Nothing Like It in the World The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869
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at completion ceremony, 363, 367
labor force maintained by, 179, 184, 211, 274, 277, 327, 329
track-laying operations run by, 170, 173-74, 210, 212, 226, 273-74, 351, 353
weather delays and, 207, 324-25
Casement, John S. “Jack,” 330, 354, 382
on alkali desert, 269
background of, 170, 330
Civil War experience of, 18, 170
at completion ceremony, 363, 367
construction workforce maintained by, 177, 179, 182, 184, 210, 211, 221, 274
on finance problems, 330, 342
Indian relations with, 209-10
Julesburg vice activities quelled by, 220
on living conditions, 169, 337
on rate of progress, 227, 228, 262, 277, 337
supply facilities built by, 190
track-laying operations run by, 170, 171, 173-74, 208, 209, 210, 212, 226, 273-74, 275, 323-24, 346, 351, 353
weather delays and, 207, 325, 361
casting, 119
cattle grazing, 267
Central Pacific Railroad (CP):
accidents on, 325-26
bridges constructed by, 107-8, 154-55, 234, 237, 338-39
camp train of, 313, 314
Chinese construction workers on, 18, 21, 149-58, 159, 161-62, 164-65, 198, 204-5, 231, 240-42, 243, 247, 298, 300, 308, 310, 327, 378
clearing of roadbeds for, 157-58
codes used by, 292
in completion ceremonies, 354, 360-62, 363-67
congressional legislation on, 77-81, 155
construction contracts of, 105-6, 288-90, 321, 342, 375
construction schedule of, 81, 102, 107, 165, 166, 204, 206
corporate management of, 19, 43, 106, 111, 112-13, 114, 115-16, 321
costs of, 71, 78, 102, 104, 106, 124, 147, 155, 161, 163, 165, 187, 200, 230, 231, 235, 245, 246, 247-48, 300-303, 372
county and municipal support of, 109, 148
eastern limit of, 95, 104, 155, 193-94, 225, 238, 254-55, 288, 289, 291, 312, 313, 315-17, 326-27, 332, 335, 339-40, 341, 345, 358
engineers of, 19, 105, 110, 114, 116, 118, 158
establishment of, 70-74, 365
financial management of, 102-3, 106, 110-11, 113, 121, 124, 147-49, 165-66, 196, 246-47, 298, 301, 321, 374
first runs made on, 117-18, 121, 306-8
freight and passenger rates charged by, 305
government bonds for, 102, 108, 109, 121, 123, 148-49, 165, 166, 195, 230, 238, 245, 312, 313, 330-31, 333-35
grading work on, 118, 119-20, 147, 155-57, 237, 288-92, 332-33, 341
groundbreaking ceremony of, 89, 106-7
highest altitude of, 206, 210, 244
initial investors in, 70-73, 105, 106, 121, 122, 196-97, 360, 379-80
inspections of, 158-60, 165, 297, 300, 311-12, 313-14
labor on, 107, 110, 118-20, 121, 147-48, 149-50, 152-55, 163, 198, 204-5, 206, 210, 231-32, 233-34, 240-42, 243, 246, 247, 281, 289, 298, 300, 306, 311-12, 314-15, 332-33, 349, 354, 378
land grants to, 101, 103, 124, 238
lobbying by, 193, 321-22
locomotives of, 102, 115, 117, 124, 147, 298, 307, 312, 325, 331-32, 361
Mormon contractors used on, 288-90, 291-92
new states served by, 18
passenger service of, 121-22, 124, 148-49, 203, 306-8, 323, 360, 361
photos of construction on, 122
political attacks on, 305, 318-20, 373, 374
profitability of, 104, 121-22, 124, 149, 166, 238, 306n-7n, 374
promotional excursions of, 118, 120-21, 159
quality vs. speed in building of, 117, 252, 297, 300, 312, 323, 338-39
rates of progress on, 148-49, 155, 161, 165, 166, 195, 201, 203, 206, 230, 231, 236, 244-45, 247, 252, 297-301, 305-9, 310, 312, 315-17, 332, 345, 346-52
rival railroads’ charges against, 111, 122-23
rolling stock of, 124, 298
route of, 98, 112, 124, 201-2, 237-38, 286, 299, 305, 306, 312, 313, 316-17, 319, 343
Sacramento office of, 103-4
Sierra Nevada route of, 19, 74-75, 109-10, 118, 162-63, 230, 231, 244, 247-48, 306-8, 343
snow problems on, 147, 233, 234-35, 245, 302-4, 305, 323-24
Southern Pacific as successor to, 165, 377-78, 379, 380
speed of, 121, 323
