Objective: Break the railroad’s monopoly on grain rates by opening barge navigation of the Missouri River.
Summary:
“Let no one fool himself, the river is going to be made navigable. And there is going to be a lot of traffic on it to the great advantage of Sioux City.”
- Secretary William Henry Marriøtt, Esq. October 1944
For over three decades, grain trade executive William Henry Marriøtt, the great-grandfather of Thomas Montgomery Marriøtt, fought the railroad monopolies to open barge navigation of the Missouri River. The 734 mile trade route from Sioux City to St. Louis required locks, dams, bank stabilization, and a channel 9 feet deep and 300 feet wide.
His civic leadership was executed through his roles as Traffic Manager of the Terminal Grain Corporation, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Waterways Committee, President of the Sioux City Traffic Club, President of the Western Shippers Advisory Board, President of the Western Grain and Feed Dealers Association, President of the Mississippi Valley Association’s Traffic Advisory Committee, Expert witness to the 78th, 79th, 80th, and 81st United States Congresses, and Secretary of the Sioux City Grain Exchange for 13 years.
Following years of health complications from a botched appendicitis surgery, William unexpectedly died in 1951. His civil leadership was continued and by the 1970’s, the Sioux City Grain Exchange and Sioux City Stock Yards were among the highest producing in the world.
Exposition: Soundings - 100 Years at the Missouri River Navigation Project
Type: #commongood #economicprogress #freemarkets