By S. J.
Every once in a while
everything goes wrong for no apparent reason.
Sometimes everything that can go wrong does. October 31st, 1903 was one of
those days were everything went the wrong way.
Purdue’s football team was 4-2 traveling by train to meet their largest
rival, Indiana University, in Indianapolis.
As the train got close to 18th street it collided with a slow
moving coal train, killing 17 people in total, including 14 football players.[1] This disaster affected so many people and the
entire Purdue community, changing the structure of how these people and
communities functioned. Even though the
community lost so much, Purdue University has made sure that the disaster will
be remembered. It is now a event that
gives Purdue an identity. So much was
lost that day, but the community rebounded from the incident and became closer
and stronger because of it. This
disaster had little affect at the national level, but was felt in the state of
Indiana. The wreck is a main reason the
Indiana University and Purdue University rivalry is no longer violent. 17 people died that day, and the memory of
this incident lives on to this day. The
accident changed the layout of the Indiana University and Purdue University
rivalry, the bond between Purdue Boilmaker fans, and the accident left
memorials behind for those who lost their lives.
As the sun rose on the 30th of October, the
city of West Lafayette was a buzz, excited for the match up against the Indiana
Hoosiers. The two teams were just
starting their rivalry as this was only their 11th meeting ever.[2] The city and school were looking foreword to
the weekend, as Lafayette draws so much of its identity from the school. Fans were getting ready to make the trek down
to Indianapolis and root their Boilmakers on.
Purdue University had set up train rides so that 1,500 excited fans
could go watch the game. The rivalry was
incredibly intense, and everybody who was a fan wanted to see the Hoosiers,
lose. The whole town was ready to try
and prove to their new instate rival that they were a better team.
Lafayette, like many other smaller towns in the state of
Indiana, everyone was going about business as usual. At the turn of the century, the country was
much more isolated. Local news was the
most important news, and the largest issues in this part of the state were not
of national concern. The biggest news in
the area at the time prior to the train wreck was whether or not the teachers
were going to go on strike or not.3 Being so isolated, the town of Lafayette and
the surrounding cities were only focused on the local events. Front-page news consisted of things such as
circuit courts opening, mortuary details, and the opening of new banks. People in Lafayette and those in the
surrounding cities lived a very quiet life style. The closest large city was in Indianapolis,
and with car travel not popular getting to the city wasn’t the easiest task in
the world. Train travel was the most
efficient way from Lafayette to Indianapolis. With travel so much more
difficult, towns were much more secluded then they are in this day and age. This lead to a secluded lifestyle and a quiet
social life. Lafayette and the
surrounding cities were much like the typical American small town, quiet and
not a whole lot to do. There were few if
any places to see a show, and there were limited places to go grab a
drink. These people lived a slow paced
life and the things that happened to them rarely made national news.
Harry “Skillet” Leslie was a star fullback and team
captain, along with the rest of his teammates he rode in the first coach on the
way to the game. Leslie and the rest of
the team were focused on the task at hand, mentally preparing for their
upcoming rivalry game. They had support
with them, 13 cars behind them full of Boilmaker faithful ready to cheer their
team to victory. It was a festive feel
in the back cars, but in the front car it was all business, up until the train
reached 18th street in Indianapolis.
Suddenly, at 40 miles an hour the train carrying the Purdue football
team slammed into
a slow moving coal train.4 The first car of the train was destroyed, as
people from the cars that were farther back rushed to the first car to help
they were horrified at the damage. People acted
unselfishly and helped those injured.
Players such as Walter Bailey refused help so that others could be
helped, Walter Bailey would later die at the hospital as complications from his
injuries lead to too much blood loss.5 As people were helping the dead, Harry Leslie
was found with ghastly wounds and pronounced dead on the scene, it wasn’t until
he was at the morgue that the staff found a very small pulse. Leslie would later go on to become the state
of Indiana’s governor, the only Purdue graduate to ever hold that office.6 He would walk with a limp for the rest of his
life, a reminder of the disaster. A
large reason more damage was averted came from people running as fast as they
could to alert the train behind with many more Purdue faithful to stop. The horrid disaster was caused by the oldest
error in the books, human error. A train
dispatcher did not inform the coal train of the two trains on the main line and
allowed the train to proceed along with its business. He had simply forgotten to pass along the
important message that the coal train was still on the line.7
To this day this is considered the largest tragedy Purdue has ever had
in all of their years as an institution.
The aftermath of the wreck left everyone involved sad and
unsure of what next. The Purdue football
team lost 14 members of their football team, as well as a trainer, assistant
coach, and fan. 8 The first course of action was to attend to
the almost 50 wounded passengers. Many
Indiana University students and fans helped in aiding the Purdue fans in
rescuing and taking care of the victims.9 Purdue also canceled the rest of the football
season. There was absolutely no way that
they could continue the season with so much physical and emotional damage. Students were left weeping for their lost
classmates and roll models. Players and
coaches had to take care of the injuries that they sustained; many would carry
these scars for the rest of their lives.
