The Fort Pierre, South Dakota C&NW Train Depot Part 1
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Author’s Note: Railroads have many The components. Traditionally the bulk of the attention of railroad enthusiasts has been oriented toward rolling stock, particularly locomotives. Huge huffing, puffing work- horses draw the awe of railroaders and bystanders alike. And with an engineer in Fort Pierre, South Dakota the cab waving and blowing the whistle, engines virtually came alive. But there are many other parts of a railroad. These include fixed buildings such as storage sheds, water towers, workshops, C&NW Train Depot tracks, bridges, and of course depots. Some railroaders feel that depots do not “get their due” in the grand scheme of railroad his- tory, somewhat because so many have been demolished or otherwise lost. Fortunately, there has been at least some attempt to find, restore, and return these structures to their rightful place in railroad history. This is the story of C&NW’s Fort Pierre, Part 1 S.D., train depot, its construction, use, aban- donment, sale, removal, ranch use, return to Fort Pierre, and recent rehabilitation. he late 19th century was a time of great change in middle America. New states by Gary Grittner Twere being created, and the turmoil of the Civil War was largely in the rear view mirror. The nation’s population was expanding rapidly and people were looking for land and opportunities outside the settled areas of the East Coast. The land west of the Mississippi River looked like a tremendous opportunity and the Homestead Act made it affordable. The Federal Government’s concessions to the railroads offered an additional incentive — expand the existing railroad system westward and bring settlers to the open land along the tracks. To make this opportunity a reality, the Chicago & North Western Railroad extended the rails from Tracy, Minn., to Pierre, S.D., in 1880. Towns sprung up along the line and homesteaders moved in and established communities. In 1889, South Dakota became the 40th state in the Union, and rail expansion continued. There were challenges, of course. At Pierre, bridging the Missouri River was a technological and financial challenge. This was particularly so since the area west of the Missouri was still part of the Great Sioux Reservation. By 1906, several changes had been made, including the opening of much of the reserva- tion lands to settlement. The C&NW seized on the opportunity and platted an extension of the railroad from Pierre to Rapid City. A bridge was built across the Missouri River between Pierre and Fort Pierre. The route west followed the Bad River drainage to near Wasta, S.D., where the Cheyenne River was crossed. From there the route continued westward to Rapid City and eventually along the northern Black Hills to the 16 North Western Lines 2018, Number 4 Above: The Fort Pierre depot stands next freight to be moved into and out of the depot. Two power was added in 1913. Seventeen single-hung to the C&NW line with the outhouse situ- brick chimneys allowed for up to four stoves to windows provided light during the day. Access to ated a few feet away. Today, this location heat the building. A slate roof topped the entire the people portion of the building was via three is where the Yes Now convenience store building, and a 14-foot-wide paver brick, plank exterior doors that opened toward the platform resides. The exact date of this image is and cinder platform provided access from the and tracks. The doors were topped by transom unknown but guessed to be after 1943. — depot to the tracks. The building had no run- windows, which opened to allow additional South Dakota State Archives ning water or toilet, but a sturdy outhouse was ventilation in the summer. The only interior door available. was between the small registration room and the Wyoming border. Along the route, many railroad In the middle of the depot was the agent’s agent’s office. This design enhanced security, as structures were constructed to support the trains office, which handled the railroad business in the most of the railroad transactions were paid in and the people, mail, and freight they transported. Fort Pierre area. Surprisingly, the agent’s office cash. The scheme apparently was successful, as By 1907, the trains started rolling westward. It built-in cabinetry was not elaborate, and could a cursory review of history revealed no robberies was now possible to travel by rail from the East even be considered cheap. of the depot. Coast through Chicago all the way to Rapid City. As built, the depot had no electricity. City For roughly a half century, the stately and Fort Pierre Depot Constructed in 1906 In 1906, a new depot was built in Fort Pierre as part of the