Not many are acquainted with the history of the Frisco emblem or insignia, which appears on time tables, advertising material, annual reports, letterheads, calendars, etc.

Several years ago a pageant was given at Springfield, Mo., which told the history of that city on the Frisco Lines, and after much research the story of how the Frisco emblem came into being was uncovered. The story, as written below, is authentic, and was compiled by Miss Eula Mae Stratton, an employee in the Springfield General Office.

Before the turn of the century, so the old timers say, Mr. G.H. Nettleton, then Vice-President of the railroad (which was then known as the old KCM&B) was making an inspection tour of the system. The train pulled into the station of Neosho, Mo., (although some say it was Carthage, most historians however say it was Neosho), with the private car stopping in view of the west end of the depot building on which was tacked a coon hide to dry.

When Mr. Nettleton saw the coon hide, he immediately summoned the agent (a Mr. Sam Albright, so the story goes), to the business car. “What’s that thing tacked onto the depot?” roared the Vice-President, “and just why are we using company property for tanning hides?”

We are told that Sam, not a soft spoken man anyway, and a very busy railroader, told the Vice-President that it was hard to support a family on the $1.25 per ten hour day railroading, and that he was catching, tanning and selling coon hides to supplement his salary.

“Don’t you know railroading comes first?” said the Vice-President, and then to Sam’s surprise the Vice-President grinned and said, “Well, having a hobby is O.K. How much will you take for that coon skin?”

The story goes on to say that Sam was so startled that he blurted out “Two bucks”. The deal was closed, leaving Sam in wonderment as to what on earth the official wanted with the pelt.

But it was not long afterward until ink outlines of the tightly stretched coon hide began to appear on Frisco drawing boards in the General Office Drafting Room in St. Louis, but instead of hanging up and down, the hide was turned horizontally.

The word ‘F R I S C O’ was inserted inside the coon skin outline and the trade mark emerged as

Early in 1900 many documents carried the emblem and in 1904 the time cards came out with the now well known cut. The emblem is the pride of all Frisco employees, as it stands for service to shippers and passengers in the territory it serves.

The original coon skin from which the emblem was visualized, is framed and hangs in the General Office Building in St. Louis.

HISTORY OF THE ST. LOUIS-SAN FRANCISCO (FRISCO) RAILWAY COMPANY

The name -- St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company represents aspirations rather than eventualities, as Frisco tracks extend west scarcely within half a continent of the Golden Gate.

The year 1849 was one of the great pioneering excitement. The war with Mexico was over and California was a part of the nation. Gold had been discovered. National enthusiasm for a railroad to span the continent was high. St. Louis was a scene of a great railroad convention to give voice to that enthusiasm. A good description of public sentiment is contained in a pamphlet published in Boston the same year, entitled, “Boston Plan -- Railroad from St. Louis to San Francisco”.

The author of the pamphlet wrote --

“The iron will of the sovereign people, pointing to the imperative necessity of the immediate completion (it had not been begun) of the St. Louis and San Francisco Raiload, a work whose very existence will give us the mastery of the Pacific and the India seas, thereby averting foreign wars, by warning foreign powers of the necessity of being on good terms with so powerful a country as ours; a work whose very existence will ward off Indian wars; a work which will enable us to carry the mail and to transmit telegraphic intelligence in the only way worthy of the age we live in; a work which will furnish a great mart in Oregon and California for the agricultural products of the Mississippi Valley and for the domestic fabrics of the eastern and middle states; in fine, a work which will render insoluble the ties of our ancient with our modern possessions.”

Although not used until some 25 years later, the author of the ‘Boston Plan’ had given name to our company, The St. Louis and San Francisco Railway.

The original and present-day line of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (here-in-after called Frisco) originated in St. Louis as the ‘Southwestern Branch’ of the old Pacific Railroad, chartered on March 12, 1849, by the Missouri Legislature. The Pacific Railroad was chartered to build a railroad from St. Louis to the western boundary of the state, there to meet any line which would be built east from the Pacific Coast. Its projected route was from St. Louis to Jefferson City to Sedalia to Independence and Kansas City, a line south of the Missouri River and substantially parallel to it. This old ‘Pacific’ railroad, for which first ground was broken in St. Louis on July 4, 1851, was the first of the steam railroads constructed west of the Mississippi River.

The road was planned as a result of the several great exploratory expeditions carried on by Capt. (later General) John C. Fremont. His idea was to forthwith connect the Mississippi Valley and Missouri River to California, Oregon, and the Pacific Coast with one or more trunk railroads, with wagon road auxiliaries.

Fremont’s father-in-law, Senator Thos. H. Benton, of St. Louis who was backing Fremont and ardently spurring the federal congress, of which he was a member, did perhaps more than any other national legislator to convert Fremont’s exploratory surveys into practical national railroad building. His ringing speech, made at the great 1849 St. Louis railroad convention, so stirred St. Louis people that Mr. Thomas Allen, a Missouri legislator and first president of the old Pacific Railroad, had little difficulty in raising the huge cash subscriptions needed to get the road under actual construction.

A first survey of the general route, designed eventually to connect St. Louis as well as Memphis, to the Pacific coast at San Francisco, had been laid down by Fremont as early as 1845. Such reconnaissance had blazed a route from Ft. Gibson through the Missouri towns or future townsites of Springfield, Lebanon, Waynesville and Rolla that closely approximate the present Frisco main line from Oklahoma City to St. Louis.

Surveys for actual construction were begun in May 1850, under the direction of a former engineer of the New York and Erie, James P. Kirkwood, for whom a St. Louis suburb was named. Actual construction began on July 4,1851.

