Introducing: B.C. Clark
Benton Clyde Clark (1869-1963) was born at a tran- sitional point in American history. Both the Gold Rush and the Civil War had recently ended. While the East- ern part of the country was rebuilding from the war, the newly-settled West was building for the first time. Through it all, the mighty steam engine was criss-cross- ing the landscape and driving change. The train changed B.C. Clark’s life, too.
Train Wreck! While B.C. was gaining his education in a one-room schoolhouse, a terrible problem was occurring across the coun- try: too many train wrecks. At least 180 wrecks had resulted in numerous fatali- ties. The entire system relied on employ- ees’ watches being accurate. As B.C. was learning the watch repair trade at his brother’s business in Abilene, TX, a landmark train wreck occurred. The Great Kipton Ohio Train Wreck of 1891 ended with eight deaths because an engineer’s watch was off by four minutes. The railroads could no longer delay im- plementing safety precautions. It was the only way to ease the growing fears of em- ployees and passengers.
B.C. the Pioneer Meanwhile, B.C. was intrigued by the adventure and affordable land offered in Indian Territory, north of the Red River. In 1892, at the age of 23, he boarded a train from his brother’s home in Abilene and headed north to Chickasha, I.T.. He traveled with his watch repair bench and tools, some jewelry, and his life savings. At Purcell, where he was to switch trains, he realized his wallet was gone, and in one tick of the second hand, his life changed course. B.C. was suddenly broke, but not broken. He headed up the hill from the depot to seek a solution. Amazingly, he ran into an acquaintance who owned the general store and offered B.C. a corner to set up a display for his jewelry and watch repairs. Pur- cell, a town of 2,000 people, already had two jewelry stores, but it also had a railroad roundtable servicing travelers from Chicago and Galveston. B.C. was determined to out-sell the other stores.
49 BC CLARK MAGAZINE
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