Joel Rhodes 312 pages hardcover
Lawyer and journalist, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Louis Houck is
often called the "Father of Southeast Missouri" because he brought the
railroad to the region and opened this backwater area to industrialization and modernization. Although
Houck's name is little known today outside Missouri, Joel Rhodes shows
how his story has relevance for both the state and the nation.
Rhodes presents a more complete picture of Houck than has ever been
available: reviewing his life from his German immigrant roots,
considering his career from both social and political perspectives, and
grounding the story in both state and national history. He especially
tells how, from 1880 to the 1920s, this self-taught railroader
constructed a network of five hundred miles of track through the
wilderness of wetlands known as "Swampeast Missouri"--and how these
"Houck Roads" provided a boost for population, agriculture, lumbering,
and commerce that transformed Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area.
Rhodes discusses how Houck fits into the era of economic
individualism--a time when men with little formal training shaped modern
industry--and also gives voice to Houck's critics and shows that he was
not always an easy man to work with. In telling the story of his
railroading enterprise, Rhodes chronicles Houck's battle with the Jay
Gould railroad empire and offers key insight into the development of
America's railway system, from the cutthroat practices of ruthless
entrepreneurs to the often-comic ineptness of start-up rail lines.
More than simply a biography of a business entrepreneur, the book
tells how Houck not only developed the region economically but also
followed the lead of Andrew Carnegie by making art, culture, and formal
education available to all social classes. Houck also served for
thirty-six years as president of the Board of Regents of Southeast
Missouri State Teacher's College, and as a self-taught historian he
wrote the first comprehensive accounts of Missouri's territorial period.
A Missouri Railroad Pioneer chronicles a multifaceted career
that transformed a region. Solidly researched, this lively narrative
also offers an entertaining read for anyone interested in Missouri
history.