On July 23, 1852 the first division of the Pacific Railroad Company was opened for business, from St. Louis to Franklin (now Pacific), Missouri, a distance of 37 miles. Even before the opening of the first stretch of the road, the Pacific Company had obtained legaslative authority to construct a branch line to leave its main projected route at Franklin and extend to Springfield and southwest Missouri. The new line was called the Southwest Branch of the Pacific Railroad, and it was this branch that was destined to become the nucleus of the Frisco system. Work was begun on it in June 1855 and by December 1860 the Southwest Branch was opened to Rolla, Missouri.

In the mean time the Pacific Line had been extended to Missouri cities of Washington, Jefferson City and Sedalia. The latter place remained the terminus until 1865, when the line was extended to Kansas City. Rolla remained the terminus of the Southwest Branch during the entire Civil War, westbound supplies from St. Louis and the east were transferred from freight car to wagon train. Raids by Confederate troops inflicted serious damage on the line, and after the war both the parent Pacific Company and its Southwest Branch defaulted on their indebtedness to the State of Missouri and were separately sold in 1867 to satisfy the lien. At that time they became separate entities, the parent line became the core of the Missouri Pacific System. The Southwest Branch was purchased personally by General John C. Fremont. Fremont was one of the most colorful figures of the day. Having acquired great wealth from the discovery of gold in his California properties, he also obtained through the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad which he also organized, a valuable Federal land grant and right of way including millions of acres of good land. He proposed to continue the Southwest Branch all the way from St. Louis to San Francisco, California, along the route of a survey he had completed as early as 1845.

By 1868 Fremont had failed financially (or his Southwest Pacific Railroad had), and the line with all property went to the South Pacific Railroad Company of which Francis B. Hayes of Boston, was president. Mr. Andrew Peirce was made resident and managing director of the new company with headquarters in St. Louis. Under his guidance the railroad was extended to Springfield, Missouri which place it reached on May 3, 1870. By June 11, 1870 the line was opened as far as Pierce City, 288 miles out of St. Louis. Later the same year it reached Neosho. In May of 1871 it reached the border town of Seneca on the Missouri-Oklahoma state line; later that same year it was completed to Vinita.

In 1870 the South Pacific had been merged with the Atlantic & Pacific. In 1872 the A&P leased the original Pacific road running from St. Louis to Kansas City. During the years 1872 to 1881 the A&P built and acquired a network of short lines running to and through the rich lead and zinc mining towns of Carthage, Webb City, Joplin, Oronogo, Galena and other points. These roads also tapped the rich coal fields of western Missouri and eastern Kansas.

The year 1876 saw the final separation of the Southwest Branch line from any connection with the St.Louis - Kansas City route from which it stemmed.

The A&P holdings were heavily mortgaged forcing sale for satisfaction of debt. On September 6, 1876 it was sold at public auction to Andrew Peirce and in turn was conveyed to the newly organized St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Company. Two days later on September 8, 1876 the St.Louis-Kansas City road, which had also been controlled by the A&P was sold, also to Mr. Peirce. Stockholders of the new Frisco Company opposed the sale as a maneuver of the old A&P interests to maintain control of both lines. The feared attempt to resume control did not materialize and the old main line of the Pacific Railroad was conveyed to C. K. Garrison of St. Louis who organized it as the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company.

The separation of the lines was now complete except for the difficulty that the new Frisco Company had of getting into St. Louis without using the tracks of the Missouri Pacific for the 37 mile distance from Franklin (now Pacific). It built and completed its own line in 1883, before construction and during its building it rented track rights from the Missouri Pacific.

In 1884 there began a series of extensions of the Frisco, construction was started at Beaumont, Kansas in 1885 and reached Gale on the Kansas - Oklahoma border February 1, 1886. A branch line was also built in 1886 from Cuba to Salem.

Also in 1884 the Frisco by purchase and partial construction made a direct connection between Springfield and Kansas City, this portion owned by a subsidiary, the Kansas City, Osceola and Southern. This line gave direct competition to the Kansas and Neosho Valley Railroad who by 1885 were definitely headed for Springfield, Memphis and Birmingham, under their subsidiary the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad. As this road has special significance in the development of the Frisco, we pause to review some of its history.

Kersey Coates of Kansas City was the first president when incorporated on March 8, 1865, and this road was the first built south out of Kansas City. In 1868 the name was changed to Missouri River, Fort Scott and Gulf. The intent was to reach the gulf through Indian Territory and Texas.

Construction started March 7, 1866 and opened to Olathe December 16, 1868, Fort Scott December 6, 1869 and Baxter Springs on May 2, 1870. This ‘Gulf’ road was granted the right to construct a north-south rail road through Indian Territory provided it was the first to reach the Kansas-Oklahoma state line in the valley of the Neosho River. Baxter Springs on the Spring River, a tributary of the Neosho, offered the Gulf road $150,000.00 to enter that city. The road accepted but the change cost the Gulf the franchise as the ‘Katy’, rival of the Gulf for the franchise reached the line at the exact place. This enabled the Katy to rapidly build its line through what is now Oklahoma, and eventually through Texas to the gulf.

This, together with the Frisco connection with the Katy at Vinita, reduced the Gulf’s business to local shiprnent. Through Gulf’s management however, coal operators in the Fort Scott fields were organized into bona fide coal mining companies and on June 11, 1874 the Fort Scott Southeastern and Memphis Railway, a subsidiary of the Gulf, was incorporated to serve the coal banks and construction of a six mile spur was made to the coal beds. This ‘offshoot’ took strong root and eventually extended from Fort Scott to Springfield to Memphis, Birmingham and Pensacola.

