Gasconade Train Wreck

Each turn of the river has a story to tell and knowing them as you pass adds greatly to any river trip.
For the boater floating past the mouth of the Gasconade river all you have to do is look upstream from the mouth of that tributary and you will see a modern railroad bridge a couple of hundred yards above the confluence. This bridge is about 5 years old and is the fourth built over the Gasconade at this point.
The first was completed in 1855 as the Pacific Railroad was extended from St. Louis to Jefferson City. A point of real pride for the railroad and citizens of the time, the opening of this section called for a great celebration.
On November 1st of that year during a cold and severe thunderstorm, a train consisting of the engine and 15 cars was to be the first to traverse the new section. Crammed with more than 600 people, most from St. Louis, this train also carried many dignitaries of the time.
Upon reaching the river the engine started across and had just reach the first pier when the span beneath it collapsed. The engine carrying among others, the president and the chief engineer of the Pacific Railroad Company, tumbled backwards and upside down into the river.
The rest of the train continued onward until all but the last car had run off the embankment and piled into the river as well.
The town of Gasconade was little more than a grist mill on the riverbank at the time and the site of the train wreck was in a very rugged and remote area. The nearest town, Hermann, about six miles east, was overwhelmed by the injured. A hospital train was dispatched from St. Louis to assist in the care of those hurt in the accident. By the final tally 31 people including the chief engineer had lost their lives and several hundred were treated for a variety of injuries.
The Gasconade train wreck ranks to this day as the worst rail disaster in the history of the state of Missouri.