Forwarded from list adm. at request of list member-
Thank you, Wayne.
That was an excellent summery.
I thought if I posed the question to the list that I might receive a reply. I know that
my grandfather, who was born in 1878, began to ride the old KATY line as a young reporter
to the towns up and down the tracks. He gathered the local news to be published in The
Chronicle in Cedar City. It was his first "good money making" job. I am
surprised that the establishment of the KATY was not till 1895 though. I knew that there
were landings on the river at both Jefferson City and Cedar City for river traffic. Thus
it makes sense that folks could travel from points east and arrive at Cedar City to make
homes in Callaway County.
So much for the family lore that "the Hodges traveled all the way from Virginia by
rail." Maybe at some point they had to get their feet wet on a river boat!
I think it's obvious that I still need a good history book! I also need to buy the
Callaway County history books.
Thanks again,
Kay Morris
In a message dated 7/23/04 8:44:57 PM Mountain Daylight Time, johnsonwe(a)earthlink.net
writes:
Dear Kay,
The transportation routes into Callaway County varied with the time period.
1812 to 1825 was divided between overland on the Boonslick Trail and by
keelboat on the Ohio-Mississippi-Missouri Rivers. Starting about 1825 there
was the beginning of travel on the Missouri River by steamboat so most of
the immigration was divided between overland and the steamboats. By the
late 1880's the steamboat travel and freight had begun to significantly
decrease; but the death knell wasn't sounded until the KATY Railroad was
established through central Missouri North of the Missouri River in 1895.
The final crushing blow to steamboat traffic on the Missouri River was
delivered in 1903 with the great flood on the Missouri and tributaries.
This is what wiped out a number of small towns along the river like
Barkersville, Hord's Landing, and Cote Sans Dessein and finished steamboat
traffic forever. These population centers changed to the small railroad
station towns along the KATY line like Cedar City, North Jefferson,
Wainwright, Tebbetts, and Steedman; even leaving small communities like
Effie that was not on the river banks at all. The availability of train
transportation forever changed the face of Southern Callaway County from
river centered population to rail centered population. It was not until the
mid to late 1930's that transportation was again changed by the appearance
of major paved state highways which began the slow steady decline of the
rail system and again started changes in the centers of population.
Sincerely yours,
Wayne Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~