The History Of Utah's Railroads, 1869-1883

By Clarence A. Reeder, Jr.

(Return to Reeder Manuscript Index Page)

Chapter 6

The Northern Railroads

The Utah Northern

Church leaders began to discuss the prospects of building a railroad north from Ogden to Logan and Cache Valley at the same time that they contemplated construction of the Utah Southern. Such a railroad was desirable to develop the economy and provide a means of transportation for the area.[1]

Another reason for interest in a northern railroad was the trade which had developed with several Montana mining communities during the 1860's as a result of the mineral discoveries recently made there. Despite the fact that it was a 500 mile drive by wagon, the farmers of northern Utah had provided a large part of the food supplies for these Montana mining camps.[2] Until the building of the transcontinental railroad, however, most of the Montana trade--other than the agricultural supplies of northern Utah--had been carried by boat up the Missouri River. Upon completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, there emerged the promise that this trade could be diverted to a Utah rail terminal for shipment by wagon to Montana. This prospect made the building of a railroad north of the transcontinental significant in the struggle that was to develop between the Gentile city of Corinne and the Mormon communities of northern Utah in their respective efforts to become the freight terminus for this anticipated new trade.

The freight in question was of considerable proportion. The Helena Herald reported that in the spring of 1869 more than thirty steamboats had left St. Louis for Fort Benton and the mines of Montana.[3] Actually, there was little or no question about this trade shifting from river steamer to rail and wagon. The currents and sandbars of the upper Missouri River made freighting a most dangerous and unsure venture at best, and accidents causing delay or loss of cargo were frequent.[4]

The experience of the Montana merchants with continued loss of goods on the river united them in support of shipping freight via the Utah route. They demonstrated this support in a letter sent jointly by nearly all the merchants in Helena to the freighting firm of Graham, Maurice & Company in September of 1869 when that firm announced they were establishing a terminus in Utah from which to ship merchandise to Montana:

Helena, September 17, 1869

Graham, Maurice and Co.

Gentlemen: Learning that you intend establishing a fast freight line from New York and other cities to this and other points in the Territory, via railroad to Corinne, thence by wagon train, we desire to tender you our support, with a view to the success of the enterprise. Navigation on the Missouri river is so precarious that we are anxious to avail ourselves of a route which offers a guarantee for the prompt delivery of our consignments. This we feel you can give by the means of transportation which you propose to employ . . .[5]

With assurance of such business other freighting firms also made plans to establish themselves in the Utah-to-Montana freight business in the spring of 1870. At that time there was no railroad north of the transcontinental, and the freight center selected for the Montana trade was the non-Mormon city of Corinne.

Corinne had been established as a railroad town as the Union Pacific built towards Promontory Summit early in 1869. It was situated on the Bear River at the north end of Great Salt Lake and was frequently called the "Burg on the Bear." It prided Itself in being Utah's "Gentile" community, and its newspapers continually carried anti-Mormon propaganda.

Corinne fought a losing battle with Ogden to claim the distinction of being the junction city for the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads, and by 1870 Corinne's residents had acknowledged that they had little chance of succeeding. Therefore, their selection as the rail head for the Montana trade was essential to assure the city's continued existence and growth.

Corinne prospered and grew in its new role. In the spring of 1871, as it began its second year of shipments to Montana, the city claimed warehouses for four freight lines. These were Kirkendall's Fast Freight and Express Company; Creighton and Munro's Freight and Express Line; Diamond R Freight and Express Lines; and Wells Fargo and Company. The Central Pacific Railroad had also erected large freight warehouses; and several other freighting firms, who drew from the Central Pacific's stock, were doing a considerable business with Montana. In addition, several Eastern and West Coast companies had established branches in Corinne to tag the mining trade. These included the Oriental Powder Company of Boston; the Kimball Wagon and Carriage Manufacturing Company of San Francisco; the Schutler Wagon Factory of Chicago; and the California Powder Works of San Francisco. Wells Fargo and Company, and the stage and mall line for Montana operated by Gilmer and Salisbury scheduled dally stages to Virginia City, Helena, Deer Lodge, Bozeman and other Montana mining camps. The Idaho and Oregon Stage Line departed for Boise City, Idaho; Walla Walla, Washington; and Umatilla and Portland, Oregon, each day.[6]