Having their hopes to reach the Gulf of Mexico through Oklahoma and Texas blasted by the Katy, a new route was conceived and in 1874 the Gulf changed executive control. General George H. Nettleton was named chief executive officer, and until his death in 1896 was the driving force behind the Kansas City to gulf route through Springfield, Memphis and Birmingham. During the years 1878-1879 the Gulf, overloaded with stocks, bonds and mortgages, suffered foreclosure sale and Mr. Nettleton was named receiver. It was then purchased by a group of Boston financiers who retained Nettleton. In April 1879 the Springfield and Western Railroad was purchased. This line was built in 1878 and extended from Springfield to Ash Grove. The line not yet connected with the Gulf, had to use its competitor the Frisco, however on May 25, 1881, the Gulf road completed a section between Fort Scott and Ash Grove, giving the Frisco main line an active competition.

The Frisco acquired a direct line frorn Springfield to Kansas City (begun in 1884 and completed in 1889, the Kansas City, Osceola and Southern, otherwise known as the ‘Clinton Cutoff’).

Not to be outdone by the Frisco, the Gulf in 1884, acquired several Missouri areas suitable for coal mining and at once projected a line to meet the Frisco competition. They built the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railroad, which left the Gulf at Olathe, closely paralleled the Frisco cutoff, struck the Fort Scott-Springfield line at Ash Grove and then ran into Springfield over the old Springfield and Western. Rivalry so created was one of the reasons why the two systems were later to be consolidated and now belong to the Frisco.

Financial backing at this time was readily available and the Gulf pushed on from Springfield to the gulf. Under a subsidiary the Kansas City, Springfield and Memphis Railroad, construction started out of Springfield in the spring of 1882 and progressed as follows --

May 25, 1882, 25 miles southeast of Springfield completed.

January 22, 1883, line extended to West Plains.

July (?), 1883 the line completed to Memphis (west bank of Mississippi River).

On April 10, 1886 the Gulf road took possession of the failing ventures of several groups that had tried to build a line from Memphis to Birmingham, being partially built from Memphis to Holly Springs. The new Gulf subsidiary was known as the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham Railroad Company. The line was completed and opened for operation on October 17, 1887.

When first organized the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham was controlled by the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Company of Kansas through its subsidiaries the Kansas City, Springfield and Memphis Companies of Missouri and Arkansas. In 1888 the companies were consolidated under the name of Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad Cornpany, incorporated under the laws of Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas.

Traffic across the Mississippi at Memphis was ferried until May 3, 1892, when the present bridge was completed by the Gulf Company.

Not only obstacles of various reorganizations during the years 1872 to 1887 hampered the Frisco, one other being the Indian nations objections to Frisco’s survey and construction through what is now Oklahoma. Through the Atlantic and Pacific charter secured by General Fremont in 1866 that railroad clearly had the right to build through Indian territory and the United States Governrnent clearly was under the obligation to aid the road in securing the proper right of way and title to the Indian lands involved. Federal agencies however, sided with the Indians, so that in the end the Frisco (or Atlantic & Pacific) main line from Vinita west to Albuquerque, the Colorado River and thence to San Francisco was never built by the Company.

Between 1881 and 1896, the Frisco and Atlantic & Pacific companies became pawns in the hands of the Santa Fe system and the Jay Gould and Union - Central Pacific management, so that the Frisco’s holdings in its great, St. Louis-San Francisco federal land grant charter were utilized by the Santa Fe road and the Frisco jointly in building the present Santa Fe from Albuquerque to the Colorado River. The Frisco gave the Santa Fe road outright half of the franchise rights, and paid half the construction costs of the Albuquerque-Colorado River line. Then the Frisco lost to the Santa Fe all it had put into that venture. Moreover on the Frisco and Atlantic & Pacific franchise, the Southern Pacific road completed the link from the Colorado River to San Francisco, then sold that link to the Santa Fe system. The Frisco managed to salvage something like a million acres of New Mexico-Arizona land from this sad venture. In order to get some little beneifit from the Frisco-Santa Fe tie-up, the Frisco between the years 1872 and 1880 built a connecting line, the St. Louis, Wichita and Western, connecting the town of Pierce City on the Frisco main line to Wichita, Kansas, where it joined the main line of the Santa Fe. The Oklahoma main line was extended during the Frisco-Santa Fe liaison. It was built from Vinita to Tulsa in 1882, Tulsa to Red Fork in 1885, Red Fork to Sapulpa in 1886 and extension to Oklahoma City and Lawton in 1883 was made. On July 9,1880 work was started on a line from Missouri to Texas,crossing the Arkansas River at Van Buren and Fort Smith and extending through southeast Oklahoma to Paris, Texas. This line was completed on July 1, 1887 and made connection with the Texas and Pacific to Dallas and Fort Worth.

In 1890 Frisco came directly under the management of the Santa Fe and by 1893 it was in the hands of receivers. Management, however continued under Santa Fe direction until reorganization of the Frisco was made in 1896. During this time, up to 1896, the Frisco shared with the Santa Fe in the coastwise traffic from St. Louis to San Francisco, over the Western Division of the Atlantic & Pacific road (the New Mexico-Arizona stretch), which was partly the property of the Frisco. All this was terminated when the Frisco-Santa Fe divorce came, in 1896. Thereafter the Frisco, stripped of all its franchise through New Mexico and Arizona and from the Colorado River to San Francisco -- and unable to gain necessary right of way for its Central Division extending from Vinita to Albuquerque -- to all practical purposes abandoned the direct Vinita-Albuquerque line and turned to a new plan of building an Oklahoma network.

