The Pacific Railroads

The Pacific Railroad

The story of the First Transcontinental Railroad is well known. Talk of a transcontinental railroad dates back to the 1830s, but with the western territories’ rapid settlement in the 1850s, it became clear to members of Congress that overland transport was needed to the Pacific Coast. The Department of War conducted several surveys from 1853 to 1855 with three primary routes in mind: A northern route would follow the Missouri River into the Oregon Territory, a central route would follow the North Platte River along most of the Oregon Trail to Northern California, and a southern route would cross Texas and the New Mexico Territory to Los Angeles. Perhaps the most ideal route would have followed the 32nd parallel into the Southwest, and the high density of transcontinental railroads in this region, such as the Southern Pacific, Atlantic & Pacific, and Santa Fe, is evidence of this fact; but Northern states were apprehensive about supporting Southern industry. The comparatively hospitable climate of the central route made it the most logical choice, but the senators could not agree on a route, especially those from Southern states hoping that the railroad would pass through their respective home states. Tensions were already high between Northern and Southern senators in the years leading up the the Civil War, and few were willing to fund a railroad out of the states they found repugnant. Perhaps most infamously, Senator Jefferson Davis expressed his support for a transcontinental railroad (passing through the Mississippi Valley, of course) as a symbol of national unity, stating, “I have thought it an achievement worthy of our age and of our people, to couple with bonds of iron the people of the Pacific with the valley of the Mississippi,” just days before his home state of Mississippi seceded from the Union. The Southern secession in 1861 proved a blessing for the transcontinental railroad. Modernizer Republicans gained almost complete control of Congress, and the remaining senators were able to agree on the central route.

Sacramento was clearly the western terminus, but what would be the eastern connection? One option was either Leavenworth or Kansas City, Kansas, on the western side of the Missouri River, accessed by the Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western heading to the west; another option was St. Joseph, Missouri, already accessed to the east by the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad; and the final option was an extension of Thomas C. Durant’s proposed Mississippi & Missouri Railroad from Council Bluffs, Iowa, immediately across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska. Durant had the political advantage. In 1857, he had hired Abraham Lincoln as an attorney to represent his railroad regarding the construction of a bridge over the Missouri River. Now it was Lincoln’s turn to ask Durant for advice, who, of course, advocated for his own railroad. Despite any possible conflicts of interest, Omaha was still the most logical choice. Omaha was the furthest from the Civil War fighting in Missouri, was closest to South Pass over the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming, and already followed the fertile Platte River. As such, the first Pacific Railroad Act was signed into law on July 1, 1862, providing loans and land grants for railroads willing to invest in the creation of a transcontinental system, and authorizing the creation of the Central Pacific Railroad working east from Sacramento, and the Union Pacific Railroad working west from Omaha.

Denver's First Roads

While the Union Pacific and Central Pacific raced to unite the Trans-Missouri West, another railroad was launching its own grandiose scheme to join the transcontinental ranks. In 1854, the Kansas Territory was opened to white settlement, but it was quickly understood that a railroad connection with the east would need to be secured for colonization to be successful. The aforementioned Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western (LP&W) was organized in 1855 and authorized to construct a line between Leavenworth and Pawnee, near Fort Riley, by way of Lawrence and Topeka, and westward along the Smoky Hill River from there. Unfortunately, its original incorporators lost interest and the company languished, for awhile, as one of the Kansas Territory’s many projected railroads that only existed on paper. But an element of concern arose when the pro-slavery company incorporators realized that the first free-state territorial legislature would convene in 1857. Out of caution, the company reorganized itself on January 5, 1857, with recent Leavenworth immigrant Thomas Ewing Jr. on the board, and his brother as president, both of whom were moderate free-state supporters. Ewing had many connections in the Department of the Interior, and these connections would prove especially useful to the company. Between 1857 and 1861, the LP&W found itself deeply entrenched in a series of legal battles to secure its land rights east of Lawrence and west of Topeka (which were occupied by Indian reservations), and by the time negotiations came to a close in 1862 the company still had yet to lay a single rail. By this point, the country was embroiled in a civil war. The underfunded company was practically bankrupt and its land rights were precarious, and traditional means of government funding were certainly unavailable, but salvation seemed to arrive when the scent of a government-backed Pacific railway drifted by. With Southern opposition removed, it seemed likely that a Pacific railway bill would be passed. The question was which companies would be the primary beneficiaries.

