My favorite article out of the day's research related not to Nodaway County's need for a new jail, but to the City of Maryville trying to get a new one built for city detainees. Keep in mind in reading this that there was a huge mobile population during the '30s, during the Depression, when this occurred. A large percentage of the population was out of work, most people didn't know where their next meal would come from, or if they would get one. There was a world war developing on the horizon and many of the men once vagrants would enlist to ensure they had three squares a day and a cot to sleep on, in addition to wanting to do their bit for their nation.
At this time, vagrancy was a crime, and hopping boxcars was and is a crime. But, I had to admire the creativity of everyone involved in this. This little story about the Knights of the Order of the Moving Boxcar will make you grin.