Thus the period from 1876 to 1896 saw the definite development of the present main lines of the Frisco-St. Louis to Oklahoma and Kansas City to Birmingham. The idea of a long line to the Pacific Coast receded, but in its place a development of a system to serve the growing southwest, south central and southeast areas of the nation emerged.

The second Frisco Company, formed in 1896, lasted until 1913. These were years of expansion, and it gradually took form as the Frisco directorate was cleared of officers connected with the Santa Fe system, which had dominated the Frisco since 1880. When the Frisco was reorganized as the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company on June 20, 1896, the road owned and operated some 990 miles of track. On June 30, 1897, this had increased to 1,162 miles. At that time its directors were in part hang-overs from the joint Frisco Santa Fe entanglement, Mr. D.B. Robinson was president and Mr. Benjamin F. Yoakum was vice-president and general manager. In 1900 shed of its Santa Fe influence in the directorate, B. F. Yoakum became the President, and in 1903 became Chairman of the Board. Often referred to in rail history as 'Yoakum's Dream', one of the most spectacular and rapid developments of rail growth in western and Mississippi valley history took place. This history is highlighted in the following 11 paragraphs.

1. A network of new branches of the original Frisco was built to cover central, western and southern Oklahoma.

2. The system was enlarged by acquisition of the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf system, extending from Kansas City, Mo., through Missouri, Arkansas and to Memphis and Birmingham, Ala. The Frisco was interconnected with the 'Gulf' by a number of short stretches, such as the one from Baxter Springs, Kansas through Quapaw and Miami to Afton, Okla.

3. A concerted effort was made to tie Chicago and St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans, by acquirement of control over the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad, building for that road a double track from Pana, Illinois to St. Louis along the right of way of the 'Big Four' (NYC). This C&EI system was directly connected to Gulf ports by arrangements for at least temporary track rights from the Illinois Central, the Missouri Pacifc, the Iron Mountain, and the Texas Pacific railroads.

4. As might become desirable or necessary, entirely new, low-gradient track would be built on a new line down the west bank of the Mississippi River, starting at St. Louis, connecting up to the Chicago and Eastern Illinois terminus at Chaffee, Mo., and running thence to Memphis. This much was the main line of the St. Louis, Memphis and Southeastern Railroad. From Memphis, as needed, the new line would run to a river crossing at Baton Rouge, where it would intersect the new line to be built from New Orleans to Brownsville, Texas. Thence it had track rights to New Orleans.

5. Proceeding on a half-and-half basis with the Southern Railway Company, the Frisco, represented by the New Orleans Terminal Company, its subsidiary, built and acquired extensive terminal track and facilities in and around the city of New Orleans, including the Chalmette docks and terminals. Use of such facilities were traded the Illinois Central and Missouri Pacific systems for track rights from Memphis to New Orleans. These terminal properties cost the Frisco several million dollars.

6. From New Orleans, a brand new trunk line, now called the 'Costal Lines', but then the St.Louis, Brownsville and Mexican Railroad (New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railroad) was built not only to develop the coastal region traversed from New Orleans to Galveston, Corpus Christi and Brownsville, but also the potentially rich San Benito Valley, in the extreme southern tip of Texas, on the Rio Grande River -- now one of the richest of America's fruit and vegetable farming centers. This line also was designed to interconnect Frisco Lines with Mexican National Railways at Laredo, Texas, and at Eagle's Pass.

7. A new southern Oklahoma line, known as the St. Louis, San Francisco and New Orleans Railroad, running from Ardmore and Hugo in Oklahoma to Hope, Ark., was projected and built to facilitate transport of traffic originating in Colorado, south and west Oklahoma, and northern Texas, to New Orleans. This route was designed to be extended west from Ardmore to Lawton, or to Wichita Falls, Texas. From Hope, Ark., it was to run east to a connection with the main new trunk down the Mississippi west bank from Memphis.

8. Through control of the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad, extending southwest from Fort Worth to Brownwood, Brady and Menard and eventually to San Antonio, with a branch from Brady to Eagle's Pass, both Dallas and Fort Worth, as well as the west network of the Frisco System, were to be connected to the Southern Pacific Railroad, and to Mexican lines terminating at Eagle's Pass.

9. Direct connections to Galveston from Fort Worth and from Dallas were planned directly over a two-forked road called the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad. The Dallas and Fort Worth forks converged at Teague, and ran thence a single line to Galveston.

10. The New Orleans terminal facilities, the Chicago and Eastern Illinois road and improvements made thereto, the east-west branch in south Oklahoma (St. Louis, San Francisco and New Orleans), and the St. Louis, Memphis and Southeastern Lines with all the new road or roads on which track rights were procured, were welded together under a new giant railroad company, the Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis and New Orleans Railroad Company. This had a capital stock of one hundred fifty miillion dollars, all of which was guaranteed by the main Frisco corporation.

