The Mississippi & Missouri Railroad – Volume II – 1856-1866.

**The Mississippi & Missouri Railroad** was Iowa’s first railway system. With its headquarters in Davenport, the M&M had lofty goals of building three lines in Iowa – the first running east/west from Davenport to Council Bluffs via Iowa City, the second running south from Muscatine to the Missouri border via Oskaloosa, and the third running north from Muscatine toward Minnesota via Marion/Cedar Rapids. This Volume II page attempts to cover some of the main highlights from M&M’s second decade (1856-1866).

On our Volume I page, we offer you a chronological overview of the first ten years of Iowa railroad history (1845-1855) – from the June 1845 business meeting held in the home of Colonel George Davenport – where the discussion focused on practical ways to bring America’s railroad from Chicago into Iowa – to November 20-21, 1855 – when the M&M Railroad celebrated its break-thru year by scheduling two of their newest locomotives – **The Davenport** and **The Muscatine** – to run a six-passenger-car excursion tour from Davenport to Muscatine (see below)!

Which brings us, now, to December 1855. As you can see from the map (above), the M&M has completed – over the last four months (August-November) – one set of tracks (green) westward from Davenport to the ‘Y’ Junction near Wilton (25 miles), and south into Muscatine (13 miles). Originally, the M&M business plan called for their line into Iowa City to be completed by December 1 (before winter set in), and as you can see from the December 8th article (below left), the M&M crew is working hard just west of West Liberty (yellow) with 12 miles yet to go (red) to reach Iowa City.

If you recall, the good people of Iowa City – via their railroad start-up company, The Davenport & Iowa City Railroad Company – had sweetened the deal with M&M back in 1853, agreeing to pay M&M $50,000 in cash, if 1) M&M would make the Iowa City line their highest priority, and 2) M&M would finish the construction job on or before January 1, 1856. You can read more about this deal here. So, here we are, on December 8, 1855 – 23 days away from the deadline – and with winter beginning to set in, the M&M construction crew has its back against the wall. Which brings us, now, to…

**The Railroad Arrives** – an oil painting by Iowa City artist Mildred Pelzer (1934). Notice **LeGrand Byington** (hand raised) and **Peter A. Dey** of Iowa City are depicted – cheering on the M&M workers. Click here to read more about Mildred Pelzer’s amazing mural.

Apparently, the hard-working construction crew continued throughout December, and by Christmas Day 1855, the M&M only had two-and-one-half miles to go. But, as temperatures dropped, machinery froze, and serious numbing of the workers’ hands and feet occurred – all greatly retarding the final push into Iowa City. Historian Irving Weber picks up the story on New Year’s Eve 1855…

This is the bell of Mechanics Academy (1855-1897) – it’s very likely that this is one of those “church bells” that rung out on New Years Eve as the M&M train pulled into Iowa City! Click here to read more about the bells of Iowa City.

So, despite the many obstacles, the last rail was laid by the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1855, and yes, the $50,000 bonus to M&M was paid! Interestingly, there’s an intriguing story that came from this great railroad adventure that involves the M&M engineer who kept that lead engine moving forward on that cold New Years Eve in 1855. The Palimpsest tells us more…

*Years later – in the 1900 Yearbook of **The Old Settlers’ Association of Johnson County** – we find this followup story about Charles Stickles…*

Which brings us now to the New Year – 1856 – and the beginning of M&M’s second decade…

*Similar to the big M&M railroad-arrival celebrations held in Walcott on August 25th and November 20th in Muscatine, the good people of Iowa City planned an even bigger event for **January 3rd, 1856**.*

According to Johnson County historian Clarence Ray Aurner, in November 1855 – the Iowa City Council began planning for the big celebration to be held when the M&M finally arrived…

Iowa City banker H.D. Downey and lawyer LeGrand Byington – organized this big January 3, 1856 Grand Railroad Festival, offering free tickets to any easterner who would ride the C&RI (Rock Island RR) from Chicago to Rock Island, ferry across the river, and then ride on the first M&M passenger train into Iowa City. Below is a sample of their invitation to Iowa City…

Calling it **The Grand Railroad Festival**, the committee in charge of party invitations sent out hundreds of letters (see above) to all of their contacts back East, offering a free round-trip ticket on the **C&RI (Rock Island)** and the **M&M** Railroads – departing from Chicago on January 2nd, and arriving in Iowa City on **Thursday, January 3, 1856**.

You can read all the details here, but suffice to say that on January 3, 1856, with the booming of cannon announcing its arrival, the M&M excursion train – made up of seven passenger cars pulled by the new locomotive, The Oskaloosa – rolled into Iowa City.

Read about the early locomotives of the M&M Railroad here.

