The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972 Page: 33
566 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Arthur E. Stilwell and the Founding of Port Arthur
Dredging of the channel began, and the Kountze Brothers im-
mediately filed suit in federal court to block the work. The Kountzes
claimed that Stilwell had not received permission from the secre-
tary of war to dredge the channel, and if work proceeded, silt from
the lake would move through the channel, filling up Sabine Pass and
their harbor. A federal court injunction stopped work on the chan-
nel, threatening the entire project.' Despairing of ever clearing away
the legal obstacles, and desiring to open the port as quickly as
possible, Stilwell proposed a new plan: a canal around the western
end of the lake from Taylor's Bayou to Sabine Pass. To keep the
debris from the canal from entering the lake, an earthen berm would
separate the water of the canal from the water of the lake."' In April,
1897, the first cuts for the new canal were made. What had ap-
peared to be an easy task, quickly done, and highly profitable, was
becoming difficult, time consuming, and costly-earmarks of a serious
"entrepreneurial error."
While litigation continued over the channel and, subsequently,
the canal, Stilwell proceeded with other construction work at the
Port Arthur harbor. In 1897 and 1898, a 1,700-foot lumber wharf,
two general wharves, and a 3,3oo-foot temporary export pier were
constructed as were a 5oo,ooo-bushel capacity grain elevator, a turning
basin, and warehouses. Over five miles of track were built to con-
nect the dock facilities with the K.C.P. & G. line from Port Arthur
to Beaumont. The export pier was an expedient to open the harbor
before the canal was completed. Vessels bound for Port Arthur an-
chored at Sabine Pass, and lighters, pulled by tugboats, transferred
goods across the lake from the export pier to the boats at the pass
in a trip which took three hours. Most of the cargo was bulk, gen-
erally cotton, lumber, zinc, or flour. The lighterage costs were enor-
mous, but Stilwell determined to open the port regardless of the oppo-
sition by the Kountze Brothers. The Channel and Dock Company soon
had an extensive harbor operation with money for the project
coming from the sale of securities and advances from the Trust
Kansas City Southern Railway); The Railway Age (Chicago), May 16, 1896; Port Arthur
Herald, November 18, 1897; W. A. Goodwin to William M. Deramus, May 21, 1959
(Office, Kansas City Southern Railway); Kansas City Star, January 19, 1897; Interstate
Commerce Commission, "The Kansas City Southern Railway Company et al.," 437.
"Port Arthur Herald, January 12, 1899; Rochelle, "Port Arthur: A History of Its Port,"
53-54; Chicago Tribune, November 11, 1898.
48Stilwell, "I Had a Hunch" (January 14, 1928), 78.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972, periodical, 1972; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101201/m1/45/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.