stock sales of, 124, 165-66, 230
supply transport on, 19-20, 118, 147, 203, 206, 231, 234, 237, 249, 301, 308-10, 321, 331
towns developed along, 304, 309, 311, 313
track-laying on, 118, 244, 311-12, 315, 346-52
tunnels built by, 20, 75, 78, 104, 124, 147, 155-56, 160-61, 196, 197, 202, 203, 204-5, 206, 207, 230, 231-32, 233-34, 235-36, 244, 291, 307
UP rivalry with, 155, 193-94, 201, 203, 225, 230-31, 238-39, 241, 242-43, 244, 247, 248, 249, 252, 274, 277, 282-83, 290-92, 300, 304-5, 306, 313, 316-17, 322-23, 337-40, 341-42, 346-52, 362-63, 365, 371-72
wagon road constructed for, 72, 76-77, 104, 111, 112, 195, 233
water supplies of, 195-96, 202, 230, 237, 301, 309
weather problems experienced by, 147, 195, 197-98, 203-6, 231, 232-34, 245, 296, 302-3, 305, 323-24, 331
Chandler, Alfred D., 100
Charles Crocker Contract and Finance Company, 105-6, 111, 165, 246-47, 321, 339, 375
Chesapeake & Ohio, 379
Cheyenne, Wyo., 220-21, 227, 228, 229, 251, 259, 263, 271
Cheyennes, 130, 136, 172-73, 211, 214, 222, 225-26, 265
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, 126
Chicago and Northern Railroad, 254
Chicago Howe Truss Bridge Company, 211
Chinese workers:
backgrounds of, 152-53
blasting expertise of, 235, 236
Cape Horn grading work of, 156-57
China returned to by, 164, 165
Cornish miners vs., 200
on CP construction, 18, 21, 149-58, 159, 161-62, 164-65, 198, 204-5, 231, 240-42, 243, 247, 298, 300, 308, 310, 327, 378
discrimination against, 150-51, 153, 378
Dodge on, 349
in domestic service, 151, 153
after end of CP construction, 164-65
fatalities of, 204, 205, 206, 236, 237
food provided for, 161-62, 232, 289
Indians feared by, 310
industry of, 315
Irish workers’ conflicts with, 327
living conditions of, 161-62, 204, 231, 232
numbers of, 198, 237, 298
recruitment of, 243
strike by, 240-42
on Trans-Siberian Railway, 18
wages of, 300
white foremen as bosses of, 231, 311
Chinn, Thomas W., 204
Civil War:
codes used in, 292
end of, 133
former slaves’ participation in, 86
military railroad work in, 84-85, 96
national optimism after, 253
onset of, 41, 73, 74, 102
as organizational model, 19, 172, 253, 283, 353
prisoners of war in, 119
progress of, 77, 79, 80, 88, 96-98, 103, 110, 111-12, 114-15, 118, 123
railroad blasting power vs., 119, 158
railroads constructed by veterans of, 17, 18-19, 21, 137, 143-44, 172, 177, 218, 253
riots in Northern cities during, 114
Clark, William, 19, 38, 42, 59, 100, 127, 143, 356
Clarke, Thomas Curtis, 25
Clay, Henry, 27, 87-88, 100
Clayton, D. B., 182
Clement, Lewis M., 364, 382
background of, 110
on blasting operations, 160, 201
Cape Horn grading overseen by, 157
construction progress urged by, 203
on costs, 111, 301
as CP engineer, 19, 116, 117, 316
on Crocker’s construction oversight, 163-64
curved tunnel routes laid out by, 232
on laborers
’ defections to mining, 148
on locomotives for supply transport, 147
on railroads’ Ogden union, 340
on roadbed clearing of tree stumps, 158
snowsheds designed by, 235, 302, 304
Summit Tunnel engineered by, 244
Utah construction led by, 291, 316, 332
on water supplies, 309
coal mining, 128, 189, 220, 224
Cochran, Thomas, 93, 193
codes, 292
Cogswell, Milton, 363
Cohen, Alfred, 197
Cole, Cornelius, 71, 72, 154
Coley, George, 349
Colfax, Schuyler, 158, 159, 275, 367, 374
Collins, Casper, 130
Commager, Henry Steele, 376
Congress, U.S.:
on CP-UP connection point, 193, 194, 238, 255, 291, 304-5, 340, 341, 371, 372
Crédit Mobilier shareholders in, 227, 320, 339, 374
on domestic iron usage, 14, 301
lobbying on transcontinental railroad in, 59-61, 64-68, 75-76, 193-94, 196, 321-22
partisan control of, 70
railroad finances investigated by, 373-75
on railroad routes, 31, 304-5
transcontinental railway legislation of, 75-76, 77-81, 89, 94-96, 101, 147, 254, 304-5
