In recent years it is rare for one man to have the amount of influence on one town as did Alexander Campbell, the Superinten-dent of the Burlington Railroad in 1882, the year of McCook's coming into being. 125 years later, we in McCook, can be grateful to this foreigner who did so much to shape our community's destiny.

Alexander Campbell was born in Scotland in 1843 and moved with his parents to Canada in about 1848. He spent his early years working on various farms in the area. As a teenager, he apprenticed to a blacksmith and followed that trade until, at age 20, he took a job with the Calumet and Hecla Mining Co., located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, at the most northern point in Michigan.

Until after the Civil War, C & H Mining Co. produced 85 percent of the copper in America -- most of it coming from the Keweenaw Peninsula.

After the Civil War, in 1869, Campbell went to work for the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, which brought him to Nebraska. His association with the Burlington RR practically coincides with the history of the rail line west of the Missouri River.

(The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was founded in Iowa in 1852 to build a rail line across the state of Iowa, but after it was acquired by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy (CB&Q) line in 1872, the goal of the railroad company quickly changed to that of building a rail line to the Pacific Ocean.

The CB&Q was completed just east of Plattsmouth, Neb., when Campbell went to work for the Railroad, as a section hand. His abilities quickly came to the notice of Col. Doan, the Chief Engineer of the line, and he was made foreman of his crew. After that his promotions came quickly, to Roadmaster, and finally to Superintendent of all the lines west of Hastings. (When we think of Railroad building in Nebraska after the Civil War we tend to dwell on the Main Burlington line from Omaha to Denver. But in those early years the railroad was very busy building branch lines as well -- Lincoln to Kearney in 1870, Crete to Beatrice, Red Cloud to Wymore, Republican City to Oberlin, Orleans to St. Francis, as well as other Branch Lines by 1871)

Note: (There is speculation that the town Campbell, on the Burlington line was named after this Alexander Campbell. It is certainly possible, since Campbell was a railroad official, albeit a minor one, living in Harvard, Neb., in 1871. However, Alexander Campbell is a very common Scottish name, and it is possible that Campbell, Neb., was named after an entirely different Campbell.)

By 1881 economic conditions in the United States were quite dismal. Speculators were out of favor with the idea of a transcontinental railroad system and railroad building had pretty much come to a standstill, with the Burlington line ending at Indianola.

Yet settlers had flocked to Southwest Nebraska, expecting that riches lay at the end of the rail line. In this region there were some 50 Post Offices, including Fairview (the forerunner of McCook), which was described as the "Gem on the Republican River."

Railroad man Harry Culbertson wrote in the SW Nebraska Historical Society Review that " … an act of mercy rather than a desire to earn immediate profits caused the railroad to push on out of Indianola."

Alexander Campbell was a member of the Burlington high command, along with Gen. Mgr. Tousalin and George Holdrege, who pushed the project forward to Perry, "giving desperately needed employment to settlers hard hit by the drought of 1881 in the Republican Valley."

"The last spike at Perry was pounded in July 1881. Later that year orders were given to complete the rail line into Denver, " … not later than Oct. 1, 1882."

Such an order was extraordinary, and demanded a record-breaking performance to build 247 miles of railroad, complete and ready to serve the public with through service in just 229 days. That they met that goal was an outstanding achievement, which culminated with a grand celebration in McCook on the 4th of July 1882.

Superintendent Campbell, working with the Lincoln Land Co. (the Real Estate division of the Railroad) was instrumental in changing the name, Fairview, to McCook, and then having the new town declared a major division point for the line between Lincoln and Denver.

This designation brought a roundhouse, switching stations, dispatching offices, section crews and a multitude of railroad associated jobs, assuring McCook prosperity far into the future, much to the displeasure of more established towns like Indianola and Culbertson, who naturally felt themselves more suited to the role.

In 1880, at age 47 Alexander Campbell married the former Mary Ann Vaughn of Albion N.Y. When McCook came into being Mr. and Mrs. Campbell immediately made McCook their home, as well as the base of his operations with the railroad. They became active in the civic, church, and social life of the new community, and were leading proponents of all activities that were seen to promote the betterment of the community.. The Campbells were the parents of seven children---Norman J., George A., A. Bruce, Elsie, Walter V., Leslie, and Ethel. Ever mindful of the benefits of education for his and the community's children, Alexander served several terms on the McCook School Board, including one stint as President.

In 1890 Superintendent Campbell, along with bankers George Hocknell and V. Franklin, Real Estate man J.E. Kelley, and Lawyer Hugh Cole, led the movement to have the County Seat moved from Indianola to McCook. That fight proved to be a bitter one--voices, on both sides were raised in anger, of the type "heard in Congress prior to the Civil War". The issue went to the voters, where McCook won out. The Supreme Court overturned that vote---then reversed itself. Finally, in 1896 the County Seat was moved to McCook. For the first 18 months business was done in the Meeker Building, after which it was moved to the new Court House (the old Clock Tower Courthouse), the construction of which had been pledged, to sway voters in the election.

Around the turn of the 20th Century Mr. and Mrs. Alexander built a fine new house at 602 East First Street, just across the street from his good friend and fellow McCook pioneer, Albert Barnett. Recently, while remodeling, the John Andersons, the present owners of the property, found letters hidden in the walls of the home. These letters, while providing only limited information about the home, never-the-less, provide interesting observations about the time in which the Campbells lived in the house.

Mr. Campbell remained in the position of Superintendent of the Burlington Railroad until his death in 1905. However, during the last two years of his life he suffered from pernicious anemia. Never one to give up easily in a fight, Mr. Campbell took extensive treatments for his disease at a Sanitarium in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, and finally at a hospital in Chicago. While these treatments seemed to help for short periods of time, his health gradually weakened, and at his own request, he was brought home to die in McCook. He was buried on August 30th, 1905 in the McCook Longview Cemetery. A large contingent of Railroad Executives from all parts of the country attended his funeral.

After her husband's death, Mrs. Campbell stayed in McCook, and remained active in the community until her death in 1942. For some reason, Mrs. Campbell was not buried near her husband, but was buried in McCook's Memorial Park Cemetery

Sources: Gazette Golden Ed. 1932, Gazette Centennial Ed. 1982, Trails West, Ray and Rutledge.