By Rudolph Daniels

(Dean, Department Chair of Railroad Operations Technology and instructor of railroad history at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City, Iowa)

During the U.S. Civil War thousands of slaves rode the Underground Railroad to freedom. Most associate this path to liberty with such states such as Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee. The Underground Railroad, however, had some of its more important routes right here in the Hawkeye State.

The Underground Railroad was not underground. It did not have rails, and at times it was not even a road. The term "railroad" was used because the word meant the most modern means of transportation at the time. It was similar to the way we call the Internet a "superhighway." According to tradition, the description of Underground came from a slave owner's comments when chasing a runaway slave. When the slave seemingly disappeared before his eyes, the owner said, "He musta gone underground."

Fleeing slaves traveled northward from the Confederacy by any means possible. Some did ride trains, but they had to be hidden in boxes in baggage or freight cars. Others were hidden on riverboats. Most, however, traveled on wagons or on foot, and at night. They all traveled secretly.

The railroad analogy was enhanced, because those who assisted the movement were called by railroad terms. Conductors arranged the routes called tracks and travel times. Engineers moved the fugitive slaves from place to place. Agents hid them during the daytime until the former slaves were off to the next station. Tracks changed as the situation warranted particularly in the Confederate states. Nevertheless, certain tracks and stations became more prominent than others did.