on UP financial dispute, 336-37, 339
Wyoming territorial status granted by, 210n
construction workers:
African-American, 177, 241, 274
age of, 295-96
blasting operations of, 119-20, 138, 155, 156-58, 160-61, 199-201, 204, 231-36
Chinese,see Chinese workers
Civil War veterans as, 21, 137, 143-44, 172, 177, 218, 253
cooperative teamwork of, 213, 287
Cornish miners as, 200
CP-UP rivalry of, 327
daily routines of, 179, 232
dangers undergone by, 156-58, 160, 200-201, 204-5, 267-68
drinking habits of, 162, 176, 217, 219, 257-58, 286, 296, 378
fatalities of, 201, 204-5, 206, 233, 236, 237, 264-65, 267-68, 326
food provided for, 138, 161-62, 177, 179, 182, 183, 232, 289
grading work of, 118, 119-20, 136-39, 147, 323
health care of, 137
Indian hostilities as threat to, 173, 211, 214-15, 220, 310
injuries to, 120, 156, 164, 231
Irish, 18, 21, 118-20, 296, 327, 349, 378
living conditions of, 22, 137, 138, 161-62, 177-78, 179, 204, 231, 232, 293, 309, 315
management style and, 120, 137-38, 198, 201, 314-15
Mormon, 189, 242, 261, 281-91, 294-95, 316, 327n, 329
numbers of, 18, 17, 181, 198, 206, 210, 211, 284
physical demands on, 21, 118, 178, 296
recreational activities of, 217-18, 219-20, 353, 372
release of, 354-55
slang terms developed by, 182
snow removal by, 147, 302-3, 305
songs of, 138, 179, 286-87
strike actions of, 137, 198, 240-42, 329, 378
on telegraph vs. railroad track, 257
wages of, 107, 118, 122, 137, 148, 153, 178, 179, 198, 240, 241, 242, 275, 283, 285, 294, 296, 300, 302, 329, 351, 359
weather extremes experienced by, 147, 178, 203-6, 231, 232, 296, 323, 324-25
Western mining opportunities of, 107, 119, 121, 148, 154
work pace maintained by, 179, 181, 182-83, 231, 275, 311-12, 346-52
Continental Divide, 45, 87, 128, 136, 216, 223
Cooke, Philip St. George, 174
“coolies,” 150
Corinne, Utah, 319, 337, 353, 354
cottonwood, 133, 139-40, 187, 227, 252, 274
Council Bluffs, Iowa, 33-34, 35, 36, 37, 38-39, 254, 276
Cox, Jacob Dolson, 281-82, 335
Cox, S. S. “Sunset,” 96
CP,see Central Pacific Railroad
C. P. Huntington, 115, 122
Crane, H. C., 257, 259
Crane, James, 286-87
Crédit Mobilier of America, 131
construction contracts signed over to, 93, 99
creation of, 92-93
Contract and Finance Company vs., 105, 246
directors of, 281
dividends paid by, 227, 270, 277, 318, 320, 374-75
holdings of congressmen in, 227, 320, 339, 374
political scandal over, 320-21, 373-75
profitability of, 98, 374
stockholders of, 132, 140, 190, 226, 320
UP finances vs., 139, 212, 227, 270, 277, 336
Creighton, Harry, 175
Crocker, Charles, 19, 154, 206, 364, 380
background of, 43-44
on blasting operations, 200, 201, 235, 236, 323
in business, 54, 62, 71, 73, 103, 106
Chinese workers appreciated by, 150, 164, 200, 242, 243
construction overseen by, 43, 105-6, 107-8, 110, 111, 112, 116, 117, 118, 122, 148, 157, 161, 163-64, 165, 195, 196, 197, 200, 202, 236, 237, 244-45, 246, 258-59, 298, 306, 308-9, 310-11, 316, 317, 322-23, 328-29, 331, 335, 346-52
Contract and Finance Company of, 105-6, 111, 165, 246-47, 321, 339, 375
CP investments of, 72, 73, 105, 114, 124, 165
on CP’s finances, 121, 124, 165, 198
eastern route extension desired by, 238, 362-63
laborers handled by, 119, 120, 121, 149, 150, 152, 153, 164, 198, 199-200, 240, 241-42, 289, 306, 310, 328-29, 347, 348
later years of, 379
marriage of, 310-11
physical appearance of, 44, 163
political involvement of, 71
on railroad across Sierra, 147
as railroad director, 74, 106
on rate of progress, 236, 239, 297, 298, 306, 312, 317, 322-23, 328-29
on snowsheds, 302, 304
on UP rivalry, 241, 258-59, 340, 346, 348, 349, 351
wagon road owned by, 76
on weather conditions, 323
westward overland journey led by, 44-47, 49, 53
Crocker, E. B., 112
