MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI, COLUMBIA THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI The State Historical Society of Missouri, heretofore organized under the laws of this state, shall be the trustee of this state - Laws of Missouri, 1899; Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, 2000, chapter 183. OFFICERS, 2001-2004 BRUCE H. BECKETT, Columbia, President JAMES C. OLSON, Kansas City, First Vice President SHERIDAN A. LOGAN, St. Joseph, Second Vice President VIRGINIA G. YOUNG, Columbia, Third Vice President NOBLE E. CUNNINGHAM, JR., Columbia, Fourth Vice President R. KENNETH ELLIOTT, Liberty, Fifth Vice President ROBERT G. J. HOESTER, Kirkwood, Sixth Vice President ALBERT M. PRICE, Columbia, Treasurer JAMES W. GOODRICH, Columbia, Executive Director, Secretary, and Librarian PERMANENT TRUSTEES FORMER PRESIDENTS OF THE SOCIETY H. RILEY BOCK, New Madrid ROBERT C. SMITH, Columbia LAWRENCE O. CHRISTENSEN, Rolla Avis G. TUCKER, Warrensburg LEO J. ROZIER, Perryville TRUSTEES, 2000-2003 JOHN K. HULSTON, Springfield DALE REESMAN, Boonville GARY R. KREMER, Jefferson City ARVARH E. STRICKLAND, Columbia JAMES B. NUTTER, Kansas City BLANCHE M. TOUHILL, St. Louis BOB PRIDDY, Jefferson City HENRY J. WATERS III, Columbia TRUSTEES, 2001-2004 WALTER ALLEN, Brookfield DICK FRANKLIN, Independence W. H. (BERT) BATES, Kansas City VIRGINIA LAAS, Joplin CHARLES R. BROWN, St. Louis EMORY MELTON, Cassville VERA F. BURK, Kirksville JAMES R. REINHARD, Hannibal TRUSTEES, 2002-2005 CHARLES B. BROWN, Kennett W. GRANT MCMURRAY, Independence CHARLES W. DIGGES, SR., Columbia THOMAS L. MILLER, SR., Washington DONNA G HUSTON, Marshall PHEBE ANN WILLIAMS, Kirkwood JAMES R. MAYO, Bloomfield EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Eight trustees elected by the board of trustees, together with the president of the Society, consti­ tute the executive committee. The executive director of the Society serves as an ex officio member. BRUCE H. BECKETT, Columbia, Chairman JAMES C. OLSON, Kansas City WALTER ALLEN, Brookfield ROBERT C. SMITH, Columbia H. RILEY BOCK, New Madrid AVIS G TUCKER, Warrensburg LAWRENCE O. CHRISTENSEN, Rolla VIRGINIA G YOUNG, Columbia DICK FRANKLIN, Independence MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW VOLUME XCVIII, NUMBER 1 OCTOBER 2003 JAMES W. GOODRICH LYNN WOLF GENTZLER Editor Associate Editor RHIANNON SOUTH WORTH REYNOLDS Information Specialist The MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW (ISSN 0026-6582) is published quarterly by the State Historical Society of Missouri, 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, MO 65201-7298. Receipt of the MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW is a benefit of membership in the State Historical Society of Missouri. Phone (573) 882-7083; fax (573) 884-4950; e-mail <[email protected]>; web site <www.system.missouri.edu/shs>. Periodicals postage is paid at Columbia, Missouri. POSTMASTERS: Send address changes to MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW, 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, MO 65201-7298. Copyright © 2003 by The State Historical Society of Missouri COVER DESCRIPTION: AS automobile ownership became more widespread in the state during the 1910s, many Missourians began to see the need for modernizing the road system. The Missouri Good Roads Federation used the emblem on the front cover in their campaign to pass a $60 million bond issue to finance highway construction in November 1920. Richard Traylor explores the leg­ islative conflicts over who would control the placement of roads and the surfaces used during the General Assembly's 1921 extra session in "Pulling Missouri Out of the Mud: Highway Politics, the Centennial Road Law, and the Problems of Progressive Identity," beginning on page 47. [Cover image from Francis Asbury Sampson Collection, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-Columbia] EDITORIAL POLICY The editors of the Missouri Historical Review welcome submission of articles and documents relating to the history of Missouri. Any aspect of Missouri history will be con­ sidered for publication in the Review. Genealogical studies, however, are not accepted because of limited appeal to general readers. Manuscripts pertaining to all fields of American history will be considered if the subject matter has significant relevance to the history of Missouri or the West. Authors should submit two double-spaced copies of their manuscripts. The footnotes, prepared according to The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed., also should be double-spaced and placed at the end of the text. Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts, prefer­ ably in Microsoft Word, on a disk or CD. Two hard copies still are required. Originality of subject, general interest of the article, sources used, interpretation, and style are criteria for acceptance and publication. Manuscripts, exclusive of footnotes, should not exceed 7,500 words. Articles that are accepted for publication become the property of the State Historical Society of Missouri and may not be published elsewhere without permission. The Society does not accept responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by the authors. Articles published in the Missouri Historical Review are abstracted and indexed in Historical Abstracts, America: History and Life, Recently Published Articles, Writings on American History, The Western Historical Quarterly, and 77;e Journal of American Histoiy. Manuscript submissions should be addressed to Dr. James W. Goodrich, Editor, Missouri Historical Review, State Historical Society of Missouri, 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, MO 65201-7298; or e-mail [email protected]. BOARD OF EDITORS LAWRENCE O. CHRISTENSEN ALAN R. HAVIG University of Missouri-Rolla Stephens College Columbia WILLIAM E. FOLEY VIRGINIA J. LAAS Central Missouri State University Missouri Southern State College Warrensburg Joplin SUSAN M. HARTMANN DAVID D. MARCH Ohio State University Kirksville Columbus ARVARH E. STRICKLAND University of Missouri-Columbia CONTENTS THE ORIGINS OF CAPE CATHOLICISM: THE VINCENTIAN PRESENCE IN CAPE GIRARDEAU, 1828-1868. By Douglas J. Slawson 1 "THE CITY BELONGS TO THE LOCAL UNIONS": THE RISE OF THE SPRINGFIELD LABOR MOVEMENT, 1871-1912. By Stephen L. Mclntyre 24 PULLING MISSOURI OUT OF THE MUD: HIGHWAY POLITICS, THE CENTENNIAL ROAD LAW, AND THE PROBLEMS OF PROGRESSIVE IDENTITY. By Richard C. Traylor 47 MEMBERS TO VOTE ON PROPOSED DUES INCREASE AT ANNUAL MEETING 69 NEWS IN BRIEF 70 MISSOURI HISTORY IN NEWSPAPERS 71 MISSOURI HISTORY IN MAGAZINES 77 BOOK REVIEWS 84 Frazier, Harriet C. Slavery and Crime in Missouri, 1773-1865. Reviewed by Dominic J. Capeci, Jr. Barnes, Harper. Standing on a Volcano: The Life and Times of David Rowland Francis. Reviewed by Joel P. Rhodes. Gardner, Michael R. Harry Truman and Civil Rights. Reviewed by William O. Wagnon. Schirmer, Sherry Lamb. A City Divided: The Racial Landscape of Kansas City, 1900-1960. Reviewed by Arvarh E. Strickland. BOOK NOTES 90 Bushwhacker Jail Tales: One Hundred Years of Fact and Fancy from The Old Vernon County Jail (1860-1960). Weaver, H. Dwight. Lake of the Ozarks: Vintage Vacation Paradise. Sligar, Ann M. Waltus Watkins & His Mill. Talbott, Donna Koch. Germantown, Missouri, and St. Ludger Church, 1833-2002. Gerard, Sue. Just Leave the Dishes. Houts, Joseph K., Jr. Quantrill's Thieves. ) "^ •> O['(IR. c cm new HI > ) T~_ 1, 1 iPPi" It I ' P ^'1 h- • :1 Lli. i1 r r i Drawing on reverse side of John Timon letter to Jean- Baptiste Etienne, 26 May 1838, Vincentian Correspondence, Archives of the University of Notre Dame St Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Cape Girardeau The Origins of Cape Catholicism: The Vincentian Presence in Cape Girardeau, 1828-1868 BY DOUGLAS J. SLAWSON* "From Pointe-Coupee [Louisiana] to Ste. Genevieve [Missouri] there is not one missionary," wrote John Mary Odin, a French Vincentian priest at St. Mary of the Barrens Seminary near Perryville in 1823. "The cities of Natchez, New Madrid, Cape Girardeau, Kaskaskia, St. Michael, Portage [des *Douglas J. Slawson is vice president for student services at National University in San Diego, California. He received a bachelor of arts degree from St. Mary of the Barrens Seminary in Perry County, Missouri, a master's degree from De Andreis Seminary in Lamont, Illinois, and a doctoral degree in history from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. 2 Missouri Historical Review Sioux], St. Charles, and several small posts, are entirely abandoned."1 Thus did he describe the spiritual plight of the Mississippi River valley, a region that had successively belonged to Catholic France and Catholic Spain before returning to French ownership and passing to Protestant America in 1803. Odin's bleak description gives the impression that these priestless towns had once been Catholic, something true of all but Cape Girardeau. Though named after the French Ensign Sieur Girardot, it was a thoroughly Protestant com­ munity. The first priest to engage in a sustained missionary effort to the region undertook the challenge as a result of a visit to a condemned man. Within twenty-five years of the initial missionary endeavor, Cape Girardeau boasted a convent school for girls, a Catholic academy for boys, a novitiate for the priests of the Congregation of the Mission, a Catholic college, and an elegant stone church to serve the parish of St. Vincent de Paul, numbering over two hundred. Moreover, the parish itself had become the center for mis­ sionary outreach to Benton, Commerce, Jackson, and Tywappity Bottom. Known in the English-speaking world as Vincentian Fathers, the Congregation of the Mission was founded in 1625 by Vincent de Paul to preach parish