Nothing Like It in the World The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 (73 page)

statehood of, 18

UP-CP rivalry over, 255, 277

Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 114, 115, 116, 270, 336

Wade, Benjamin, 185

walking bosses, 137, 138

Ward, Artemus, 97

Warren, Gouverneur K., 276, 313

Wasatch Range, 128, 129, 189, 202, 224, 231, 237, 255, 262, 276, 312,
319,
328

Washburne, E. B., 94-95

water supplies, 162, 195-96, 202, 223-24, 225, 262, 268-69, 301, 309, 372

Weber River Canyon, 128, 202, 224, 225, 237, 238, 261, 279, 283, 287, 289, 291, 292, 295, 300, 328, 332, 361

Webster, Daniel, 29, 357

West, Chauncey, 290

Western Pacific Railroad, 246

Wheat, Carl, 59

whistle down brakes, 182

Whitman, Walt, 358, 370

Whitney, Josiah D., 108, 149

Wilder, J. O., 205

Winnemucca, Nev., 299, 313

Winther, Oscar, 139

Wood, George, 307

workers, railroad,
see
construction workers

Wyoming:

population growth in, 210
n

UP route in, 212, 220,
251,
254, 256-64, 268-69, 271-76, 282, 288,
319

Young, Brigham, 19, 129, 224, 278-85, 364

code name of, 292

construction contracts with, 261, 282-85, 288-90, 294-95, 306, 335, 342

CP-UP rivalry and, 242-43

Durant's nonpayment of, 294-95, 318-20, 335-36, 372

leadership qualities of, 278, 285

Mormon church led by, 279, 280, 286

on railroad towns, 276

Salt Lake City railroad route sought by, 128, 129, 279-80, 286, 289, 372-73

on UP board of directors, 128

UP stock purchased by, 86, 279

Young, Brigham, Jr., 281-82, 285

Young, John W., 285

Young, Joseph A., 279, 285

Yuba Railroad, 246

S
TEPHEN
E. A
MBROSE
is the author of numerous books of history, including
Citizen Soldiers, Undaunted Courage,
and
D-Day,
as well as biographies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He lives in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and Helena, Montana.

Abraham Lincoln and Dodge at the time of their first conversation, in 1859. Lincoln was a politician and a railroad lawyer running for president. He met Grenvilk Dodge in Council Bluffs, Iowa. His first words were, “Dodge, what's the best route for a Pacific railroad to the West?” From then on, until his assassination, Lincoln was the number-one proponent and supporter of the railroad.

The Big Four of the Central Pacific (clockwise from top left): Leland Stanford (18241893), Collis P. Huntington (1821-1900), Charles Crocker (1822-1888), and Mark Hopkins (1814-1878). They were as stern and determined as they look, but they took great risks with their money and their time and energy to build the line. Stanford was president and the chief politician. Huntington borrowed the money for capital expenses in New York, Boston, and Washington, and lobbied Congress for more help. Crocker was in charge of construction. Hopkins handled the books. Together they reaped where they had sown.

General Jack Casement in Wyoming in 1868 poses on horseback in front of one of his construction trains. The Casements were in charge of laying the Union Pacific's track and were simultaneously feared and respected by the workers.

Samuel B. Reed in Echo City, Nevada, in 1869. Reed was chief of construction for the UP, in charge of keeping the men building the road supplied with everything from food to rails, ties, spikes, and everything else. He was also responsible for keeping the graders, barge builders, tie cutters, and tunnel builders supplied.

The surveyors of the UP pose at their camp in Echo Canyon, Utah. They are formally dressed for the occasion. The surveyors came first. They laid out the line. Most of the time, they slept on the ground and did their best to avoid hostile Indians.

General and Republican presidential candidate Ulysses S. Grant and party at Fort Sanders, just south of Laramie, Wyoming, in 1868. Grant has both hands on the fence. General William T. Sherman, in profile, is in front of the door. Thomas “Doc” Durant, the sixth man from the right with his hands clasped, bends forward.

General Dodge and party crossed the continent in 1867. Back row: Lt.J.W. Wheelen; Lt. Col. J. K. Mizner; Dr. Henry C. Terry, assistant surgeon; John E. Corwith. Front row: David VanLennep, geologist; John R. Duff; General G . M . Dodge; Brigadier General John A. Rawlins, chief of staff; Major W. McK. Dunn, ADC to General Rawlins.