11. Link the entire Frisco System, as thus developed to the Rock Island Railroad. Most of the Rock Island network was then located to the north of the bulk of the Frisco network. The Rock Island connected Chicago with territory to the Northwest of Chicago, including lowa, and Minnesota. It also covered central and north Missouri, a good portion of Kansas, portions of Arkansas, and had terminal lines in Denver and Colorado Springs. lt had a main line connecting Topeka and Herigton with Wichita Kans., to Enid, Chickasha and Terral, Okla. with connecting line into Fort Worth. It also had a line which, as far back as 1845, had been projected by General Fremont as part of the 35th Parallel route to be taken by the Atlantic & Pacific, predecessor of the Frisco. This line extended from Memphis through Little Rock, Ark., to Oklahoma City and beyond to Amarillo, Texas. This line was in the process of extension to Tucumcari, New Mexico, for connection with the Southern Pacific line up from El Paso, and so to the Pacific Coast. Also, a new line was being built from Herington and Hutchinson, Kansas to join the Oklahoma line terminating at Tucumcari. Various other short lines, such as the one from Bonner to Newport, Arkansas, interconnected the Frisco and Rock Island for rmore effective coordination.

By 1911 practically every feature of the Yoakum plan as outlined above had been carried into effect and completed. The principal link left out was the 'west-side' main line down the Mississippi from Memphis to New Orleans, and the link eastward from Hope, Arkansas joining it. The New Orleans, 'Chalmette' dock facilities were finished, and the 977 mile coastline the 'Brownsville Road' was in operation. As already shown, the Frisco had expanded greatly in Oklahoma, and had taken over the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf System, with its lines to Birmingham.

The St. Louis, Memphis and Southeasten line, 666 miles, connecting St. Louis to Memphis, was operated by the Frisco from July 1,1904. The Chicago and Eastern Illinois lines had been taken over and its Pana-St.Louis line constructed.

Trackage of the Frisco System proper rose from 1,162 miles in 1897 to 1,659 miles in 1900. In 1901 it rose to 1,915 miles and was increased to 3,033 by addition of the 'Gulf' system. By June of 1902, with Oklahoma extensions and the Texas 'Brownwood' line counted, the total mileage was 4,201 and on June 30, 1904 it reached 5,456 miles.

This phenomenal successful development of the Frisco System and relations with the Rock Island was followed by a long string of disasters. Some of these, contributory to the collapse of Frisco's empire were

1. Mexican Republic became the victim of devasting revolutions, wrecking Mexican Railroads and thus the business for the 'Brownsville' road (New Orleans, Texas and Mexico).

2. Operating deficits in 1912-1913 of $904,000 and 1913-1914 of $1,214,000.

3. On March 24, 1912 the Mississippi broke its levees and so completely inundated the Frisco low lying tracks in Arkansas, tying up traffic until May 12, 1912.

4. Levees in Louisiana broke on May 3, 1912, flooding sections of the Brownsville line until June 24, 1912.

5. Because of floods in 1912 net profits were reduced to $177,400 for 1911-1912.

6. In 1911, coal strikes contributed a heavy loss of business.

No railroad system could withstand such operating conditions and on May 27, 1913, the Frisco went into the hands of receivers.

With the Frisco, the C&EI went into receivership. That ended its relations with the Frisco. The New Orleans Brownsville line (New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railroad) also went into receivership. Frisco and Rock Island systems were dissolved. Certain other short lines like the Brownwood line in Texas were sold.

The Frisco continued in receivership up to August 24, 1916, when the present St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company took over what property the system had left. The road was operated during World War I by the United States Government, being released in 1920. From the time of its incorporation in 1916 until 1932, when it went again into the hands of receivers the Frisco made a number of extensions. The Memphis-Birmingham line was extended in 1927 from East Aberdeen to Columbus, Miss. In 1928 the line was further extended from Columbus to Kimbrough, Ala., where it was connected with the Muscle Shoals, Birmingham and Pensacola Railroad, which had been built in the years 1912 to 1915. The Frisco acquired the MSB&P in 1925. Connections to the Gulf of Mexico were completed in 1928 and General George H. Nettleton's ambition to reach the gulf was accomplished - 32 years after his death. Other extensions of the Frisco were made in Missouri, Arkansas and Texas during these years, but the pattern of the system remained essentially as has been previously described.

The depression of 1929 had its effect on the Frisco, and by 1932 the road was in the hands of receivers. In 1933 the status of the road was changed to a trusteeship by court order and the property was operated by trustees until January 1, 1947, when the reorganization of the company was effected. These court appointed trustees provided for an unbroken continuity of executive direction of the Frisco throughout the period of trusteeship. The original trustees were the late J. M. Kurn, president of the bankrupt cormpany, and the late John G. Lonsdale, both of St. Louis. Upon the death of Mr. Lonsdale in 1943, Judge Frank A. Thornpson, of St.Louis, who had been special counsel, was named co-trustee. Mr. Kurn retired in 1945, after which Judge Thompson remained as sole trustee until completion of the reorganization. When the reorganization was completed, Judge Thompson became Chairman of the Board, serving until his death on February 7,1958.

The late Clark Hungerford was named president of the new Frisco on completion of its reorganization. A five year voting trust period, from 1947 through 1951, was established by court order, and under Hungerford's leadership during these years, the railroad gave indication that it still possessed the energetic vitality that had marked its continuous growth.

On December 28, 1948 the Frisco acquired control of the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad Company, which operated between Reform and Mobile, Ala. Prior to the acquisition, the Frisco and the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern interchanged at Aliceville, Ala., with traffic moving into and out of the Port of Mobile. This acquisition brought about possibilities for greater industrial development for Mobile and the territory served by the AT7N, and gave Frisco its second seaport city.

Much of the 1947-1951 period was devoted to building up the Frisco property through modernization and mechanization. A huge multi-million dollar yard, office building and diesel house were constructed at Springfield, the operating hub of the Frisco. Centralized traffic control, to speed Frisco trains and make operations safer, was spread over the system. The latest developments in communication techniques were introduced.