Freight shipments for Montana resumed each spring as soon as the snows had melted sufficiently to make the trip possible, and they continued until snow again closed the road near the end of the year. In the spring when shipments were at their peak, one-half to three-quarters of a million pounds of freight rolled out of Corinne each week.[7] It took about thirty days for freight to reach the Montana markets from the time it left Chicago or St. Louis.[8]

Corinne retained her place of prominence in the Montana trade picture almost unopposed through 1872. Both Ogden and Logan challenged the "Burg on the Bear" for the mail contracts and freight business, but neither city was successful. Ogden was more than twenty miles farther from Montana than was Corinne, and Logan was too isolated to offer any real opposition--its only contribution coming from the freighting of some of Cache Valley's local farm products to Montana during the slow farming periods.[9]

This situation disturbed the Mormon church leadership, but they realized that the only way it could be changed would be to build a railroad to the north and thus create a more favorable shipping point for the Montana trade. Bishop William B. Preston of Logan, who had been a subcontractor for Brigham Young on the Union Pacific contracts, corresponded with President Young during the summer of 1871 and conveyed the interests of the people of Cache County in assisting in the construction of such a line. Young, anxious to see a road built, encouraged Preston and the other church leaders of northern Utah to undertake the task.[10] He did not personally become involved with the project but asked his son, john W. Young, to assume the responsibility for organizing a company and building a railroad.[11]

John W. Young willingly accepted this assignment, knowing that the church leadership desired that labor required to construct a railroad be furnished as a cooperative effort by the Saints who would then share in the ownership of the road.[12] Therefore, he set about the two major tasks which had to be accomplished before success could be realized: first, money had to be secured to purchase rails and rolling stock; and second, the people of northern Utah would have to be persuaded to undertake the actual construction in return for stock in the road. Young traveled to New York to accomplish the first task. There he met with Joseph. Richardson, a businessman and speculator who had earlier visited Salt Lake City and expressed an interest in a northern Utah railroad. Richardson agreed to furnish the necessary rails and rolling stock for the road to capture the Montana trade if Young could secure the labor and other construction materials to build it.[13] Young felt that with his father's active support, he would have no difficulty in providing the labor; and he returned to Utah ready to charter a railroad company.

On his return he met with Bishop Preston and discussed with him his agreement with Richardson. Preston was noticeably concerned over the control Richardson would have in the affairs of the company as a result of his investment. Before agreeing to work with John W. Young in the chartering of the railroad, Preston sent a telegram to President Young in which he requested advice:

Logan, August 15th, 1871.

President Young, Salt Lake City:

Will it be wisdom for us in Cache County to grade and tie a railroad from Ogden to Soda Springs, with a view to Eastern capitalists ironing and stocking it, thereby giving them control of the road? The people feel considerably spirited in taking stock to grade and tie, expecting to have a prominent voice in the control of it; but to let foreign capitalists iron and stock it will, if my judgment is correct, give them control.

W. B. Preston.[14]

President Brigham Young responded:

Salt Lake City, August 15th, 1871.

Bishop Preston, Logan:

The foreign capitalists in this enterprise do not seek the control; this is all understood. What they want, and what we want, is to push this road with all possible speed, if you decide to have one, so that it shall run through and benefit your settlements and reach Soda Springs as soon as possible.

Brigham Young.[15]

President Young's response satisfied Preston, and he agreed to give his full support to the railroad project. He and John W. Young thereupon arranged to meet with the various ward bishops and other prominent men of northern Utah to charter the proposed road. The meeting was held in Logan on August 23, 1871, and the Utah Northern Railroad Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $2, 000, 000 divided into 20,000 shares of $100 each. The road was to be constructed from a junction with the Union Pacific, Central Pacific and Utah Central railroads at Ogden and to run through Brigham City and Logan to Soda Springs, Idaho, a distance of 125 miles.[16] It was implicitly understood that this was the first section of a railroad to Montana. Once track had been laid as far as the northern Utah border, the distance from that point to Montana by wagon would be shorter than from Corinne; and the much sought-after wagon freight trade could be expected to shift to the Utah Northern railhead. The cost of the construction of the road was estimated at $1, 500, 000, and the charter provided for thirteen directors who were:

John W. Young Salt Lake City, Utah
Joseph Richardson New York City, N.Y.
LeGrand Lockwood New York City, N.Y.
William B. Preston Logan, Utah
Hezekiah Thatcher Logan, Utah
O. N. Liljenquist Hyrum, Utah
William Maughan Wellsville, Utah
Franklin D. Richards Ogden, Utah
L. H. Hatch Franklin, Idaho
M. W. Merrill Richmond, Utah
Samuel Roskelly Smithfield, Utah
William Hyde Hyde Park, Utah[17]

John Young showed unusual wisdom in establishing such a large board of directors, thereby providing a seat for a prominent citizen from each of the communities from which he needed to secure labor. The stockholders in the road included the thirteen directors and a number of other citizens of northern Utah who subscribed for $140,000 of stock. William B. Preston was the largest subscriber with 169 shares; Young took 95; Joseph Richardson committed himself for 50 shares; and the remainder of the stockholders varied from 150 to 5 shares.[18] Brigham Young was not one of the initial stockholders in the company, but he did purchase at least five shares of stock on January 23, 1872; and on August 28, 1874, he acquired thirty-four of the road's $1,000 bonds.[19]

John W. Young was elected president and general superintendent of the company; William B. Preston, vice president; and Moses Thatcher, secretary and treasurer.[20]

Soda Springs, Idaho, was selected as the northern terminus of the road at Brigham Young's request. He, William H. Hooper and Horace S. Eldredge had purchased property there in 1869, and plans had been laid to establish a settlement. The area around Soda Springs was promising farming country, but Young's main interest was in the natural mineral springs which held promise of healing powers and which could serve as a center for a health resort.[21]

John W. Young's first action, after incorporation, was to enlist the support of the people of Box Elder and Weber counties in the construction of the Utah Northern. A meeting for that purpose was held in Brigham City on August 26, 1871.[22] The meeting netted the company pledges for labor valued at $12,000 in stock and was followed by ground breaking ceremonies. At dusk the city bell was rung, and a crowd of people assembled at a spot about one-half mile west of the courthouse where Lorenzo Snow, one of the twelve apostles of the Mormon Church and ecclesiastical leader for the Church in northern Utah, offered a dedicatory prayer; and john W. Young cut and removed the first sod.[23] A similar meeting was held in Ogden in mid-September.[24]

The railroad's directors decided that their first construction would be the section of road between Willard and Logan inasmuch as the Central Pacific then could be used as a temporary carrier from Ogden to Willard. They also agreed that their road would be a narrow gauge line.[25]

J. H. Martineau and a group of engineers conducted a survey during the last part of August and staked the route. During the first week in September, grading began all along the line from Willard to Logan, and a contract for 50,000 ties was negotiated. By September 27, 1871, eight miles of roadbed had been graded in Box Elder County; and the Cache Valley people were hard at work on the roadbed over Cache Hill in the mountains separating Box Elder and Cache valleys.[26]

It was evident by this time that the Mormon people had once again united under their religious leaders to build a railroad. The same spirit existed in construction of this road that had been present in the work on the other Mormon railroad enterprises. W. F. Fisher reported in the Ogden Junction of October 7, 1871, that he and "Joudy Hougen" (Goudy Hogan) were engaged in grading on the divide near Mendon and that the people throughout northern Utah had caught the spirit of railroading.[27] Grading continued through the autumn with frequent interruptions while the farmers left to harvest their crops. When winter put a halt to construction for the year, the roadbed from Willard to Mendon was nearly ready for rails and the difficult work on Cache Hill was well under way.[28]

The favorable progress of the Utah Northern was of considerable concern to the residents of Corinne, and their anxiety was frequently expressed in that town's papers during late 1871 and early 1872. The road posed a real threat to the well-being of the "Burg on the Bear" inasmuch as the town was now almost totally dependent on its Montana trade for continued existence.[29] Several meetings were held, and it was decided that it would be necessary for Corinne to build its own railroad towards Montana to counter the threat posed by the Utah Northern.

