he grew up, she said.

But Houck was not happy with the future of the trade as the German newspapers were becoming a thing of the past, she said. Houck studied law and became a lawyer, she said. He later spent time in St. Louis and later Cairo, Ill.

During that time, he became friends with a man -- she only knows him as Mr. Doyle -- in Cape Girardeau. Louis then decided to set up a law office in Cape Girardeau.

It was there he met Mary Hunter Giboney, and they were soon married. The new Mrs. Houck would play an integral role in the building of the train later on.

While he practiced law, Houck got the job to clear the title of -- and disentangle the property rights of -- the old Cape Girardeau and State Line Railroad Co. in 1875. That was the city's first attempt at building a railroad, but unfortunately the company ran out of money and abandoned the project.

By 1878, Houck was successful in freeing the line of a mortgage. After the suit was won, the State Line Railway Co. tried to interest the people of Cape Girardeau in building a line that would connect to the Iron Mountain Railroad.

But, after being burned in the first deal in which the city had put up $300,000, no one was interested in acquiring the franchise for the property and 40 miles of track that had been laid by the State Line, Juden said. But Houck's lawyer fees were contingent on the construction of the line.

Houck decided then it would be up to him to construct the line himself. He bought some books on building railroads and put together a plan for the line. Somehow he convinced the people it was in their best interest to have a railroad and got the court to release the property where the failed railroad had been started. He then used some of his own money, got a $20,000 bank loan and sold some stock to come up with the money.

"That's what's so charming," Rhodes said. "He thinks: 'Build a railroad? How hard can that be? I can do that.'"

His plan was to build the railroad from the connecting line near Dutchtown to Cape Girardeau. In August 1880, Houck made a deal. He said he could build the 15 miles of track by Jan. 1, he could own the property and the railroad. If he wasn't finished, then the failed railroad company could have all the land and the work Houck did get finished, Rhodes said.

Houck hired people who didn't know much about railroad building to work for him. That's because the people who applied lied and said they were railroad builders, Rhodes said. Because Houck didn't know railroading, he had no way of knowing.

"He's surrounded by incompetence and he doesn't know anything himself," Rhodes said. "So it was just a comedy of errors as they tried to build this railroad."

And it was a horrible experience. In fact, after four months, Houck's men had only laid four of the 15 miles. In early December, he still had eight miles of track to lay in less than a month and Houck thought it couldn't be done.

That's when Houck's wife, Mary, suggested giving the men $100 if they could meet certain incentives. The workers started to make up ground.

Miraculously, on Dec. 31, 1880, they were within 100 yards of Cape Girardeau. Houck, excited and knowing they had all of Jan. 1 to finish, decided to give the men the night off.

But his wife Mary heard of this, rode out to the site on horseback and admonished him.

"She reminds him that it's New Year's Eve," Rhodes said. "She knows these guys are going to get drunk and never come back."

Mary suggested another bonus -- an extra day's pay if the men would work throughout the night to finish the line.

The work got finished and the train arrived at 2 a.m. Jan. 1, 1881.

The Houck Lines eventually extended 500 miles and included three railroad systems -- one to Cape Girardeau's south, one to the west and one to the north.

They eventually connected to all the major railroading networks. And Rhodes agrees that it may have saved Cape Girardeau.

"For years after that, there was no doubt in anybody's mind that this had been the saving grace," Rhodes said.

Eventually, Houck sold the railroad for a fortune.

But Rhodes said that's just like Houck.

"It's too simple to say he was self-serving," Rhodes said. "He had a sincere affection for Southeast Missouri. But there was a great deal of interest in his own private gain. That's really the genius of Houck. He convinced the people of Cape Girardeau that they were the same thing.

"And it worked."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137