Ewing wisely purposed himself with securing special privileges for his railroad. He persuaded Representive Rollins of Missouri to introduce a Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western bill in the House, where it would be brought to the Pacific Railroad Committee and introduced in the Senate. He also convinced the Kansas legislature to send a joint resolution in support of the bill to Congress. By this time, it was clear that Omaha would be the beginning of the Union Pacific, but railroad interests in St. Louis, Missouri, were upset at the choice favoring rival Chicago. Members of Congress also realized that the railroad would bypass Leavenworth, the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco at that time. To appease Missouri, it was decided that a connection from Kansas City would be beneficial and that provisions should be made. As such, the Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western was given the authorization and funding to build one hundred miles west from Kansas City and Leavenworth to Fort Riley. From Fort Riley, the railroad would turn north and connect with the Union Pacific near Fort Kearney, Nebraska. Railroads in Missouri were expected to aid them in this endeavor by creating a connection with the east at Kansas City, forming what would be intended as an eastern branch of the Union Pacific. After seven years of waiting, the Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western was finally incorporated by the Pacific Railroad Act on July 1, 1862, but the company did not become the eastern terminus of a new Union Pacific Railroad as it had wanted, or an alternative transcontinental route as its promoters had begun to envision. Of the many groups unhappy with the final outcome of the Pacific Railroad Act, the Leavenworth company’s promoters were especially proactive. The Pennsylvania Railroad, desiring its own westward connection, along with a group of Missouri financiers, began transforming the company into another prospective alternative for the not-yet-realized Union Pacific-Central Pacific system. To reflect this larger plan, the company renamed itself as the Union Pacific Eastern Division (UPED), although the company was a completely independent rival of the Union Pacific. As the company finally began laying its very first ties in the direction of Fort Riley, it spotted an opportunity over four-hundred miles to the west.

When gold was discovered eighty-five miles north of Pike’s Peak, a group of argonauts looking to restore their fortunes lost in the Depression of 1857 descended upon the union of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. They set up a mining camp and called it Denver, or the “Queen City of the Great Plains,” as it would quickly come to be called. Participants in the 1859 Pike’s Peak Gold Rush were called “Fifty-Niners” like the California “Forty-Niners” before them. Like the California gold miners, Denverities had high aspirations for their town. Some believed the town was destined to become the next San Francisco or Sacramento. When the first provisional legislature of the extralegal Jefferson Territory convened in Denver in late 1859, governor Robert W. Steel predicted that the population would reach 100,000 by spring, but the 1860 census found that Denver had only reached 4,789 residents, and by 1870 Denver had only gained an additional ten residents. Instead, most immigrants seemed to be settling closer to the gold deposits near Golden, which would become the capital of the Colorado Territory from 1862 to 1867, and one of Denver’s rivals. Additionally, the price of food and supplies was high as the Front Range found itself eight-hundred miles across the “Great American Desert” from major supply routes in the States. So, Denver found itself looking for a railroad, and railroads began eyeing Denver for its supply of gold ore, but out of nearly a dozen railroads that plotted a route to Queen City, none of them came to fruition.

Hope arrived when the new Colorado Territory was organized in 1862 and Abraham Lincoln appointed John Evans as governor. When Evans first spoke in Denver on May 16, he assured the people that Denver would become an integral part of the transcontinental route. His words were not taken without heed, as it was noted that Evans was one of Congress’s commissioners tasked with organizing the Pacific railroad. But when the Union Pacific was actually organized, its directors seemed to have different ideas. Unlike other railroads, the Union Pacific was established based on constructing as far west in as little time as possible, and receiving government incentives in return. As much as the Union Pacific desired connections like Denver, it had little interest in reaching already established communities. By 1866, it had been made clear to Evans that the Union Pacific would have to pass through Cheyenne, and that the transcontinental railroad would completely skirt Colorado, save for an inconsequential dip at Julesberg.