The city's leading citizens began a campaign in March of 1872 to generate sufficient support to meet the financial requirements for incorporating a railroad in the Territory of Utah. They interested several non-Mormon businessmen in Salt Lake and Corinne to incorporate the Utah, Idaho and Montana Railroad on April 13, 1872. The road was to run from Corinne by way of Bear River and Malad valleys to the northern boundary of Utah Territory, a distance of about thirty miles and at a projected cost of $1,000,000. The seven-man board of directors for the road included two Salt Lake City men, General Patrick Edward Connor and John Tiernau.[30] Connor, one of the most prominent non-Mormon residents of the Territory, had commanded the garrison at Camp Douglas during the first half of the 1860's anti, by encouraging his men to hunt for gold, had been instrumental in the discovery of Utah's mineral wealth. After he retired from the military, Connor retuned to Utah and was active in mining and railroad promotion.[31] The other five directors were Fox Diefendorf, James Campbell, Oscar D. Cass, John W. Graham and O. J. Hollister, all of Corinne. General Connor was elected president of the company; Fox Diefendorf, vice president; O. J. Hollister, secretary; Oscar D. Cass, treasurer; and James Campbell (who was also division superintendent of the Central Pacific Railroad), managing director. The road was capitalized for $1, 200,000.[32] The company applied immediately to Congress for a right-of way across the public land from Corinne to the proposed Northern Pacific Railroad route in Montana Territory. Congress granted this on June 1, 1872;[33] and the Utah, Idaho and Montana Railroad Company amended its charter to extend the road into Montana Territory and to increase its capital stock to $12,000,000.[34] The extent of work completed on this proposed standard gauge competitor of the Utah Northern was a route survey, a few miles of grading north of Corinne, and one "helluva" ground-breaking ceremony on June 17, 1872.[35] On that day, according to the Corinne Daily Reporter, the city's streets flowed with natives and tourists; and the beer flowed just as freely. General Patrick Edward Connor turned the first spade of earth and the speech making commenced. Among the illustrious speakers was Dennis J. Toohy, the editor of the paper, who received "loud and prolonged cheers after his brilliant oration" (according to his own report that appeared in his paper). Another noted speaker was Captain H. S. Jacobs who had earned the rank of Captain by virtue of owning and operating a paddle wheel steamer that traveled the Great Salt Lake between lake Point and Corinne.[36] Shortly after this time, Captain Jacobs was somehow promoted to the rank of Colonel and served as president of the Salt Lake, Sevier Valley and Pioche Railroad until the board of directors removed him for inefficiency and mismanagement of the company's funds.[37] After other speeches by a number of Corinne's more substantial citizens, the unbridled celebrations continued well into the night.[38]

Construction began again on the Utah Northern Railroad in mid March as soon as the melting winter snows would permit; and the grading between Willard and Hamptons on the Bear River, about twenty miles north of Brigham City, was rapidly completed.

Joseph Richardson fulfilled his agreement to provide the rails and rolling stock for the Utah Northern. This was a personal agreement with John W. Young. Richardson supplied the contracted items to Young in return for stock and bonds in the company. Young held the actual contract to construct the road and provide rails and rolling stock for which he was paid $8,000 in first mortgage bonds and $5,625 in capital stock per mile of completed track. Most of this was, in turn, transferred to Richardson.[39] A handsome, narrow gauge locomotive that was appropriately named the John W. Young, one passenger car, two dump cars, one box car and two flat cars, and adequate rails were on hand when grading as far as Hamptons was completed.[40] By mid-April five miles of track had been laid; by May 15, ten miles; and on June 13, 1872, Hamptons--twenty-five miles from Willard--was reached, and regular passenger and freight service was inaugurated on that day.[41]

An advertisement in the Salt Lake Daily Herald posted the fare as $1.50 each way and stated that trains were now running daily between the Brigham junction with the Central Pacific Railroad and Hamptons for Montana.[42] The Corinne paper was quick to remind the management of the Utah Northern that:

