THE RAPE OF
HOWELL AND HAMBURG, MISSOURI
(An American Tragedy)
by
Donald
K. Muschany
COPYRIGHT © 1978 BY DONALD K. MUSCHANY. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED.
FOREWORD
I am Don K. Muschany, nephew of Karl and
Vera Muschany around whom so much of this history is centered. Four generations
of Muschanys grew up in the Howell-Hamburg area. I spent my boyhood there and
describe those memorable days in this book. Much of what I am as a person comes
from my boyhood and my absorption of the mores, sense of values, and the habits
of friendliness and love of country which living in Howell engendered.
The book centers on my aunt and uncle
because at issue was the acquiring of their land by the Federal Government,
which was resolved in the U.S. Supreme Court after a four-year delay. The book
could have been about any of a number of other people if the Government had
chosen to sue them instead of my aunt and uncle.
Every citizen should know what happened to
these two tiny towns during World War II and the shameful way the inhabitants
were treated by the Federal Government. It is in this vein that I write of the
events as an American tragedy.
The book is in four parts. The first
documents the events in taking the Howell-Hamburg area to be part of the Weldon
Springs Ordnance Plant during World War II, and how shabbily and
inconsiderately the property owners were treated. The second part seeks to
recreate the milieu and feel of the community I grew up in, and the third part
recounts the continuing indignities (or rape) still being visited on the area
at the time of this printing in 1978. The third is a backward look at the two
communities which vanished as a contribution to the war effort, and the fourth
is photographs of the community, some by family friends, and some from the St.
Louis Globe-Democrat archives.
To have permitted this record, so
necessary for proper interpretation of the history of St. Charles County, to
disappear into oblivion is unthinkable. This record is of value not only to the
people of these vanished communities but to their descendants and to countless
others throughout the country. I have endeavored to preserve for future
generations a vivid account of an American tragedy.
In presenting the various personal
accounts, newspaper articles, documents, and court records which comprise my
story in Parts One and Two, I have occasionally added underscoring to draw
attention to points I consider of great importance.