In August 1950, the United States government assumed control of the nation's railroads, pending settlement of contractual disputes with the brotherhoods. Then President Hungerford was appointed colonel in the Army Transportation Corps and placed in charge of the Southwestern Region, embracing 48 railroads. In May 1952 the railroads were returned to private ownership. During this period modernization continued unabated and on February 28, 1952 the last steam locomotive made its final run between Bessemer and Birmingham, Alabama. In June 1957, work was completed on a $10,000,000 hump yard at Capleville, Tenn., near Memphis. Another hump yard, known as Cherokee Yard and located at Tulsa, Okla., was completed in March 1960. Like Tennessee Yard, it too utilizes the latest developments in electronics.

Today Frisco employs approximately 9,500 employees to whom it pays annual wages of approximately $62,000,000.00. The railroad owns about 19,000 freight cars and 412 diesel locomotives.

The number of branch and short lines constructed, bought, sold or abandoned by the Frisco are too numerous to permit a minute history, and for that reasan the following chronological summary is made to complete this effort.

1849 - Missouri Legislature authorized the incorporation of the 'Pacific Railroad of Missouri' to build a railroad from St.Louis west to the boundary of the State, there meet any line which would build east from the Pacific Coast.

1850 - Surveys started.

1851 - On July 4, railroad construction began from St. Louis.

1852 - December 25. The General Assernbly authorized the Pacific Railroad Company to construct a branch to the Southwestern part of the state. The public lands donated by the Congress appropriated to the Pacific amounted to 2,662,246 acres. The State also loaned the Pacific Railroad $4,500,000 and placed a lien upon the road and land for this amount.

1853 - Road opened in July to Franklin (now Pacific). On November 16 the Southwest Branch of the Pacific Railroad's route was planned to extend from Franklin in a southwesterly direction into the valley of the Gasconade River, a distance of 89 miles, and construction was started.

1860 - In December branch was opened to Rolla.

1866 - The Pacific Railroad defaulted in its interest payment and the State of Missouri took possession in February. In June at private sale, the Southwest Branch was sold to General John C. Fremont. The road was re-organized as the Southwest Pacific Railroad, and operated from Franklin to Rolla.

1867 - Thirteen additional miles were built. General Fremont was unable to pay the second installment on his purchase price and in June he was dispossessed by the state.

1868 - A new group took charge and the new Company was called the South Pacific Railroad Company. This company received authority to construct a railway frorn Washington and Grand Avenues in the City of St. Louis, running westward to connect with the eastern terminus of the line at Franklin (now Pacific).

1869 - Line constructed and completed Rolla to Lebanon.

1870 - Line completed from Lebanon to Springfield in May and to Pierce City in October. An additional 39 miles to Seneca, on the Missouri-Oklahoma border was graded. In October the road was forced to convey its franchise and property to the Atlantic and Pacific Railway Company. The AE&P completed the line to Seneca.

1875 - The line was further extended from Seneca to Vinita, Indian Territory. The Atlantic and Pacific continued to operate the South Pacific Railroad in connection with their own lines until November, when the AE&P went into the hands of receivers.

1876 - September 6, the South Pacific (Missouri Division) was sold to Andrew Peirce, Jr, and conveyed by him to William F. Buckley who conveyed it to the newly organized St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Company, which corporation continued operation of the line from Pacific to the western boundry of the state (Seneca). On September 7 when the South Pacific was transferred to the Frisco Lines it became owner of 655,000 acres of land covered by the South Pacific mortgage, and approximately 306,000 acres of land known as the Atlantic and Pacific grant. Out of 197,603 shares of stock of the Atlantic and Pacific Company, the Frisco owned 172,263 shares, this controlling the franchise and property of that company west of the state line -- Missouri and Arkansas to the Bay of San Francisco. The Frisco owned 292 miles between Pacific and Seneca with trackage rights over the Missouri Pacific from Pacific to St. Louis.

1879 - Purchase of the Joplin Railroad, Joplin to Girard, 38 miles, constructed by the Joplin Railroad and the Joplin and Galena Railroad, completed during the year of purchase. Purchase of the Missouri and Western Railway Company, Pierce City to Oswego with branch line from Joplin to Oronogo, Mo., 83.23 miles, constructed by the Missouri and Western Railway, and completed in 1879. Construction of 144 miles, Wichita to Oswego, Kansas by the St. Louis, Wichita and Western Railway, for the Frisco and operated by the Frisco until purchased in 1882. Construction of 2 1/2 miles in Joplin for connecting purposes.

1880 - Construction and purchase of the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway, Plymouth (now Monett), Missouri to the Missouri-Arkansas state line 32.4 miles. This was the first move toward developing the Arkansas Division.

1881 - Construction on Arkansas Division - State line to Brentwood, 55.5 miles, thence to Fayetteville, making a total of 70 miles south of the state line.

1882 - Purchase of St. Louis, Wichita and Western Railway as of Lease of 1879. Construction of a branch from Seligman to Eureka Springs, 20 miles constructed by Eureka Springs Railway Company for the Frisco.

1882 - Construction by St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Company of 8 1/2 miles eastwardly from Pacific toward St. Louis. Construction of 45 1/2 miles between Brentwood and Fort Smith by the Arkansas and Southern Railway for the Frisco. Construction of White River Branch, 19 miles southwardly from Springfield to Ozark, by the Springfield and Southern Railway in 1882 for the Frisco. Extension (by construction by the Atlantic and Pacific of the Central Division) from Vinita to Tulsa 65 miles. (The Central Division was operated as the Southwest Division of the Frisco Lines until it was purchased outright in 1898).

