THE RAPE OF
HOWELL AND HAMBURG, MISSOURI
(An American Tragedy)
by
Donald
K. Muschany
COPYRIGHT © 1978 BY DONALD K. MUSCHANY. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED.
Where the Rape
Occurred
It is important to understand where the
Weldon Springs Ordnance Plant was to be and is located. In 1937 a new road
stretched westward across the river bottoms of St. Louis County and crossed the
Missouri River over a new bridge and continued on to Wentzville, Mo. This
really made the Southeast part of St. Charles County readily available to St.
Louis and made it a most viable area. This highway was known as Highway 40 and
more than five miles of it served as the northeast boundary of the Ordnance
Plant. The southeast boundary was the Missouri River running upstream some six
miles terminating above the Femme Osage Creek. The west border ran as an
irregular line for some eight miles to join the northeast and southeast
borders.
The following map illustrates the general
area as visualized by a St. Louis Metropolitan Newspaper, The St. Louis
Star-Times.
In a matter of a few days, R. Newton McDowell
was in the area and signing up landowners with an instrument called an “Option
to Purchase Land.” This document will be reproduced at a later time. After due
consideration, a representative number of landowners had signed the above
document and it was an accepted fact that all of the properties were going to
be acquired for the Weldon Springs Ordnance Plant.
On Saturday, November 30th, which was
twenty-one days after the Citizens Committee had been notified by the Secretary
of War that Mr. McDowell was the qualified agent representing the Government, a
public sale was held by several families to dispose of various things they
could not take with them. There was an urgency to move people out of the area.
The time element was essential, and the big push was on amidst turmoil.