The traveler who takes a train on the Utah Northern narrow gauge at Brigham Station, may reach Hampton's in an hour or two, but arriving at the point of the mountain he'll find no coach or wagon awaiting to bear him onward, for long before that place is reached, the stage has passed on it's more direct line several miles westward. . . .We would like to see the officers of the Utah Northern throw out a hint to the green tourist that there is no stage line in any way connected with the road, . . . only from the Central Pacific railroad at Corinne do the stages and freighting for Montana depart everyday.[43]

The most difficult part of construction on the Utah Northern route was over Cache Hill between Box Elder County and Cache Valley. This route, according to Colonel James H. Martineau, the company's surveyor, was chosen over his objection. He felt that the Bear River Narrows, along the river, should have been selected; but that would have left Logan south of the main line of the road.[44] Grading over Cache Hill required several extensive cuts and fills which delayed construction and required the employment of a large number of men and teams. The longest and deepest fill was at a place called Cottonwood Hollow where the fill was 400 feet long, 87 to 100 feet deep and required the construction of a three-by-six foot masonry culvert at its base in order to carry the heavy spring runoff. There were fifty men and teams employed on this fill through much of the summer, and. it--was not until the last of September that all of the grading over the "hill" was finished.[45]

Once grading over Cache Hill had been completed, the company began to lay track again; progress was slow, however, as workers had to contend with the heavy winter snows in the mountains and high valleys. Despite delays and difficulties, the road was finished to Logan by February 3, 1873. On that day it was demonstrated that winter weather would be a challenge to the reliable operation of the Utah Northern. A heavy snowstorm blockaded the road and forced a large group of Salt Lake and Ogden citizens, bound for completion ceremonies in Logan, to return to their homes without reaching their destination.[46]

The Utah Northern concentrated its construction efforts and money on three projects during 1873. These were the building of a branch line from Brigham City to Corinne; the construction of the main road between Willard and Ogden; and the extension of the line to Franklin, Idaho.

The Corinne branch was a result of the concern of the people of that city that their trade monopoly with Montana was in eminent danger by the construction of the little narrow gauge. This concern was aggravated by the failure of the Utah, Idaho and Montana Railroad to raise the necessary funds to offer any prospect of construction.

A series of town meetings were held in the late summer and autumn of 1872, and it was decided to petition the Utah Northern to have a branch line constructed from Brigham City to Corinne. This was done in the hope that the Central Pacific freight would still be deposited at Corinne for shipment north via the Utah Northern.[47] This proposal had been considered in the spring of that year but had not been pursued since the people of Corinne concentrated on their own railroad to the north.[48]

Several Corinne businessmen were appointed to negotiate with the Utah Northern officials. Conversations were first held with Moses Thatcher, secretary of the company, who arranged for meetings to workout an agreement. These meetings were held in Corinne where the railroad was represented by its president, John W. Young, Young agreed to build the branch to Corinne by July 1, 1873, and to provide regular passenger and freight service until the Utah Northern completed its road to Ogden and, after that time, only as long as it was profitable. He also agreed that the Brigham City junction (Willard) with the Central Pacific Railroad would not be moved anywhere other than to Ogden. In return, the Corinne committee agreed to pay $2,000 in cash, $2,000 in Corinne city warrants at 10 percent interest, and $1,000 in goods to the Utah Northern and to lease to it depot grounds in their city at a nominal fee indefinitely.[49] The citizens of Corinne reluctantly accepted these terms as the best they could hope to realize, and work on the branch so was launched in the spring of 1873.[50]

The Corinne road was only five miles long, and all grading was finished in early April.[51] Completion of the line, however, was delayed until June 11 because a bridge had to be constructed over the Bear River. On that day the last spike was driven and a flag-decorated locomotive, pulling several cars, came steaming into Corinne without fanfare. A day later, on June 12, the Utah Northern began regular passenger and freight service over the branch line.[52] The company had purchased a large freight house at Corinne that had belonged to the Diamond R. Freight Line for use as a depot to accommodate the considerable amount of freight received from the Central Pacific Railroad for forwarding. The branch handled this large volume of business until the narrow gauge was completed to Ogden In 1874 at which time the bulk of Montana freight business was transferred to the junction of the Utah Northern and Union Pacific at Ogden.[53]