1883 - Further construction by the Springfield and Southern Railway on the White River Branch 15 1/2 miles southwardly from Ozark to Chadwick. Completion of main line from Pacific, Mo., to Cabanne (now Spring) Street in St. Louis, a distance of 37 miles.

1884 - Construction by the Springfield and Northern Railway of 40 miles of branch line frorn Springfield to Bolivar for the Frisco.

1885 - Completed construction of the bridge over the Arkansas River at Van Buren, on the Arkansas Division. Bridge built by the Ft. Smith and Van Buren Bridge Company, the capital stock of which was owned by the Frisco. Extension of Central Division of Atlantic and Pacific from Tulsa to Sapulpa, 10 miles. Lease of the Kansas City and Southwestern Railroad, which company contracted with the Frisco to build 225 miles westwardly from Kansas City to Beaumont and from Beaumont southwardly to Arkansas City, in southern Kansas.

1886 - Extension by construction of Arkansas Division from Fort Smith, southwesterly through Indian Territory to Paris, Texas. 169 miles; the line from Ft.Smith to the State Line was built by the Ft. Smith and Southern Railway Company; from the State Line to Paris by the St.Louis and San Francisco Railway Company and the Paris and Great Northern Railroad Company. Three branch line extensions --

1 - Weir City - Pittsburg, Kans., to Wier City, Kans. 9 miles, built by the Pittsburgh and Columbus Railway Company.

2 - Fayetteville - southeastwardly 25 miles out of Fayetteville to Powell, Ark., built by the Fayetteville and Little Rock Railroad Company.

3 - Cuba - 54 miles from Cuba, Mo. to Salem, Mo., and branches, built by St. Louis, Salem and Little Rock Railroad Company.

1887 - Construction of 123.90 miles on Kansas Division, Wichita to Western boundary of Kiowa County, Kansas, by the Kansas Midland Railway, for the Frisco. Fayetteville branch extended 8 miles to St. Paul, Ark., constructed by Fayetteville and Little Rock Railway for the Fisco. Construction of a branch from Jenson, Ark., to Mansfield, Ark., 22 miles, by Little Rock and Texas Railroad for the Frisco.

1888 - Purchase of 10.54 miles, from St. Louis, Kansas and Southwestern Railway, Bluff City, Kansas to Anthony, Kansas.

1889 - Purchase of the Central Division of the Atlantic & Pacific, extending 112 miles southwestardly from Seneca, Mo., to Sapulpa, Indian Territory, which line has in whole or part been in operation by the Frisco Lines since 1877 or 1878. Construction by the St. Louis and Oklahoma Railroad Company of a line from Sapulpa, Indian Territory to Oklahoma City, Okla. This line was leased until 1899 by the Frisco, when it was formally purchased, but it is clear that it was purposefully built to serve as a western extension of the Southwestern Division of the Frisco. Construction by Fayetteville and Little Rock Railway Company, for the Frisco, of a branch 8.03 miles from St. Paul, Ark., to Pettigrew.

1899 - Purchase of line leased from St.Louis and Oklahoma Railroad Co., Oklahoma City to Sapulpa.

1900 - Purchase of entire Kansas, Osceola and Southern Railway, 146.9 miles, from Kansas City southeasterly to Boliver, part of which had been under operating contract since 1898. Purchase of 106.4 miles from Wichita to Ellsworth, Kans., which line had been bult in 1888 by the Kansas Midland Railway Company. Purchase of Blackwell branch 17.87 miles built by Kansas Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad in 1899. Purchase of Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad 48.56 miles, Rogers, Arkansas to Grove, Indian Territory.

1901 - Construction of 198 miles of road, Sapulpa to Denison, which line was built in 1900-01 under a contract between the Frisco and the St. Louis, Oklahoma and Southern Railway, and the St. Louis San Francisco and Texas Railway Company. Purchase of 1 1/2 miles of terminal tracks in Oklahoma City from the Oklahoma C ity Terminal Railroad Company. Purchase of the Ft. Worth and Rio Grande Railway, a line from Ft. Worth to Brownwood, Texas a distance of 146.16 miles. Long term lease of 1,117.50 miles connecting Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham, from the Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis Ry. Co. Purchase of a line from Sherman to Carrollton, Texas, 57.54 miles from the Red River, Texas and Southern Railroad Company.

1902 - Construction of 49.72 miles from Brownwood, Texas to Brady, Texas by the Ft. Worth and Rio Grande Ry., for the Frisco. Purchase of the Blackwell, Enid and Southwestern Ry. 251 miles from Blackwell, Okla. to Vernon, Texas. Purchase of 15.18 miles of terminal tracks in Birmingham, which had been constructed about 1888 by the Birmingham Belt RR. Co. Purchase of the St.Louis, Memphis and Southwestern RR., extending from Southeastern Junction, Mo., to Luxora, Ark., 249 miles with branches in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas which brought the total to 416 miles.

1903 - Purchase agreement with the Oklahoma City and Western RR for 183.53 miles of road between Oklahoma City and Quanah, Texas. Construction of 8.723 miles, Scullin, Indian Territory, a point on the Southwest Division to Sulphur Springs, which was built by the Oklahoma City and Western RR., for the Frisco. Construction of 9 miles of branch line between Meade Junction, and Platter, Indian Territory by the St. Louis, San Francisco and New Orleans RR., for the Frisco. Purchase of the Ozark and Cherokee Central Railway 144 miles extending from Fayetteville, Ark., to Okmulgee, Indian Territory. This line was jointly constructed in whole or part by the Ozark and Cherokee Central Ry., the Oklahoma Coal and RR Co., and the Muskogee City Bridge Co.