expansion. The C&NW depot in Fort Pierre was a Standard No. 1 station depot, 90 feet long and 20 feet wide with two passenger (men’s, women and children’s) waiting rooms. It was fashionably finished with horizontal var- nished Douglas fir bead board upper walls and ceilings and painted bead board wainscoting in the “people” rooms of the building. The 34-foot 3-inch by 20-foot freight room was more rug- gedly functional with open upper stud walls and rafter ceiling. Rough cut Douglas fir wainscot boards inside the freight room protected the walls from rough freight handling. Two 74-inch-wide sliding doors on each side of the room allowed Right: This postcard, published by Fred A. Mix & Company, shows the first telegraph office in Fort Pierre. —Virginia Windedahl Hart collection The Fort Pierre, South Dakota, C&NW Train Depot — Part 1 17 Last Depot Agent Makes Station Temporary Home The C&NW railroad moved depot agents Pierre. Ernest decided that the men’s waiting depot a home and the surrounding property around from time to time. In 1943, a new agent room of the depot could be made into tempo- very comfortable. They even creating a park was assigned to Fort Pierre. Ernest Windedahl rary living quarters for the family while they area on the street side complete with many arrived with his wife, Gladys, and children, searched for a permanent home. (The women trees and flowers along with a garage for the Virginia and James. It was in the middle of and children’s waiting room was retained for family car. The added a separate outhouse for World War II, and housing was scarce in Fort passengers.) Ernest and Gladys made the the family. (See sidebar on opposite page.) sturdy depot remained part and parcel of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803. We now frame, by the end of World War II the transporta- fabric of life in Fort Pierre. call it the Louisiana Purchase. tion system in the United States was changing. • As a young girl, Jane Metzinger went with A combination of improved roads (including the Early History of the Depot her mother to the depot in the spring to send Interstate system), more advanced automobiles, The railroads have always been leaders in mom’s fur coat by train to Huron, S.D., for cold and airplanes eroded the preeminence of the keeping records. For instance, when a section storage at Eilers Furs. Jane recalls that in the fall railroads. Local passenger service was largely of rail fails, they can go to their records and she excitedly returned with her mom to the depot discontinued by the early 1950s, reducing the determine which smelter lot the rail came from to retrieve the coat. value of passenger depots. Long haul mail service and where other rails from that smelter lot are • Longtime resident Carla Sahr remembers was captured by the airlines. The C&NW went located. If necessary, all those affected rails are that when she was a child, her grandmother through a series of consolidations, employee removed and replaced and appropriate documen- Louisa Fischer got ill with the consumption and ownerships, and corporate adjustments. tation recorded. The Chicago & North Western was unable to be treated in Pierre. It was 1909 But by 1958, the die was cast. The Fort Historical Society has many of the records that and two doctors in Rochester, Minn., had estab- Pierre depot was closed and boarded up. Ernest were retained, but a thorough review of records lished a clinic there. The Mayo brothers thought Windedahl and his family were transferred to pertaining to the Fort Pierre depot has not been they might be able to help Mrs. Fischer, but she Ainsworth, Neb. For the next five years the depot done. However, there are a few historic tidbits could not withstand a buggy ride the 500-plus slowly deteriorated, much like the railroad that that are interesting including: miles to Rochester. A railroad boxcar was rented had built the building. • J.J. (Jack) Farrell was the first depot agent and outfitted with a bed and other necessities. In 1963, the C&NW declared the building and served as agent for at least 30 years. He was Accompanied by her husband, Mrs. Fischer was surplus and put it, along with several other depots the brother of Bernie Farrell, who later became transported by the C&NW Railroad to Rochester along the Fort Pierre to the Wyoming border, up general passenger agent for the C&NW Railroad. and back in the boxcar. Unfortunately, she died for auction sale. Mr. Shirley Miller, a rancher • A young fellow by the name of Bert O’Reilly later in 1909. (Note: Consumption is an outdated from Mud Butte, S.D., along with his brothers, wrote his name on the freight room wall (graffiti diagnostic term for a wasting disease, typically Earl and Ronald, bid on seven of the depots.