NEW YORK TO FORT DODGE

I have a vague memory of Steve telling me that during the trip from New York to Iowa, he had a cardboard sign attached to him that read “Steve Miklo, Fort Dodge, Iowa.” He was like a package to be delivered.

The train from New York arrived at a depot in downtown Chicago--perhaps it was Union Station, which still stands on Canal Street. He had to go from there to the Chicago Great Western Railroad Station, which was located at Madison and Canal Street, where he would catch a train to Iowa.

His father had arranged to have agents help him to find his way. There was a Polish woman who he met at some point along his journey (Polish and Slovak are similar languages so he was able to understand her). He said she sold him a cookie for $5, a very expensive cookie in those days.  Not being familiar with U.S. currency he did not realize at the time that she was cheating him.

Can you imagine the trip as Štefan, a 16-year old boy, would have experienced it?  Traveling from a small village first through the magical city of Prague and then Germany.  Sailing on a large ship across the Atlantic Ocean to America’s largest and most bustling city, which even then was full of skyscrapers.  He had to find his way from the ship dock to the train station where he caught a train to Chicago, and there he had to go from one train station to another to switch trains to Iowa. He had to accomplish this without being able to read or speak English.

In addition to all of these new sights and sounds, consider the emotions he was experiencing on his journey to meet his father, a man he did not know.  He was leaving behind his Uncle Ján, Aunt Maria and the young cousins, who had been his family after his mother had died.  He had been told that he was going to the “promised land." What will he find there?

Here is a picture of the Chicago Great Western Train Depot where Steve met his father. It was located in Fort Dodge on Central Avenue at 12th Street where the State Bank is now located.