1904 - Purchase of 175.25 miles of constructed road between Red Pork, Indian Territory and Avard, Okla., from the Arkansas Valley and Western Ry. Purchase of approximately 23 miles, between Hope, Arkansas and Ardmore, Indian Territory, from the St. Louis, San Francisco and New Orleans RR Co., which corporation had built the line in 1903. Construction of Evadale Branch, 16.50 miles between Evadale, Ark., and Big Creek, Ark., by the Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis Railway for the Frisco. Purchase of the St. Louis and Gulf Railway 265 miles of network in southeast Missouri

1905 - Purchase of the Bonnerville and Southwestern, a 32.58 mile banch southwesterly from Bonnerville, Ark., to Estico, Ark. Purchase of the Tyronza Central RR., 11.4 miles northeasterly from Tyronza, Ark., to a lumber camp.

1906- Construction of 6 1/2 miles on the Cuba-Salem branch, by the St. Louis Blast Furnace Company for the Frisco.

1907 - Frisco took deed to the following, which it previously operated --

St.Louis, Memphis and Southeastern

RR Blackwell,Enid and Southwestern Ry.

Ozark and Cherokee Central Ry.

Ft. Smith and Van Buren Bridge Co.

Oklahoma City and Western RR.

Sulphur Springs Ry.

1910 - Construction by the St. Louis and San Francisco RR Co., of a branch between Marion and Hulbert, Ark., 5 1/2 miles. Construction of 27.56 miles between Whiteland and Brandy, Texas by Ft. Worth and Rio Grande Ry., for Frisco.

1911 - Track operation of the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railroad System, approximately 1,007.20 miles.

1912 - Construction of an auxiliary line, the Brownwood North & South Ry.

1914 - Construction of 4.74 miles on the Empire Branch in Alabama.

1915 - Construction of 6.18 miles in Kansas City, making connections with new terminal.

1917 - Purchase of 8.98 miles from the Sapulpa and Oil Field RR, Depew to Shamrock, Okla.

1921 - Construction of 3.39 miles on the Tyronza Branch in Arkansas.

1925 - Purchase of the Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern RR., 86.5 miles in northeastern Arkansas. Purchase of 155 miles, Kimbrough, Ala., to Pensacola, Fla., from the Muscles Shoals, Birmingham and Pensacola RR Co

1926 - Construction by the Frisco of 2.96 miles; 2.86 miles Browington, to Deepwater, Mo.; .07 miles at Beaumont, Kansas. Hume, Mo., Branch abandonment.

1927 - Construction by the Frisco of 26 miles between Aberdeen and Columbus, Miss. Purchase of the Butler County RR., extending 50.35 miles Poplar Bluff, Mo., to Piggot, Ark. Purchase of the St. Louis, Kennett, and Southeastern extending 16.83 miles between Piggott, Ark., and Kennett, Mo. Purchase of Motley County Railway 8.49 miles Matador Junction to Matador, Texas.

1928 - Construction of 125.35 miles between Columbus, Miss., and Kimbrough, Ala. by Frisco. Construction of 27.78 miles between McBain and Floydada, Texas. Purchase of Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Ry. Co., 154 miles between Olathe, Kansas and Grove, Mo.

1929 - Purchase of the Miami Belt RR Co., extending 11.09 miles from Quapaw to Picher, Okla. to Baxter Springs, Kansas.

1930 - Purchase of Gulf, Texas and Western Ry., which company owned 98.43 miles extending from Seymour to Salesville, Texas. Construction of 3.48 miles between Shamrock and Tidal (formerly Drumright), Okla.

1931 - Construction of 6 miles between Quanah and Acme, Texas by Quanah, Acme and Pacific Ry., for the Frisco. Purchase of 1.68 miles, Wilson to Stoffles Landing, Arkansas.

1933 - Four separate abandonments were made.

1934 - Seventeen separate branches were abandoned in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

1935 - Two separate abandonments were made.

1937 - The St. Paul Branch was abandoned from Fayette Jct., to Pettigrew, Ark.

1938 - Portions of the Hunter and Current River Divisions were abandoned, also part of the Empire Branch in Alabama.

1939 - Due to the building of the dam on the St. Francis River at Wappapello, Mo., the line from Mingo to Williamsville, Mo., was abandoned as the lake formed by the dam covered the Frisco tracks.

1940 - The Gulf Texas and Western Ry., was sold to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Ry., in exchange for tracks from Rock Island Junction, Oklahoma to Ardmore, Okla. Grassy Bayou, Ark. to Caruthersville was abandoned.

1948 - On December 28 the Frisco acquired control of the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad Company, which extends 214 miles from Reform to Mobile, Ala., and connects with the Frisco proper at Aliceville, Ala.

1955 - Construction started on the Tennessee Yard at Capleville, near Memphis, Tenn. This electronic hump yard was estimated to cost approximately 10 million dollars.

1956 - Construction started on the Cherokee Yard at Tulsa, Okla., this yard to be similar to Tennessee Yard and cost approximately 6 million dollars.

1957 - Tennessee Yard completed in June.

1960 - Cherokee Yard completed in March.

1962 - Mr. L. W. Menk elected President of the Frisco in October. Mr. Wm. A. McDonnell elected Chairman of Board in November.