-Chapter 7 A Damn Fine Lawyer
-Chapter 8 St. Louis, Kennett and Southern and Allied Lines
-Chapter 9 Academic Hall
-Chapter 10 The Histories
-Chapter 11 Cape Girardeau Northern
-Chapter 12 The Big Ditch
-Chapter 13 A Quiet Religious Mood
Louis Houck is shown to be a very versatile and shrewd man as we continue on in Rhodes' work. His railroad expansion is perhaps his most well-documented accomplishment in the region, but Houck had his hands in so much more. Houck would play an immensely important role also in the growth and expansion of the Southeast Missouri Normal School. His part would be essential in helping the school literally rise from the ashes and grow. He made it practically his personal mission to make sure that the new Academic Hall was built through his work with W.S. Dearmont. Houck's work in writing histories of Missouri is also impressive. He described them as "a labor of love, absorbing for a long time nearly all my leisure hours-diverting my mind from business cares." Louis Houck helped to truly open Southeast Missouri with his involvement in the Little River Drainage District that cleared most of the land south of Cape Girardeau for use. The swamps and extensive river flooding was remedied by the building of levees, channels and other measures. Houck was a man of many talents, these self-taught talents made him rich but he was no miser, Houck was a philanthropist and gave large amounts of money back into the community. Throught reading Rhodes' work, I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the citizens gouging Houck on land prices in Ste. Genevieve and Perry counties. (p. 249) I've spent many years in the area near Minnith and Coffman and the people in this area still are very proud of the value of their land (which is very beautiful and the soil is fantastic for farming). It is interesting to know now that Houck played a part in shaping the history of the area where myself and my family have lived for generations.
Below, I've included some pictures of work in the Little River Drainage District to reclaim the dry land from the swamps.
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