NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTION
RECORD
Title: Val Kuska/Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy RailroadDates: 1884-1964
Quantity: (190 cubic feet, microfilm, oversize)
Collection Number: RG1431.AM
Language: English
Restrictions: None
Copyright: To inquire about usage, please contact the Nebraska State
Historical Society.
Preferred Citation: Val Kuska/Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (RG1431.AM:). Nebraska State
Historical Society.
Historical Note:
By the middle of the 19th Century, conditions were right for the start of major
efforts to settle and develop the interior of the United States. As the old modes of
transportation became increasingly inadequate, a new one was developing to replace
them, the railroad. Chicago was an area of major development of the new railroad
system. Small lines like the Aurora Branch were springing up to meet the needs of
growing commercial centers, and within a period of a few years these small lines had
proliferated, connected track, merged with other short lines, or been absorbed by
larger lines. Exemplifying this growth in 1864 were two rail lines, the Peoria and
Burlington Railroad Company, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad
Company. The C.B. & Q. was backed by a group of Boston investors, who also
financed the growth and development of other short lines in areas farther west, and
would absorb them as the developing main line came to meet already existing tract.
Major among these other developments were the Burlington Hannibal & St. Joseph
Railroad Company, organized at Burlington, Iowa, and the Hannibal & St. Joseph
Railroad in Missouri. In 1869, C.B.& Q. controlled lines crossed the Missouri
River at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and continued westward.
Congress was aware of the need for railroad development and aided them by extending
large grants of public lands to the various lines. These lands were to be sold by
the railroads and the proceeds were to finance the extension of the lines across
country. The C.B. & Q. received three of these grants: one in Iowa, one in
Missouri, and one in Nebraska. Thus they were forced to enter a field as highly
competitive as those of winning favorable right-of-way and obtaining goods and
passengers for hauling. They had to out-bid bigger and longer established railroads
like the Union Pacific for settlers to come west and buy the lands in their
particular grants, for they had to have the lands settled in order to generate the
commerce necessary to the survival of the railroad. To get the land populated the
Burlington put on a massive advertising campaign, offering easy terms and relatively
low prices to prospective settlers in the English-speaking countries as well as
Germany, the Scandinavian countries, Bohemia and elsewhere.
The advertising of the Burlington route reflected the essentially local character of
the railroad. By the end of the 1880s the railroad, with its subsidiary lines, had
reached the limit of its expansion to the west. Major facilities extended to western
Nebraska, with connection to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Oklahoma and
Texas. The C.B. & Q. was interested in the agricultural development of these
areas, and to that end embarked in its earliest advertising efforts to inform and
educate the settlers. The Burlington performed great public service for years by
printing hundreds of thousands of pamphlets emphasizing the agricultural
possibilities of states and counties. Its educational materials cover such topics
as: rural economics; soil and crop rotation; climatological data; reports on area
business; irrigation and conservation; land reclamation; educational institutions;
crops and livestock raising and improvement, and other subjects. Among the most
notable of its educational and informational campaigns were the special trains sent
around the country, mainly during the 1920s. These trains were organized to take
exhibits directly to farmers, ranchers and rural businesses. The trains offered
intensive informational opportunities in livestock, poultry and crops.
Biographical Note:
The name of Val Kuska is deeply involved in the promotional work of the Burlington
railroad. Born Valentine Kuska in Fillmore County, Nebraska, in 1887, he was
educated at Milligan High School. He graduated in 1910 from the University of
Nebraska School of Agriculture, after which he spent some time managing ranches and
farms in Nebraska. After serving in World War I, he spent several years as a
colonizer in Colorado for a Denver land company.
In 1922 he joined the C.B. & Q. as a colonizing agent and as an agricultural
development agent for the first two decades. Kuska participated extensively in the
Burlington's many educational and promotional programs. He prepared promotional
materials to precede the campaigns, and usually accompanied the special trains as
they traveled. His early training enabled him to bring to his work a wealth of
experience in agricultural problems and solutions. He was early convinced of the
incapacity of dry farming techniques to suit future agricultural needs, and he
worked vigorously for irrigation and land reclamation projects. Kuska has been
widely recognized for the important part he played in obtaining local, state and
federal support for projects such as the Central Nebraska Public Power and
Irrigation District. Mr. Kuska retired from the railroad in 1957. He passed away in
Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 21, 1972.
Scope and Content Note:
This collection consists of two Subgroups of material. Subgroup 1 is made up of
materials from the Agricultural Development Office of the C.B. & Q. and relates
to improvement of farming methods, crops and livestock, to irrigation and to
promotion for the encouragement of immigration. The files have been left organized
according to Val Kuska's original organizational scheme. Additional materials
received at a later date did not have Kuska's numbering system associated with them.
These materials were added to the end of the subgroup (boxes 78-87).
Subgroup 2 consists of materials obtained from the Burlington railroad storage
sheds, also through the efforts of Mr. Kuska. This group is mostly composed of
statistical material, and is further divided into twelve Series.
Series 1 contains what are called "22" Reports. These reports, dating from
1917-1959, constitute an excellent source for the study of rail traffic in the 20th
Century. A "22" report is a comparative report of freight forwarded and received at
a given station over a stated period of time. Under the general headings of carloads
forwarded and received, it lists specific articles of freight such as: agricultural
implements and vehicles; butter, eggs and poultry; coal, hard and soft; feed and
grain; iron and steel; livestock; vegetable oil; and sugar. With this information it
indicates whether these figures, given for a two-year period, constitute an increase
or decrease, and how much. Also given are numbers and kind of carload freight
received and forwarded from and to the reporting station, their origin or
destination, as well as the consignor and consignee. These reports are available on
microfilm only.
Series 2 of Subgroup 2 consists of station reports—periodic reports from
Lincoln, Denver, Omaha, and Sioux City covering 1907-1945. These reports are
detailed summaries of shipments to and from the given stations for each month of the
reporting year. Information given includes: origin and destination, and type of
commodity in total carload receipts and deliveries; line charges; summaries of total
deliveries and receipts of given commodities, etc.
Series 3 of Subgroup 2 consists of consolidated "22" reports. These are merely
compilations of some of the "22" reports for the given years, and are not complete
within the reporting years.
Series 4 of Subgroup 2 consists of interchange reports. These are as described in
the supplement, giving various kinds of information concerning interchange of rail
shipments with other lines.
Series 5 of Subgroup 2 consists of commodity statistics. These reports are printed
summaries of commodities in terms of ton carried and freight revenue over given
railroads for single or comparative years.
Series 6 of Subgroup 2 consists of "37" reports, which indicate carloads per month
of shipment of grain, livestock, fuel products, etc. over the various divisions or
to particular stations on the Burlington lines.
Series 7-11 consist of annual reports to stockholders, miscellaneous reports,
employee records, special correspondence and miscellaneous materials. It should be
remembered that in none of the series is the material included complete within the
reporting period. However, the material as a whole exists in sufficient volume to
give basis for comparison.
Series 12 - Timetables of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad and Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railway. The inclusive dates of the timetables are
1884–
This collection was donated to the Nebraska State Historical Society through the
efforts of Mr. Val Kuska, and with the cooperation of the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy Railroad Company.
|