{"id":8376,"date":"2014-09-29T15:31:50","date_gmt":"2014-09-29T15:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=8376"},"modified":"2021-04-21T11:12:04","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T15:12:04","slug":"the-crush-texas-train-crash-a-bizarre-and-deadly-spectacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-crush-texas-train-crash-a-bizarre-and-deadly-spectacle.html","title":{"rendered":"The Crush, Texas Train Crash: a Bizarre and Deadly Spectacle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d In this blog post, Gena reads old newspaper articles to learn about a strange episode from the past: a fatal train crash that was deliberately staged in Texas in 1896 as a publicity stunt.<\/em><\/p>\n

Our ancestors experienced some strange events that never made it into the history text books and have been largely forgotten now. In September 1896 many people witnessed\u2014and even more read about in the newspapers and discussed with their family and friends\u2014a fatal train crash in Texas that was caused deliberately as a bizarre public event.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something about wrecks that fascinates us\u2014it seems to be human nature to stare at them even though we know we shouldn\u2019t. Our ancestors also had a difficult time averting their eyes from horrific disasters. Media outlets today know that purposely crashing vehicles and exploding things makes for good entertainment, and our 19th century ancestors would have agreed.<\/p>\n

The Crash at Crush, Texas<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cCrash at Crush\u201d event was a train wreck, literally, and it was all in the name of publicity. William G. Crush, an employee of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (known as the \u201cKaty\u201d), had the idea that he could use two aged train engines, crash them into each other, and people would come to witness the spectacle. And to make sure the crowds would be there, he started his publicity machine early\u2014with newspaper articles and advertising, including announcing the schedule for the two doomed engines on their final trip to Crush. The two engines chosen for the event were brightly painted, one green and one red, and exhibited before the day of the train crash to stir up further interest.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 11 September 1896, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the crash site, Crush chose a spot in McLennan County, drilled two wells for drinking water for the spectators, and erected circus tents and a grandstand. Admission to the event was free.<\/p>\n

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On 15 September 1896 the crowds did come; an estimated 30,000-40,000 people were in attendance. The place where Crush staged the crash was known as \u201cCrush, Texas,\u201d a temporary \u201ctown\u201d that was specifically created, and dismantled soon after, for the train wreck spectacle. While the event itself was free, attendees did have to pay for a train ticket to get to the crash site. For $2 you could hop a train anywhere in Texas to travel to Crush, 10 miles outside of Waco, to enjoy the festivities. William G. Crush thought of everything to make the event a success\u2014or so he thought.<\/p>\n

Crush had considered safety\u2014but he didn\u2019t prepare for every contingency. He constructed a special four-mile stretch of track to hold the two trains, and had the locomotive engineers jump off the trains once the engines were in motion. Spectators were kept a \u201csafe\u201d distance away. Even though Crush was assured that the crash would be safe for spectators, the unexpected happened when the two trains, at 45 miles per hour, crashed headlong into each other.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Photo: the moment of impact of the train crash at Crush, Texas, on 15 September 1896. Source: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to this front-page newspaper report:<\/p>\n

It was more than a collision. Both engines were completely telescoped and in spite of all precautions both boilers promptly exploded, hurling a shower of iron and steel for several hundred yards around, injuring [nine] persons, two seriously and two perhaps fatally.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"article<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 16 September 1896, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With death and destruction all around them you would assume that those in attendance dispersed right away, fleeing for the safety of home. But no\u2014just like today, not only did people get closer to inspect the damage, they took pieces of the train home as souvenirs and had their photo taken next to the wreckage. Composer Scott Joplin even wrote a song about the event, one he appropriately entitled the \u201cGreat Crush Collision March.\u201d*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Eyewitness Accounts in the News<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sixty years after the crash, the Dallas Morning News<\/em> published eyewitness accounts that recounted everything from the infamous Texas train crash itself to the souvenirs taken from the wreckage. One man, Clitus Jones, stated that a hunk of the train metal was used in his childhood Waco home as a doorstop.<\/p>\n

\"eyewitness<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 6 May 1956, section 3, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

William G. Crush<\/strong><\/p>\n

William G. Crush, the man responsible for the crash, was immediately fired. However, after there wasn\u2019t a huge public uproar over the catastrophe, the Katy hired Crush back the very next day\u2014and he continued working for the railroad and retired after 46 years of service.<\/p>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 13 April 1943, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His obituary stated:<\/p>\n

The [train crash] exhibition was never repeated, but Mr. Crush was shot into wide renown among railroad men for his keen sense of exploitation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Wait, There\u2019s More!<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Crush\u2019s train-crashing days ended as soon as they started, that wasn\u2019t the end of watching train wrecks as entertainment. Other train crashes were staged across the country, including the annual train wreck at the California State Fair from 1913-1917. You can watch a video of the 1913 train crash, complete with the engineer jumping to safety, on Internet Archive: https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/Californ1913<\/a>. Fast forward to the 5:00 mark to see the crash scenes.<\/p>\n

Did our ancestors enjoy a staged train crash? It would appear so, but in retrospect that isn\u2019t any stranger than modern audiences enjoying action-packed movie crashes or a demolition derby. If there\u2019s one thing history teaches us, it\u2019s that the more things change, the more they stay the same.<\/p>\n

———————<\/p>\n

* For a look at the music from the March and an audio recording, see The Baylor University Libraries Digital Collections Blog article \u201cScott Joplin\u2019s \u2018Great Crush Collision March\u2019 and the Memorialization of a Marketing Spectacle\u201d at: http:\/\/blogs.baylor.edu\/digitalcollections\/2012\/04\/19\/scott-joplin%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cgreat-crush-collision-march-and-the-memorialization-of-a-marketing-spectacle\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Wreck Related Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n