These survivors also had to deal with the loss of their teammates, best friends,
and brothers. Many survivors stayed at
the site of the accident to help out in aiding the injured. Before this incident the Indiana University
and Purdue University rivalry was incredibly heated and often violent. After all of the help Indiana University
students and fans gave to the Purdue team and those injured the rivalry
mellowed out.10 Though still strong, it has never reached the
violent levels of the early 20th century.
The community of Lafayette and the surrounding towns were
devastated. Many had lost friends,
brothers, sons, and significant others.
The people of this area also had to deal with the fact that their team
was unable to play for the rest of the season.
This was an incredible blow to all of the fans of Purdue University as
the football team was a powerhouse at the turn of the century.11
Losing that much of their team Purdue fans were worried it may be a few
years before another team could be out on the field. This only added to their sorrow, the towns
created make shift memorials for the time being. Winthrop E. Stone, the President of Purdue University
at the time knew that he didn’t have time to morn the losses. It hurt greatly and it would be tough to keep
going on but he knew that progressing with other agenda’s would help move this
behind the university and the surrounding area.12 He and the rest of the school’s
administrative system knew this, and they tried to keep things business as
usual. That is why he kept his plans to
help improve the university on track.
The community was not able to flip the switch as quickly as President
Stone was. People in surrounding towns
and the students still struggled with the sorrow of losing so many campus
leaders. The loss would hurt for quite
some time, it helped bring the community together. It gave all fans common ground, everyone in
the community dealt with mourning together.
Shortly after the incident many people on campus knew
that those who lost their lives on that fateful day needed a memorial of some
sorts. Purdue University decided to
dedicate Memorial Gymnasium to those who died in the wreck. Memorial Gymnasium was created to be the
headquarters of the men’s physical education department and of the athletics
department. It was used for these
purposes until it was converted into the computer science building in
1985. Memorial Gymnasium was completed
in 1909 and it cost 88,000 dollars to complete.13
The Big Four railroad company donated
most of the money for this project. The
Big Four railroad company was responsible for the accident; the team was
traveling on this company’s railroad and a Big Four employee made the
mistake. Over a century later the
University donated a plaque to the fallen athletes. The entire entrance tunnel that the
Boilmakers use to enter the football stadium was dedicated to these former
football greats.14 The University has never forgotten the horror
and the pain that this wreck caused the university and the people associated
with the university.
Monuments were not the only things to be left behind as
result of the accident. Many changes
were made to how athletes traveled.
Purdue University would never allow their athletes to travel by train,
using buses, cars, and airplanes instead.
Since changing this philosophy Purdue has never had another accident of
this. Purdue now puts the safety of its
athletes over the speed of getting there.
One area where change was not made was in safety standards of the
railways. One would expect an incident
of this magnitude to lead to a slew of changes regarding safety of train
passengers. Train wrecks continued to be
a problem in the world as close to 25 accidents happened in the next six years
alone.15
The state of Indiana did nothing to the railroad industry in regards to
improving safety. While the cities
surrounding West Lafayette have dedicated memorials to remember the disaster,
no safety changes were made to help protect the passengers who used the
railways.
As the sting from the accident began to wear off people
began to wonder what was next for the football team. The team had lost 14 members and countless
others still had injuries to deal with.
People thought it might take almost two seasons before a team could be
put on the field again. There was even
speculation that Purdue may never have a football team again. Purdue University would not allow that to
happen and had a team on the field next fall; even more surprising was how
successful the team was.16 The team went a stunning 9-3, including wins
over both of their instate rivals. At
the game against the Indiana Hoosiers, on a neutral field in Indianapolis, the
Boilmakers won 27-0. They also defeated
traditional powerhouse Notre Dame 36-0, capping a very successful season for
the Boilmakers. These successful teams
helped the fans of Purdue to feel good about the state of the university again. Fans felt a sense of pride and resilience in
their community.
Purdue University has had a storied history, with many highs;
those highs come with lows as well. The
train wreck, which took 17 lives, is the largest low in Purdue history. The towns of Lafayette and other surrounding
towns were shaken structurally as they had lost loved ones, people they looked
up too. Monuments have been erected on
Purdue’s campus to remember those who lost their lives. This incident also changed the rivalry with
Indiana University, all though the rivalry is still strong to this day it no
longer contains a fear of violence that was felt before this incident. The lose of life changed many things, but
members of government failed to realize that change was needed in regards to
railway travel. The state of Indiana and
the government federally made no changes to safety codes. Train wrecks would continue to plague the
nation for years to come. The Purdue
train wreck was a low point for Lafayette and the Purdue community. Sorrow was felt afterwards and the University
became more adverse to safety when traveling.