Denver’s spirits were revitalized when the Union Pacific Eastern Division’s efforts were successful. In 1864, the Pacific Railroad Act was revised, providing that whatever railroad reached the 100th meridian first would be awarded with the westbound contract. The Union Pacific won this race, but the foundation for multiple branches to the west had been planted. On July 3, 1866, President Andrew Johnson signed the Extension Act, permitting the UPED to push past Fort Riley to Denver. From there, they were authorized to make a connection with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne, or with the Central Pacific if they reached Cheyenne first. But Denverites had forgotten that the budget-conscious Congress had refused to grant any additional bonds or financial incentives to aid this new route. In what was seen as a dastardly attempt at blackmail, the UPED approached Denver and announced that they could not reach Denver unless the town contributed $2,000,000 when, in the eyes of Denver residents, the abundant resources of their region would more than pay for construction. Their greatest fears came to pass when rumors came that General Palmer was surveying possible routes to California via New Mexico, all of which bypassed their town. Queen City began seeking a connection with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne.

On November 14, 1867, Denver was visited by George Francis Train, a promoter for the Union Pacific. He gave a speech in which he called for a “home town” railroad, which would be called the Denver Pacific. This railroad, by Train’s estimates, would also cost about $2,000,000, but Train’s speech was rousing, and this railroad would be owned by the people of Denver. Additionally, Denver felt especially threatened by its principal rival. In 1865, Golden resident William A. H. Loveland incorporated the Colorado Central railroad. He had contracted a joint effort with the Union Pacific in which the Colorado Central would lay the roadbed, ties, and bridges, and the Union Pacific would lay the iron. To fund the road, Loveland instigated bond elections in neighboring counties, but only his home of Jefferson County fully supported his railroad. By New Year’s of 1868, the Colorado Central had only constructed two-hundred feet of roadbed in an easy area, which had temporarily exhausted the company’s resources.

On November 19, 1867, a few days after Train’s speech, the Denver Board of Trade incorporated the Denver Pacific Railway & Telegraph Company. It sought $2,000,000 in funding, as Train had suggested, and, within three days, the people of Denver had purchased $300,000 in shares. In return, these early subscribers were given the promise of work or supply contracts. By January, Arapahoe County (which, at the time, included Denver) approved an additional $500,000 in county bonds for the Denver Pacific, with 1,210 residents for and only 15 against. The company treasury was quite healthy, with $800,000 in the bank, but with another $1,200,000 to go and local resources exhausted, funding would have to be sought elsewhere. Denver petitioned other counties for bond issues, but Golden had united the mountain towns against “the Queen City of the Plains,” as Golden was much closer to their mining districts. Eastern financiers had no interest as most were still reeling from the Depression of 1866. From there, John Evans looked directly to the Union Pacific for help. The Union Pacific was quite eager to tap Colorado’s abundant mines, but they had become disillusioned after the failure of the Colorado Central. Still, Evans was able to hammer out a similar agreement in which the Union Pacific would lay the iron and the Denver Pacific would lay the rest. The Union Pacific would also be leased Denver Pacific tracks. This wasn’t enough, so he also made agreement with the Union Pacific Eastern Division that their earlier right-of-way between Denver and Cheyenne given to them by the 1866 Extension Act would be transferred to the Denver Pacific. After extensive lobbying, Congress approved the transfer on March 3, 1869. Against all odds, Evans had united two competing transcontinental roads in the construction of his railroad.

The remaining days would not be sunshine and roses. With the land transfer confirmed, Evans sought Union Pacific President Oliver Ames to confirm their agreement. Ames had been regularly harassed for financing, so he made himself difficult to find. After nearly a month, Evans was able to find Ames in the Utah Territory where he was being hounded by unpaid tie cutters. Ames had no choice but to tell Evans outright that financial aid would not be possible. With this betrayal, Evans feels the responsibility of shouldering Union Pacific’s financial obligations himself. But hope was not gone. Even as construction stalled in 1868, the Union Pacific Eastern Division had been steadily continuing west. Congress approved the Denver Pacific land transfer on March 3, 1869, just as the Union Pacific Company began facing allegations of fraud and corruption. Therefore, the Union Pacific Eastern Division felt the necessity of finding a new name. As a result, the Union Pacific Eastern Division was renamed the Kansas Pacific.

