In Harold Bell Wright's "The Shepherd of the Hills" there's a quote from Dad Howitt on page 350 that I'd like to share.
"Before many years a railroad will find its way yonder. Then many will come, and the beautiful hills that have been my strength and peace will become the haunt of careless idlers and a place of revelry. I am glad that I shall not be here."
I vividly remember reading that quote the very first time in Mrs. Hilton's seventh grade reading class when we read "Shepherd" together near the end of the school year. It's without question Wright spoke from a prophetic angle about the direction our neighborhood would go. The railroad he spoke of is something that's always been fascinating to me. The project was still under construction in the summer of 1905 while he was camped here on the Ross place to the south of Garber gathering his thoughts and taking notes for the manuscript of the novel.
That railroad would become the line that brought all of the fans and readers to our Roark Valley to see the Shepherd of the Hills Country for themselves. For a few moments, I'd like to discuss the early developments of the White River Railway.
From what I've gathered, the details of the railroad through our community were finalized in late 1902. The White River Railway Company had been founded in Arkansas in February 1901. The proposed route was basically an extension of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It would run in a southeast direction from Carthage, Missouri, crossing the White River at Branson and continue onward to Diaz, Arkansas. The proposed route was to cost just shy of two million dollars.
By the spring of 1903, construction was well underway, which would last almost three years. Laborers on the project consisted of large numbers of local men, helping clear the right of way, but the more difficult work was done by foreign workers. By August 1903, there were reports that 5,000 men were working on the railway, many from Austria and Italy.
Five tunnels were constructed along the project. Those workers who were exposed to the greatest danger were paid the most, earning three dollars a day. The workers who handled road bed, track laying and bridge construction earned two dollars a day, while many of the local men, who cut wood and did right of way clearing earned a dollar a day. Steady employment and good wages would be the norm for two years-plus.
In the summer of 1903, work was moving along on the massive tunnel project just east of present-day Reeds Spring. It was reported that 250 men worked on the tunnel project. Blasts were heard as far away as Mansfield, Missouri, a distance of seventy miles. The tunnel would be 2,900 feet in length when the track was laid through it in 1905.
J.K. Ross, who was the correspondent for the Taney County Republican newspaper gave many reports of the construction and tunnel progress. Here's what he had to say on October 22, 1903.
"Making a personal investigation last week, workers are 560 feet on the east end, and 200 feet on the west, making one-fifth of which the tunnel is to penetrate. It's well worth anyone's time to take a look at this work, for the pencil cannot describe its magnitude. For instance, they have filled up one prong of Roark, and are now hauling rock through a cut and dumping it into another fill. You can step to the edge of this and see the rock tumbling down ninety feet below to the bed of Roark! What a place for a train to leave the track! Following down the creek a half mile or so the line crosses the creek proper. Here again will be a bridge eighty or ninety feet in the air."
Also during 1904, blasting on the rock cuts from the tunnel coming down Roark would continue for nearly a year. Mr. Ross also mentioned that it sounded like a continuous thunderstorm.
Spectators from all over would gather to watch the progress of the railroad, especially during the time of track laying. Finally, by June 1905, the tracks were laid to Branson. The sounds of work trains would become a familiar sound to all residents.
During the construction of the line, workers had started on each end working to connect both sides. The last spike was driven on Friday, December 29, 1905, at 5:15 p.m. This historic moment took place on the Arkansas side, along a very remote section. The general public was not able to participate in the event.
Completed were 239 miles of track, and the cost of the project was way beyond what they originally proposed. Because of our rough Ozarks terrain, figures for the White River Railway came to $52,000 a mile. The total cost was $12,445,160. A grand total of 284 bridges were built.
The first official passenger train would run the line on January 21, 1906. Stay tuned; next week I'll go into greater detail on that historic day!
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