Chuck Grassley: “it may have started out like a normal day, but July 6, 1881, did not end in a typical manner. In the late afternoon…”

“it may have started out like a normal day, but July 6, 1881, did not end in a typical manner. In the late afternoon, around suppertime, a terrifying storm struck central Iowa. It was a terror. Sensible people stayed indoors away from its wrath and fury. Creeks and streams became full to overflowing with the rainwater as the storm raged on. Then there was a crash. It was heard by a family living close to one of the rain soaked creeks and the railroad bridge which crossed it. With that crash a young 15-year-old Iowa girl from Moingona stepped from obscurity into legend. As H. Roger Grant wrote in "The Palimpsest," "the courage of Kate Shelley rightfully deserves to be remembered." For on that night she bravely faced her destiny. Engine No. 11 was checking the Chicago & North Western Rail Road line for storm damage when it plunged into Honey Creek. The water was deep and the current was fast. The crewmen on that train needed help, and Kate Shelley knew she had to give that help. Putting all thoughts of personal safety aside, she went out into the storm. As she later said, "The storm and all else was forgotten and I said that I must go to help the men, and to stop the passenger (train) that would soon be due at Moingona." Kate put together a lamp with a wick made from an old felt skirt.…”