Renaming itself would not fix the Kansas Pacific’s problems. The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in May of 1869, and Kansas Pacific had yet to reach Denver. As a result, the Pennsylvania Railroad pulled out of Kansas Pacific and attempted to secure a contract with Union Pacific. Kansas Pacific lobbied for funding to build a secondary transcontinental route along the 35th Parallel in New Mexico and Arizona, but failed to obtain it. It would have to refocus its efforts back to the towns in Colorado and its connection with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne. As the Kansas Pacific approached Denver, its interest in the Denver Pacific increased. A desperate John Evans quickly found the Kansas Pacific eager to help with the Denver Pacific’s debts. After three weeks of meetings, Evans and his associates, David Moffat and Walter Cheesman, came to an agreement in which the Kansas Pacific would be given one-half company interest in the Denver Pacific, while the Denver Pacific would maintain the other half. Evans would maintain control of the company for the next five years (which he was legally obligated) and then control would be surrendered to the Kansas Pacific. With this agreement, the two companies essentially merged. Construction would be jointly presided over by John Evans and General William Jackson Palmer (who still worked for Kansas Pacific). Additionally, the companies made plans for additional branches to Georgetown, South Park, and Santa Fe. News of this spectacular merger reached all the way to Fleet Street in London. The Denver Pacific was on its way to completion by 1870. Already, a feeder line was being constructed to Boulder. The sale of lands along the Denver Pacific right-of-way invited Horace Greeley to construct his “Colorado utopia.”

The railroad approached Denver on June 22, 1870, and formal celebrations began on June 24. A crowd of Indians, trappers, miners, and townsfolk, many of whom had never seen an “iron horse” before, all gathered to see the end of Denver’s pioneer days. John Evans oversaw the welcoming ceremonies. A silver spike was intended to be a symbol of the new prosperity arriving in Queen City, but it had to be replaced by a conventional spike wrapped in white note paper, which Evans held in a convincing manner. It was quickly discovered that the miners bringing the spike from Georgetown had pawned it, gotten drunk on the profits, and slept through the ceremony. Later, Evans was able to recover the silver spike from the pawn shop. Denver had its first railroad, but it had invited the ire of “the octopus.” The Union Pacific had trained its eyes on this “notably unpacific system of railroads.” This would be the last of the Kansas Pacific and Denver Pacific’s fortunes.

The Kansas Pacific had forestalled the Union Pacific’s business in Colorado by charging repressive rates over the Denver Pacific. Thus, the Denver Pacific, intended as a bridge line between Kansas and the Union Pacific, became a barrier. But in 1877, Golden’s Colorado Central finally completed its line to Cheyenne under the direction of the Union Pacific. By this point, Golden could never hope to regain its lead against Denver, but the Colorado Central had put a sufficient dent in Denver Pacific business. Denver Pacific stock plummeted, even after it was sold far exceeding its actual value. Investors from Germany and Holland quickly sued, contending that company policy should be set by the shareholders, not the Kansas Pacific, who used their controlling share to defend their own interests and not the interests of the other shareholders. The Kansas Pacific claimed it was retaliating against the Union Pacific’s own prohibitive rates west of Cheyenne. Plaintiffs also emphasized “the failure of the federal government to enforce the law against corporations of its own creation.” By January 14, 1880, the Denver Pacific and Kansas Pacific were no more, bought by the Union Pacific under the direction of notorious financier Jay Gould.

Still, the impact of these two roads cannot be understated. The Queen City that stagnated throughout the 1860s septupled in population during the next decade. Denver became the banking center of the region. Mining production more than doubled over the next several years. The railroad failed to bring down the cost of supplies, but it brought enough tourists to compensate. Denver City became another hub of civilization like Sacramento, like the Fifty-Niners had hoped. Despite the eventual failure of the Denver Pacific, the people of Queen City insisted that this was just the beginning for Denver.

Contrary to popular belief, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific were not the first railroads to connect each seaboard by rail. Even though the two railroads linked Sacramento and Omaha, passengers and freight still had to cross the Missouri River to Council Bluffs, Iowa, by ferry or ice bridge. A bridge at this location wouldn’t be constructed until 1872. Meanwhile, the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad constructed the Hannibal Bridge as early as 1869. When the Kansas Pacific reached Denver in August 1870, they connected the Hannibal Bridge to the transcontinental system and became the first railroad to unite each coast by rail. The Nashville Union and American reported about the Kansas Pacific: “The government has done less for this road than for the Union and Central Pacific Railways… [but] the people of the United States … owe a debt of gratitude to the directors of the Kansas Pacific Railway [because] they have secured the most direct route from the Eastern Seaboard and the Southern States yet completed to the Pacific” and “have aided the people to become prosperous….” With this great achievement, and despite its later failure, the Kansas Pacific would remain relevant over the next decade.