I'm not sure if my introductory post made it to this section or not, so just in case, here goes again. My name is Bill Herridge. I am a 34-year State Farm Insurance agent in Gatesville, Texas. I was chasing ancestors all last week from Oklahoma thru Kansas and up to Lincoln, Nebraska. My greatest discovery was made in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, where my great grandfather is buried. He was an engineer on the Frisco line from 1901 until he was killed in a train wreck on Nov. 25, 1917 near Weleetka, Oklahoma. After visiting and photographing his grave site, I went to the Supalpa Carnegie Library to see if I could find his obituary in the microfilm section. I did not find an obit, but I did find a front-page news story regarding the wreck. His name was James F. Robertson, and according to the news story, was referred to as Uncle Jimmie by all the Frisco folks in that area. He pulled the first passenger train ever to leave Sapulpa for Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1901, and he was the only engineer to make that run until his death in 1917. The wreck was caused by sabatoged rails, caused by I.W.W. thugs. They were referred to as "Wobblies" and the I.W.W. was a loosely organized union with roots in the fledgling Communist Party in Russia. There were numerous incidents, apparently, of sabotoge created by the Wobblies throughout the country during that period of time. I visited Weleetka in hopes of finding the wreck site. I did find one old timer who said he remembered folks talking about the Waleetka Train Wreck, and gave me driving directions to the spot. I found it and took several photos. I have also found a photo of the wreck site on the Internet, which was taken on the day of the accident. I have always been interested in the Age of Steam, and have vivid memories of those big old steam engines puffing into the depot in Bowie, Texas, in 1952. My brother and I made spending money by working the crowds with our shoeshine boxes. I feel very fortunate at having experienced actual working steam engines coming into town, then spinning their wheels for traction before moving on to Wichita Falls. I also rode the trains extensively in Thailand when I was stationed there in 1968 with the US Air Force--little narrow guage steam engines with passenger cars made out of teakwood. Teak is very common there and is used to build houses, rail cars and even shipping crates. Those passenger cars must have been worth a fortune for the wood in them. A first class ticket from Korat, in Northern Thailand, to Bangkok cost about $3.60 round trip. I rode first class the first time and found myself in that car all by myself. I discovered that all the action was up in third class, right behind the engine and coal car, where people were cooking rice on their little charcoal braziers, chickens and children running up and down the aisles, everyone having a great time. I rode third class from then on, and found the Thais to be very generous with the food they were cooking. I developed a lasting tased for Thai food due to those trips. Anyway, if anyone has any information about that Nov. 25, 1917 wreck near Weleetka, Oklahoma, I would be greatly appreciative to get it. I would like to know if anyone was ever arrested for chaining that rail across the tracks. Bill Herridge Gatesville, Texas
I didn't find any reference to this wreck in the DOT's online database of historical ICC accident reports. It has only two accident reports that reference Weleetka, and neither contains the name Robertson or exactly matches the description you supplied. A search of the Historical Newspapers database at a university library proved more fruitful, bringing up four contemporary articles that shed more light on the subject. From the headlines it appears that four men thought to be IWW members and saboteurs were arrested by a posse shortly after the wreck, but that a day or two later three local boys admitted causing the wreck by "playfully" placing a piece of scrap iron across the tracks. If you send me an e'mail address via PM, I'll see if I can forward copies of the articles to you. Article citations: Tulsa World, page [1], vol. XIII, iss. 69 Publication Date: November 26, 1917 Published as: Tulsa Daily World Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma Headline: Train Hits Rail; Three Are Killed Four I. W. W. Members Captured by Posse Formed among Passengers after Accident Charlotte Observer, page [1] Publication Date: November 28, 1917 Published as: The Charlotte Observer Location: Charlotte, North Carolina Headline: Bosy at Play Cause Wreck of Fast Train Gazette-Telegraph, page 13 Publication Date: November 28, 1917 Published as: Colorado Springs Gazette Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado Headline: Boys Wreck Train Montgomery Advertiser, page Three, vol. LXXXVIII, iss. 331 Publication Date: November 28, 1917 Published as: The Montgomery Advertiser Location: Montgomery, Alabama Headline: Three Striplings Innocent Cause of Disastrous Wreck In an unfortunate coincidence, Weleetka would in less than two weeks be the site of another fatal Frisco wreck, this one a head-on collision of two freight trains caused by mishandling or misunderstanding of train orders. (See the ICC historical accident investigations website above.)
