Read Nothing Like It in the World The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 Online

Authors: STEPHEN E. AMBROSE,Karolina Harris,Union Pacific Museum Collection

Nothing Like It in the World The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 (69 page)

BOOK: Nothing Like It in the World The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869
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Bradford, Sam, 363, 365

brakemen, 24

brakes, whistle down, 182

bridges:

over American River, 107-8, 122

Big Trestle, 338-39, 346, 348, 353

Civil War construction of, 96

over Dale Creek, 221, 256, 258, 259-61, 262

on fire, 24

Howe truss used in, 26, 211

at Loup Fork, 175, 187

over Mississippi River, 30

over Missouri River, 30, 188, 260, 373

prefabricated sections for, 211

in Sierra Nevada, 154-55

as temporary structures, 288

over Truckee River, 237

weather damage to, 234, 361

of wood vs. iron, 252, 261

Brooks, B. S., 162

Brooks, James, 374, 375

Bross, William, 159

Brown, Arthur, 198, 234-35, 302-3, 304

Brown, Charles Leroy, 29

Browne, Percy, 215, 216, 221, 223

Browning, Orville Hickman, 238, 255, 261, 276, 305, 306, 313, 330-31, 333, 334

Buchanan, James, 61, 65-66

Buck, S. M., 201

buffalo, 143, 173, 257, 267

“Building of a Railway, The” (Clarke), 25

bumper, 182

Burch, John C., 59, 64-65, 66, 67

Burnettizer, 139-40

California:

agriculture in, 229

Chinese population of, 150-52, 161
n,
164-65, 243

CP route in,
343

first railroad built in, 56-58

gold discovered in, 30, 43, 48, 50, 52, 229

immigration to, 53-55, 243, 362

legislation on transcontinental railroad to, 61

mountainous barrier to, 146

railroad consolidation in, 246, 373, 379

sea routes to, 48-53, 56

state elections in, 74

statehood of, 18

transcontinental railroad link to, 250

wagon journeys to, 44-47, 52

California and Oregon Railroad, 246

California Central Railroad, 246

Campbell, Jim, 351

Canadian Pacific, 17-18

canals, 28

Cape Horn, railroad work at, 156-57, 159, 198, 307

Carnegie, Andrew, 270

Carson, Kit, 45

car toad, 182

Casement, Dan, 330, 354, 382

Civil War experience of, 18, 170-71

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, 306
n
-7
n,
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, 210
n

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, 327
n,
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

BOOK: Nothing Like It in the World The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869
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