Frisco

Battler and Survivor

The story of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company-known to its mid-South neighbors as Frisco-is a narrative of battles against long odds and of adaptation to changing circumstances. The Frisco was chartered in 1849 as the Pacific Railroad of Missouri, when discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California fanned America's long-smoldering desire for a connection with the markets of the Orient. Construction began in 1855, but bogged down until the Civil War ended. In the meantime, marauding bands of bushwhackers and jayhawkers that terrorized much of Missouri during the war did considerable damage to the railroad. As a result, it went bankrupt.

In 1876, the southwest branch of the Pacific was purchased by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. Cherokee Indians successfully blocked survey and construction work on the line, dashing the dreams of a transcontinental railroad. Although it remained unable to complete its line through Indian Territory, Frisco was able to extend its trackage to Sapulpa, west of Tulsa, in the 1880s.

After the turn of the century, Frisco completed its line through Kansas and Oklahoma, and into Texas. In 1901, it moved into the Southeast. The Frisco finally fulfilled a long-awaited dream of constructing a link to the Gulf of Mexico in the 1920s, only to plunge into bankruptcy after the Great Depression. The railroad struggled through the grim years of the Depression by abandoning much of its branch lines, and was there when the nation called on it during World War II. Closing of the East Coast sea lanes by German U-boats put oceans of Texas and Oklahoma oil onto Frisco rails for movement eastward. When BN acquired the Frisco in 1980, it added not only a strategically located railroad, but a proud tradition as well.

More information about the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company can be found on the Additional Resources webpage.