Before George and I were married, I lived in the little river town of Clayton, Iowa. Clayton is a quiet little town, with a beautiful view of the Mississippi River Channel. High bluffs tower above the river on the Wisconsin side. As the channel is right out from Clayton, one can easily watch barges make their way up and down the river. In the summer, pleasure boats enjoy this beautiful stretch of water. I grew up along the Mississippi, so I truely have a soft spot for the Ol’ Man and I get lonesome for it, especially when I run across a photograph or two in my albums.

The above picture records an incident that happened 50 some years ago. There is a grain elevator at the south end of town, where semitrucks would bring in loads of grain and corn, which would be hauled either by rail or by barges, to eventually be shipped all over the country. The infamous Clayton Hill was steep, quite long, and curvy. If an inexperienced truck driver started to descend on this road, he could lose control pretty easily. And it happened more than once.

George and I were visiting my parents one weekend. The town was fast asleep. All of a sudden there was a really loud whrrrrump. Everyone in town sat up all at the same time. A semi had just hit the dike. In a matter of minutes, everyone was at the river’s edge. A young man was lying on the side of the street groaning in agony. Someone rushed to get a blanket for him. An ambulance was called. His truck had hit the dike and jumped over, the cab plunging into the river.

The poor guy didn’t realize how steep the road into town was, or how long the road was. He began to brake. He continued to brake until his breaks burned out, he raced through the main street of town, not knowing where the road was leading. It led to the Mississippi River. When he saw the dike, and then the water beyond that, he had no choice but to leap from his tractor just before it hit the dike. I remember my dad asking him if he was alone in the cab. He was. Good thing, because when his tractor hit the dike the force caused the loose corn to bolt forward, filling the cab.

After this incident, the grain company decided to build a road south of town designed with a couple run-away truck ramps. This solved the problem of semitrucks filled with grain needing to deliver their load at the bottom of the Clayton Hill.