150 years later, Dixon bridge tragedy among nation's worst

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The Truesdell Bridge was built in Dixon, Illinois, in 1873. This image, provided by Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society, shows it. The bridge collapsed 150 years ago, and it remains the worst road-bridge catastrophe in American history. On May 4,1873, more than 200 people gathered to witness a baptism on the bridge. When it collapsed, dozens of victims were trapped just inches beneath the surface of the river. The tragedy claimed 46 lives, and injured many others. Charles Keyes/Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society (via AP)

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Tom Wadsworth is standing on the Rock River bank in Dixon, Ill. on Tuesday, April 11th, 2023. This is near the site where a large crowd had gathered to witness the baptismal ceremony in May 1873. The Truesdell Bridge collapsed, killing 46 people and injuring another 56, in the worst bridge disaster in American History. Gertie Wadsworth was only 3 1/2 when the bridge collapsed. She was with her grandmother Christan Goble. Goble was killed, but Gertie survived after being plucked out of the river.

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This photo, provided by Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society shows people gathered near the Truesdell bridge in Dixon, Illinois, after its collapse in 1873. The bridge collapsed 150 years ago, and it remains the worst road-bridge catastrophe in American history. On May 4,1873, more than 200 people gathered to witness a baptism on the bridge. When it collapsed, dozens of victims were trapped just inches beneath the surface of the river. The tragedy claimed 46 lives, and injured many others. Charles Keyes/Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society (via AP)

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The Truesdell Bridge was built in Dixon, Illinois, in 1873. This image, provided by Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society, shows it. The bridge collapsed 150 years ago, and it remains the worst road bridge disaster in American History. On May 4,1873, more than 200 people gathered to witness a baptism on the bridge. When it collapsed, it trapped dozens of victims inches below the surface of the river. The tragedy claimed 46 lives, and injured many others. Charles Keyes/Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society (via AP)

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Tom Wadsworth points to the Truesdell Bridge while standing near the Rock River, in Dixon, Ill. on Tuesday, April 11th, 2023. A large crowd had gathered at the bridge on May 4, 1873 before it collapsed, killing 46 people and injuring another 56. This was the worst bridge disaster in American History. Gertie Wadsworth was just 3 1/2 when the bridge collapsed. She was with her grandmother Christan Goble. Goble was killed, but Gertie survived after being plucked out of the river.

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The Truesdell bridge in Dixon, Illinois, after its collapse in 1873. Photo provided by Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society. The bridge collapsed 150 years ago, and it remains the worst road-bridge catastrophe in American history. On May 4,1873, more than 200 people gathered to witness a baptism on the bridge. When it collapsed, dozens of victims were trapped just inches beneath the surface of the river. The tragedy claimed 46 lives, and injured many others. Charles Keyes/Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society (via AP)

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Tom Wadsworth gestures as he stands on the Rock River bank in Dixon, Ill. on Tuesday, April 11 2023. This is near the site where a large crowd had gathered to witness the baptismal ceremony on May 4, 1873. The Truesdell Bridge collapsed, killing 46 people and injuring another 56, in the worst bridge disaster in American History. Gertie Wadsworth was just 3 1/2 when the bridge collapsed. She was with her grandmother Christan Goble. Goble was killed, but Gertie survived after being plucked out of the river.

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The Truesdell Bridge was built in Dixon, Illinois, in 1873. This image, provided by Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society, shows it. The bridge collapsed 150 years ago, and it remains the worst road-bridge catastrophe in American history. On May 4,1873, more than 200 people gathered to witness a baptism on the bridge. When it collapsed, it trapped dozens of victims inches below the surface of the river. The tragedy claimed 46 lives, and injured many others. Charles Keyes/Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society (via AP)

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DIXON (Ill.) (AP). Gertie Wadsworth, a 3-1/2-year-old girl, was held by her grandmother on the bright, sunny day that sunshine erased all unpleasant memories of an arduous, long winter. Christan Goble was holding the 3-1/2-year-old child in front of more than 200 people on the Rock River bridge. Pratt began to baptize parishioners with the rapid, brisk current.

With a loud crack, and with the shrieking of spectators crammed on the pedestrian walkway, in front of the towering trusses of the bridge, the four-year-old structure twisted, split and fell over. 46 people died, some of them entrapped by the gridiron that was just beneath the surface of the water. The Truesdell Bridge tragedy of 150 years ago remains, along with 56 injuries as the worst vehicle-bridge disaster in American History.

