It's been over a week since my last post, and while I had hoped to get in one last blog before I left town this past weekend - time got the best of me and kept me from my goal. But I'm back, and ready to catch up for lost blogs!
Last Wednesday, on my weekly trek to hotspots and hidden treasures here in the Ozarks, I made my way to the Eastern-most town in Pulaski County, Dixon.
Much like Crocker, Dixon was born from the railroad boom in the late 19th century, and has seen its ups and downs with the successes and failures of the industry. Originally the town was nothing more than just a patch of land "[on] top of a rolling Ozark foothill." But in 1867 the Frisco railroad decided it would be a good place to cut through the Ozarks as it came East from Rolla, continued West through Crocker, onto Springfield, and into parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
It took the better part of two years and 100 workers to successfully lay the track, and once completed most of the men decided to stay in the area; comfortable with the easy way of life in the foothills and the convenience of the railroad running through the town.
Plotted and laid out on both sides (North and South) of the tracks by a Frisco surveyor named Milton Santee, he proposed naming the new town Dixon - after his hometown in Illinois, which had been named for a local interpreter and counselor to the U.S. Army during negotiations with the Winnebago Indians in the early 19th century. The name stuck, and in 1869 Dixon was established.
In 1887 George Cowles, landowner and ranching pioneer, died and left behind his widow, Jennie Blodgett. The local postmistress, Jennie was seen as a matriarch of the small, southern California town which her husband had helped found. As such, following her marriage to Milton Santee in 1890 she received permission from the community to operate the post-office under her new husband's name, and three years later the town decided to follow-suit. In 1893 Cowlestown was officially renamed Santee, and today the community is a bustling suburb of San Diego, located 18 miles from the Pacific Coast.
It's amazing how inextricably we are all linked to one another through people and places in time. Although the story of Dixon is not an overwhelmingly remarkable one, the brief story of Milton Santee is. Through a series of disjointed searches I found a link between three very different cities: Dixon, IL - Dixon, MO - Santee, CA.
It makes you wonder - in this patchwork world in which we live - if we are the thread, to whom do we tie ourselves to, to what end will we be remembered, and will our bonds last forever...or fray through the wearing of time?
Frisco - Missouri Lines and Stops
History of Dixon, MO
History of Dixon, IL
History of Santee, CA
This is a great post - almost like something you'd read in a local newspaper. I like the railroad pictures. The third one is my favorite of the three. Even without the editing, I think it's the most compelling of the three; very obvious subject and good use of diagonals to make the picture interesting. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm trying to capture simple elements in unique perspectives, so I truly appreciate your input.
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