on Chinese workers, 154, 240-41, 242, 243, 298, 300
on construction progress, 236, 244, 245, 246, 297, 300
Contract and Finance Company holdings of, 165, 246, 247
on popularity of railroads, 249
on Strobridge’s construction oversight, 236-37
on UP-CP rivalry, 238, 239, 242, 243, 297
on UP management conflicts, 255
on weather problems, 206, 239, 244
Curtis, Samuel R., 66-67, 68, 70, 84
cushions, 182
cuts, excavation of, 119-20, 138, 196
Dakota Territory, 210
Dale City, Wyo., 259-60
Dale Creek, 221, 227, 251, 256, 257, 258, 259-61, 262, 380
Daley, Thomas, 349
Dana, Charles A., 86, 275
dance halls, 218, 219
dance the carpet, 182
Davenport and Iowa City Railroad, 33
Davis, James W., 360
Davis, Jefferson, 31, 34-35, 59, 60, 280, 377
Deep Gulch, 154
DeLamater, C. B., 46
DeMille, Cecil B., 217
Democratic Party, transcontinental railroad supported by, 66
Dennison, Eli, 363
Dent, Frederick, 344
Dent, Lewis, 342-44
Dey, Peter A., 90
on Dodge’s expertise, 32-33
Platte Valley route surveyed by, 36-37
resignation of, 98-99
UP routes surveyed by, 89, 91-92, 127-28, 131, 132n, 135, 136, 142, 382
Dillon, Sidney, 271, 281-82, 359, 363, 367, 370-71
ditch companies, 195-96
Dix, John A., 37n, 40, 89, 91, 99, 191
Dodge, Anne Brown, 34
Dodge, Grenville, 19, 90, 290, 349, 377
administrative recommendations of, 171, 273
agricultural opportunities noted by, 212, 229
annual reports written by, 228-29
army protection of UP workers requested by, 211, 214
background of, 31-33
on bridge construction, 183, 187, 344
business interests of, 37-38
as chief engineer, 18, 97, 130, 131-32, 171-72, 176, 183, 211, 221, 228-29, 254, 271, 336, 381
Civil War experience of, 18, 79, 84-85, 86-87, 88, 96-98, 130, 171, 216, 219, 253, 272, 353
in completion ceremonies, 354, 363, 365, 366, 367-68, 370
as congressman, 186, 273, 320
Durant’s rivalry with, 270-73, 329-30
on end of construction, 355
federal bond releases and, 330, 334
former slaves armed by, 86
on Indian threat, 130-32, 133, 141, 173, 211, 214-15, 216, 221, 223
Judah vs., 112
on labor concerns, 286, 327, 342, 378
land grants managed by, 187-88, 212, 219-20, 221, 271
later years of, 381
Lincoln’s meetings with, 23-24, 26, 39, 86-88, 97, 270-71
maps created by, 228
marriage of, 34
on mineral interests, 187, 188, 189
personnel assignments by, 171-72, 216
political support for railroad sought by, 39-41, 253-54, 272-73
on promotional excursions, 186, 261, 277
on railroad route, 24, 26, 32-39, 40-41, 87, 89, 127, 131, 135-36, 188-89, 190-91, 210, 221, 223-25, 230, 254, 271-73, 279-80, 285-86, 333, 382
ransom payment urged by, 359-60
on rate of progress, 174, 191, 210, 221, 227, 228, 342, 355
surveying teams praised by, 191
towns established by, 220, 221, 224, 228, 259
on UP western limit, 230, 254-55, 330, 339, 341, 342, 355, 362-63
on war veterans as railroad workers, 19, 177
on westward movement of rain belt, 212
Dodge, Nathan, 90
Donner Party, 146
Donner Pass, 68, 69-70, 72, 75, 111, 160, 201, 202
Douglas, Stephen A., 23
Drew, Daniel, 336
drone cage, 182
Duff, John, 186, 211, 359, 360, 367
dumping boss, 137-38
Durant, Frank, 170
Durant, Thomas “Doc,” 19, 217
background of, 35-36
chief engineers appointed by, 91, 97, 130, 131, 171, 271
at completion ceremonies, 359, 363, 365, 367, 381
construction company set up by, 92-93
construction progress urged by, 140, 143, 144, 210, 230, 238, 261, 273, 275, 277, 282-83, 290, 352, 381
construction reports received by, 174-76, 183, 187, 190, 208
corporate leadership of, 88-90, 91-92, 97, 98-99, 134, 170, 172, 174, 176, 191, 226, 271, 285-86, 375, 381
CP rivalry and, 239, 242, 255, 282-83, 290, 313, 348, 349, 351
Crédit Mobilier holdings of, 190, 212, 270
financial management of, 139, 270, 277, 282, 294-95, 318-20, 335-36, 359-60, 372, 382