The community lost members of their team, but the loss only strengthened
the bond felt by the entire Purdue community.
Bibliography
1. Beitler, Stu.
"Indianapolis, IN Purdue University Football Team in Train Wreck, Oct
1903."GenDisasters. no. 15 (2007): http://www3.gendisasters.com/indiana/2900/indianapolis,-purdue-university-football-team-train-wreck,-nov-1903
(accessed February 22, 2014).
2. "Heroes in the Face of
Death." The Logansport Journal, Morning edition, sec. Front
Page, November 1, 1903. http://access.newspaperarchive.com.ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu/logansport-journal/1903-11-01?tag=train&rtserp=tags/?ndt=e&xpd=1&py=1903&pm=11&plo=train&psb=relavance
(accessed February 22, 2014).
3. Karpick, Alan. "A Look
Back, Why Purdue Wears Black." Rivals. :http://purdue.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?sid=892&script=/content.asp&cid=1008713
(accessed February 22, 2014).
4. Miller, Travis.
"Remembering The Purdue Train Wreck of 1903 ." SB Nation.
(2012): 1. http://www.hammerandrails.com/2012/10/31/3581744/remembering-the-prudue-wreck-of-1903
(A February 14, 2014).
5. "Purdue Dedicates Ross-Ade
Tunnel To Victims, Survivors Of Train Wreck." Purdue Sports. :
1. http://www.purduesports.com/trads/pur-wreck.html (A. February 22, 2014).
6. "Purdue Train Wreck of
1903." Purdue Wreck.
http://purduewreck.weebly.com/background.html (accessed February 22, 2014).
7. Railways Archive,
"Accidents." Last modified 2014. Accessed February 26, 2014.
http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=563.
8. "Teachers Wage
War." Carroll County Citizen-Times, Morning edition, sec.
Front Page, October 17, 1903.
http://access.newspaperarchive.com.ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu/delphi-carroll-county-citizen-times/1903-10-17?tag=life&rtserp=tags/?pc=7261&psi=38&pci=7&ndt=e&xpy=1903&pm=10&plo=life&psb=relavance
(accessed February 22, 2014).
9. Tipping, Robert. A
Century and Beyond: The History of Purdue University. West Lafayette:
Purdue University Press, 1988.
http://books.google.com/books?id=EHmfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=purdue
train wreck 1903 aftermath&source=bl&ots=IKCHVqD5Ei&sig=2W3OT4brqrYg_wQuO_uKaDFfv1U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rSAJU-ezCtTyyAHOw4H4Dg&ved=0CF0Q6AEwCg
1 Miller, Travis, "Remembering The Purdue Train Wreck of
1903 ," SB Nation (2012): 1,
http://www.hammerandrails.com/2012/10/31/3581744/remembering-the-prudue-wreck-of-1903
(accessed February 14, 2014).
2 Ibid
3 "Teachers Wage War." Carroll County
Citizen-Times, Morning edition, sec. Front Page, October 17, 1903.
http://access.newspaperarchive.com.ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu/delphi-carroll-county-citizen-times/1903-10-17?tag=life&rtserp=tags/?pc=7261&psi=38&pci=7&ndt=e&xpy=1903&pm=10&plo=life&psb=relavance
(accessed February 22, 2014).
4 “Purdue Dedicates Ross-Ade
Tunnel To Victims, Survivors Of Train Wreck” pg. 1
5 (Miller 2012) pg. 1
6 "Purdue Train Wreck of
1903," Purdue Wreck: 1-3,
http://purduewreck.weebly.com/background.html (accessed February 22, 2014)
7 Ibid
8 Stu Beitler, "Indianapolis, IN Purdue
University Football Team in Train Wreck, Oct 1903," GenDisasters,
November, no. 15 (2007): 1-2,
http://www3.gendisasters.com/indiana/2900/indianapolis,-purdue-university-football-team-train-wreck,-nov-1903
(accessed February 22, 2014).
9 “Purdue Train Wreck of
1903” pg. 1
10 Ibid
11 Alan Karpick, "A Look
Back, Why Purdue Wears Black," Rivals: 1,
http://purdue.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?sid=892&script=/content.asp&cid=1008713
(accessed February 22, 2014).
12 Robert Tipping, A
Century and Beyond: The History of Purdue University, (West Lafayette:
Purdue University Press,
1988)http://books.google.com/books?id=EHmfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=purdue
train wreck 1903 aftermath&source=bl&ots=IKCHVqD5Ei&sig=2W3OT4brqrYg_wQuO_uKaDFfv1U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rSAJU-ezCtTyyAHOw4H4Dg&ved=0CF0Q6AEwCg
13 (Tipping 1988)
14 (Miller 2012)
15 ("Accidents" 2014)
16 (Tipping 1988)