Tom Wadsworth (70), a retired magazine publisher and expert in the disaster, says, "It's just not like the bridge collapsed and fell straight down." "It flips over these people. The (Chicago Tribune) reported that the truss "fell with the weight, imprisoning the doomed into an iron cage from which they sank and where there was no escape."

Gertie Wadsworth is his great-grandmother. Without her, Wadsworth would not be telling this story. According to family legend, as Goble, 51 plunged into her death, the toddler was thrown in the river, beyond the reach the superstructure. The toddler was saved downstream.

After the Civil War, Dixon was a growing town 103 miles (166 km) west of Chicago. It was divided by the Rock River, an tributary to the Mississippi, where, just a few minutes north, and half a century later, Ronald Reagan, the future president, would work as lifeguard.

Over the years, wooden bridges have been ravaged by floods. In 1868, angry voters demanded an iron-bridge. The city council selected Lucius Truesdell’s design out of 14 submissions despite warnings from the city engineer about its lack uniformity and strength.

In January 1869, the $75,000 toll-bridge opened amid great fanfare despite the fact that a Truesdell Bridge in Elgin collapsed just a few weeks before. The bridge was repaired, but failed again six month later. Truesdell's design was used in Chicago and other Illinois cities.

Newspapers referred to Dixon's span as 'The Truesdell Trap,' and "The Patent Wholesale Drowning Machine." The ironwork had been slammed on top of victims like a door.

You could see their faces if you looked down. "They couldn't reach the surface, because they were covered in iron," Wadsworth explained. It's scary to look down but what if you look up to see the daylight and are only 12 inches (30 cm) away from the air?

It is easy to understand why the crowd on May 4, which was gathered along the west walkway and included many children and teens, resulted in four deaths. Wadsworth stated that chivalrous men gave up prime viewing spots on the bridge to women and girls, and then stepped onto the bank. Boys climbed the trusses.

Wadsworth suggests that the fashion of women today could also be at fault. In the 1870s, floor-length dresses were adorned with a heavy, layered, bustle. This was supported by a crinolette - a series fabric-covered half-hoops.

Wadsworth stated that wearing such a thing would not help you win Olympic swimming races.

Many people drowned, also known as "strangulation" in the news. Some met a more horrific end. The latticework's crisscrossed metal sliced through victims like 16-year-old Katie Sterling. It took her two days to be freed.

Many bodies were found miles away. Lizzie Mackey was found at Sterling, 23 kilometers (14 miles) downstream. According to Patrick Gorman who was another student involved in the tragedy and helped raise funds for a marker listing names of victims, the youngest victims were sisters Alphea Hendrix and Lucia Hendrix. They were 6 and 4 years old.

On Sunday, May 7, a new memorial will be dedicated on the site.

Pratt felt guilty, admitting that he had kept the crowd waiting longer than was necessary in order to promote the virtues of "coming to Jesus." He was a hero on that particular day.

Wadsworth reported that 'he began grabbing them at the hair, the shoulders and the pants'. He knew the riverbed. He had walked there for baptism ceremonies many times, so he was familiar with the terrain. He knew how far he would be able to reach and grab people.

Truesdell remains at the top of the list for worst vehicular bridge failures in American History, a century and a half later. In 1967, the Silver Bridge from Ohio to West Virginia also collapsed. However, there were only nine injuries as opposed to 56 in Dixon.

The collapse of the pedestrian walkways of a Kansas City Hotel in 1981 resulted in at least 114 deaths. This is more than any other collapsed span in U.S. History.

Four railroad bridge accidents, including one in Illinois, separate it from the Truesdell case. In 1887, at Chatsworth (103 miles / 166 km) southwest of Chicago a trestle fell from underneath a train, killing 82 people as the cars were thrown into each other like a microscope as they slammed against the opposite embankment.

Truesdell, as he did in the Elgin failure, blamed sabotage on the Dixon failure. In a letter he wrote to a Massachusetts newspaper, where he resided, he made a feeble defense of himself:

"I started building iron bridges nearly 18 years ago. The only bridges that have collapsed are the Elgin Bridge and Dixon Bridge. No one has died except Dixon. Could the same be said about any other plan'

John O'Connor can be followed at

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