Grading on the Ogden to Willard section of the railroad was begun in November of 1872, but little had been accomplished inasmuch as priority had been given to extending the northern portion of the road. The Ogden section was the last to be built since its track would parallel the Central Pacific's and the C.P. tracks to Willard could be used as long as necessary. Construction of the Ogden section was revived in September of 1873 under the direction of Bishop Lorin Farr who had supervised the building of the Weber County section of the Utah Central Railroad. Progress was rapid until winter weather again demanded lengthy delays, but work continued and crews were able to begin laying rails on November 2. Eleven miles of track were completed by Christmas and the last rail was laid on February 5, 1874. About 500 people commemorated the driving of this final spike at a short ceremony at 4:40 p. m. on that day in Willard.[54]

The third and most important project of the Utah Northern remaining to be completed in 1873 was the portion of the road between Logan and Franklin. This stemmed from the fact that the Utah Northern had no mileage advantage in securing the Montana trade from Corinne until it had been extended that far. Brigham Young was particularly interested in the road north of Logan, not only because of the Montana trade, but also because of his interests in Soda Springs which, according to the company's charter, was to be the terminus of the road. If there was any lack of enthusiasm on the part of the citizens of Cache Valley to "pitch in" and complete the road to Franklin, his discourse in Logan on June 28, 1873, would have dispelled it:

I have a little temporal matter which I wish to lay before the brethren. . . It is concerning this railroad. . . I wish the brethren to take into consideration the benefits that are now and which will be derived by the building of this railroad. . . If the brethren will take hold of the grading of the road, it would be quite an accommodation to the travel from here to Soda Springs. Get the railroad graded as far as and as fast as possible to carry us on. . . . The arrangements will be entered into by those who have the railroad in charge, but I thought I would ask the brethren, inasmuch as they wish to travel north, occasionally, to do themselves and the rest of us the kindness to get a ride upon a pretty good track.[55]

Grading on this section of the road was not completed until September because of delays caused when the local citizens left the work to look after their farms. track laying was launched on the 17th of September and progressed from Logan to Hyde Park by October 9, and to Smithfield by November 17. An early winter forced construction to be suspended in December; and it was not resumed until the end of March, 1874. John W. Young and Moses Thatcher exerted every effort once construction had started again to complete the road to Franklin in time to secure a good portion of the Montana trade for 1874. Track laying averaged a mile of track a day in this effort, and Franklin was reached on May 2. Regular passenger and freight service from Ogden to Franklin began on May 4, 1874.

The construction of the Utah Northern Railroad from Ogden to Franklin had cost approximately $1,400,000.[56] A little over half this expense had been for rolling stock and iron; the remainder was the estimated value of the ties and other materials furnished locally and the labor of the Mormon people. In most cases, the railroad had paid for the local materials and labor with company stock and passes.

The railhead of the Utah Northern at Franklin was about fifty miles closer to the populated Montana areas than was Corinne, and the Franklin route also eliminated the difficult "heavy wheeling" climb over the Malad Divide. This gave the Cache Valley route a distinct advantage over Corinne, and the Montana freight business began to shift to the Utah Northern terminus.[57] This shift actually began even before the road was completed to Franklin when the largest of the Montana freighting firms, the Diamond R Line, moved its warehouses from Corinne to Logan and began shipping freight from there in July of 1873. As soon as the road was completed they of course moved to Franklin where a series of large warehouses were constructed to accommodate the great quantities of freight they were carrying to Montana.[58]

Other freighting firms quickly followed, and although some of the Montana freight was still being sent by way of Corinne, the predominant position that the "Burg on the Bear" had occupied in the Montana freighting business was fading. The last claim to recognition as the only shipping point for the north was stripped from her on May 1, 1875, when the Gilmer and Salisbury Stage Line moved its passenger operations to Franklin and took with it the U. S. Mail Contract and the Wells Fargo & Company express business that it was carrying. Finally on January 1, 1676, the Utah Northern Railroad terminated Its service to Corinne over the branch line.[59] Corinne continued to receive a considerable amount of freight for forwarding to Montana until 1878, but her days of prominence were over.

