Missouri Highway Patrol celebrates 75 years

By Steve Moyer

Herald-Tribune

The Missouri Highway Patrol was created in 1931. Senate Bill 36 provided for a unit with a superintendent, Lewis Ellis of Bethany who would serve at the pleasure of the governor, 10 captains, and 115 patrolmen.

Despite the fact the bill authorized that many patrolmen, it did not authorize money to pay for them, so the Patrol started with a superintendent and 55 men. More than 5,000 applications were received for the positions and on Oct. 5, 1931, the first highway patrol recruit class began six weeks of extensive training.

The last of the Patrol's original members, Arthur R. "Ray" Cushman died on Sept. 20, 2005. Cushman served from October 1931 to February 1935.

The total number of troopers today includes 100 in a division devoted to policing the gaming industry, 89 drug enforcement troopers and 861 road officers, a far cry from the early days with less than 100 officers patrolling all of Missouri.

The motor vehicle fleet for the first patrolmen consisted of 36 new Model A Ford Roadsters, a Ford sedan, a Plymouth sedan, an Oldsmobile, a Buick, three Chevrolets, and 12 Harley-Davidson, three Indian, and two Henderson motorcycles.

The Roadsters, which cost $413.18 each, had twin Klaxon horns, a spotlight, a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit, and an electric "Patrol" sign behind the right side of the windshield. All vehicles had license plates with the words "State Patrol" in bold letters, but there were no decals on the sides. None of the vehicles had sirens and there were no heaters in the cars.

Today's 861 'road' troopers usually ride in Ford Crown Victorias. A law-enforcement package 2006 Crown Victoria costs $20,117. Each one is equipped with radio, radar, and computers, as well as other equipment that the original troopers couldn't even dream of.

David Phillips, Nevada, was a driver's license examiner with the patrol for 36 years. After his partner retired, he was in charge of a six-county area for 23 years. While he didn't have to pursue speeders or track down dangerous fugitives, Philips did have some harrowing moments on the road.

"I was giving a driving test to a 16-year-old boy," Phillips said. "I told the boy to turn left up ahead, I told him three fourths of a block before the turn and I looked down at my paperwork, I was scoring him on his driving. He started the turn and I looked up and a car was coming right at me. He had turned in front of an oncoming car. I yelled at him to stomp it, but the car caught us in the rear and turned the car all the way around. He failed the test."

Phillips said after years on the job, he got to the point where he could judge pretty well whether someone would pass or not by the way they handled themselves at the outset.

"You got so you could tell when you sat in the car with someone whether or not they knew how to drive just by the way they acted when they started the car," Phillips said.

Phillips recalled another test that resulted in a wreck and a failing grade.

"There was a woman who tried several times to pass the test," Phillips said. "I got her, and she was parked in front of a business. I told her to back out, and she had the car in drive. She floored it, and we jumped the curb and hit the front of the store."

John Atkinson worked Missouri's highways for 32 years as a trooper, starting in 1955, and saw many changes in his time on the roads.

"There were three officers in our zone, covering three counties," Atkinson said. "You were working night and day. You had 71 going through, and there were a lot of accidents."

When Atkinson started, the radios that the patrol had were not capable of reaching Springfield, so messages had to be relayed through a third party.

"With the radios we had, you couldn't get through to Springfield," Atkinson said. "We had to go through the Nevada police, and they would get the message through for us."

The long distance to Troop D's headquarters in Springfield meant more than difficulty communicating, it meant help was distant too.

"It was bad. A lot of times there was no one to help you," Atkinson said. "You did the best you could do with the help of the sheriff's office. They really did help, considering. The police couldn't, though, because they couldn't leave the city."

With two major highways, and being a border county, Vernon County kept Atkinson busy.

"This was a bad county for accidents," Atkinson said. "You had (U.S. Highway) 54, and with the bars along there, the drunks were bad. When you took somebody in, you felt bad leaving because there was no one watching the road."

The incidents that affected Atkinson the most were accidents involving minors.

"There were times when you tried to give first aid on a kid, but you knew they weren't going to make it," Atkinson said. "That was the worst; there was nothing you could do for them."

An incident that stands out for Atkinson is his arrest of two men for murder.

"I came on this car broke down on the side of the road," Atkinson said. "There were two guys in it, and they asked to get a lift to town. I had them in the back seat, then I called in the license number and it came back that it belonged on another car. I got another call and found out they were wanted for murder back east. I got them out and got the cuffs on them. They were both found guilty and hung. They asked me if I wanted to come to the hanging, but I said no, that wasn't something I wanted to see."

"A lot of things happened that were just routine, and then when something happens it happens so fast that you don't have time to worry about it. It just happens," Atkinson said.