*One person’s memories of The Grand Rail Road Festival were recorded by historian Dwight L. Agnew.*

**The January 8, 1856 edition of The Tri-Weekly Capital Reporter ran two full pages reporting on the January 3rd Grand Rail Road Festival**! *Thanks to the Iowa City City Library, you can read the full story here.*

M&M Railroad President John A. Dix gives a railroad pep-talk in Iowa City on January 5, 1856. Read more here.

Read about one man’s bone-chilling experience at the January 3, 1856 Grand Rail Road Festival – **Thomas S. Carson.**

From all of the records we have dating back to 1855/1856, the winter months of December, January, and February were particularly brutal here in Iowa. As we mentioned earlier, this cold weather – which began in December – played a huge part in the many delays of getting the M&M line into Iowa City.

Click here to read about the near-fatal, 5-day train ride from snowy Detroit to Chicago in December 1855.

Back in Davenport, this icy cold weather that continued into the first few months of 1856 was having a huge effect on M&M’s development plans as well. Records indicate that prior to mid-to-late December 1855, six locomotives had been delivered to M&M in Davenport, ferried across the Mississippi River. You can read more details here.

**The John A. Dix** – Built by **Rogers, Ketchum and Grosvenor, Paterson, NJ** – the same makers of M&M’s first locomotive – The Antoine Le Claire. Read more about the early M&M locomotives here.

Records aren’t clear when The John A. Dix (above) first arrived in Rock Island, but, with much fanfare, the locomotive was brought into Davenport by crossing over Mississippi River ice on February 16, 1856. Named for the New York politician/businessman who was the first president of M&M Railroad, records indicate that The Dix was the seventh M&M locomotive to cross over into Iowa, and the uniqueness of its crossing was the big story – since it all happened over a completely frozen Mississippi River. See more details below…

Above right: An April 13, 1856 newspaper clipping from a Chicago newspaper advertises the Rock Island Railroad’s direct service to Iowa City and the west. Read more about the Rock Island Bridge Company & the Mississippi River Bridge here.

On April 22, 1856, the citizens of Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa, cheered as they watched the steam locomotive – The Des Moines – pull a passenger car safely across the newly completed Chicago and Rock Island (C&RI) Railroad Bridge that spanned over the Mississippi River.

Now, with the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi open for business, the people of eastern Iowa could travel non-stop – reaching New York City by rail in no more than forty-two hours! Indeed – a historic day for the M&M Railroad and for the entire State of Iowa!

*In April 1856, the Iowa City newspapers celebrate the completion of the Mississippi River Bridge, though the actual first date of crossing was April 22nd. Read more here.*

And so, with the completion of the Mississippi River bridge, the Iron Horse era across Iowa had begun.

The first M&M depot (1855-1898) was located at the south end of Johnson Street, four blocks to the east of the present-day Rock Island station. Click here to read more about the Iowa City depots. The Rock Island successfully operated passenger rail service in and out of Iowa City until 1970. You can read more here.

Over the next four years (1856-1860), Iowa City became a busy, busy place – being the end of the M&M line for railroad travelers wanting to head west. Look at the daily schedules in and out of Iowa City (below) from 1856-1858…

In 1859, construction began on the M&M bridge, crossing the Iowa River in Iowa City on a single-track deck truss, and opening in 1860. The bridge is pictured below (on the right) in the 1868 bird’s eye map of Iowa City. Read more about the bridges of Iowa City here.

Iowa City historian, Irving Weber, tells us what came next…

*By 1866, the M&M Railroad was bought out by the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad, and by May 1869, the CRI&P (Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific) had reached Council Bluffs.*

Train service finally reached Des Moines after the Civil War (1866). This was the same year, M&M finally ran out of steam financially, and was bought out by the ever-expanding Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (CRI&P) Railroad, which completed their Iowa route to Council Bluffs/Omaha on May 12, 1869.

That, of course, was two days after the Union Pacific completed their part of the Transcontinental Railroad from Omaha to Utah Territory, while the Central Pacific met them there, coming east from Sacramento – May 10, 1869. Read more here.

In closing, here are just a few facts. In 1855, there were 3,500 people living in Iowa City. Two years later, after the railroad came to town, the population more than doubled to over 8,000. In 1860, the State of Iowa had approximately 655 miles of track in operation and by 1870, grew to over 2,600 miles. In 1900, that number expanded to almost 9,200, finally peaking between 1911 and 1917 with more than 10,500 roadway miles of track!

(M-0149) The Rock Island Railroad played a big part in our Boller history. Click here to read more about that part of Our Iowa Heritage…or shall I say, Our Missouri/Iowa Heritage?

Here’s a big salute to The Mississippi & Missouri (M&M) Railroad – Iowa’s first railroad, and Iowa City’s gateway to the world.

*Click here to view actual photographs of early M&M steam locomotives*

Click here for a complete index of pages dedicated to Iowa Railroads

Click here for a M&M Railroad Timetable

On July 1, 1976, The Iowa City Press-Citizen published a special 76-page Bicentennial edition. In that edition there were articles and pictures related to stories found on this page. You can read more here.