The people of Cache Valley benefited greatly from their new narrow gauge railroad. The trade with Montana brought considerable prosperity to the area. Jesse Jameson in his thesis, "Corinne, A Study of a Freight Transfer Point in the Montana Trade. 1869 - 1878, " estimated that three - to four thousand tons of freight were moved from Utah to Montana and a million pounds of silver ore were carried in return from Montana to Utah during 1873.[60]

This huge freight business had grown even larger by 1875 when most of it was carried over the Utah Northern line. In that year there were over six hundred wagons on the road between Franklin and the Montana mining communities to carry this trade. This meant employment as freighters for many Cache Valley men who each received payment, in cash, of $1.00 to $1.50 per day plus expenses. In addition, many others found jobs on the railroad. The railroad also brought numbers of travelers to the valley on their way to Montana, and these travelers sought food and lodging from the local populace. Hotels, restaurants and saloons were built in Logan and Franklin to profit from the demand. The farming economy was stimulated as rail connections opened up a market for the farm products of the valley on the West Coast and in the East, as well as in Montana and Utah; exports of eggs, butter, wheat and various other farm products approached the half million dollar mark annually.[61] Cache Valley also began to develop a thriving lumber business as timber, cut in the surrounding mountains, could be handily shipped to other Utah communities. This aided the economy of the entire Territory by eliminating the necessity of importing lumber, shingles and other wood products from distant areas. Rail communication also made It possible to ship a greater variety of merchandise at lower cost to the local merchants of Cache Valley, and the people of the area could travel to Ogden or Salt Lake City to shop if they desired.[62] The railroad indeed joined Cache Valley to the rest of the world.

The Lingering Years--1874 to 1877

There was no reason to believe that the Utah Northern railhead would remain long at Franklin. Soda Springs was the next goal of the company and beyond that place, all of Idaho and Montana awaited the shimmering rails. Franklin, however, remained the end of the track for over three years--until the end of 1877.

Joseph Richardson held a controlling amount of stock in the Utah Northern at the time it reached Franklin. This was by virtue of his accepting stock and bonds of the company from John W. Young in payment for rolling stock and iron. Richardson realized that the narrow gauge line was not going to be profitable unless it could be extended to the rich mining areas of Montana, but his lack of any action to initiate construction in 1875 indicates that he did not have the capital to continue the road north.[63] It was necessary for him, therefore, to turn to others for finances, and he found two possible financial allies: they were the people of Montana Territory and the Union Pacific Railroad.

Richardson's first possible ally, the Montanans, had expressed a desire to see a north-south railroad built to their territory from the time that the Utah Northern was chartered, and at least two railroad companies had been incorporated in Montana for the purpose of building south to meet the Utah Northern's tracks. The first of these was the Montana Central Railroad, incorporated in 1871.[64] The second company was the Montana, National Park and Utah Railroad. This road was backed by Samuel T. Hauser who was one of the most influential men in the economic development of Montana in the nineteenth century.[65] In 1872, Hauser made contact with John W. Young of the Utah Northern to explore the prospects of a joint effort to build a north-south railroad from Utah to Montana.[66]

John Young's reply on behalf of Richardson and the other directors of the Utah Northern was an assurance that their company would be most pleased to work ;with any Montana railroad.[67] Contact between Samuel T. Hauser (who became the spokesman for the Montana people seeking a railroad connection), Joseph Richardson and John W. Young continued; and the first positive sign that Montana might furnish financial assistance to the Utah Northern came in April of 1873 when Montana's Governor B. F. Potts was forced by popular demand to call a special session of the Territorial Legislature to consider aid to rail roads. The legislature, led by Mr. Hauser, passed an act which allowed those counties benefiting from a north-south railroad--Madison, Gallatin, Jefferson and Lewis & Clark--to issue bonds to a railroad company at 15 to 20 percent of the face value when track had reached their respective county line. The Governor vetoed the bill on the grounds that it was illegal for a territory or county to aid a private corporation and the bill did not provide for the counties to be given stock in the railroad or a right to a voice in the affairs thereof. The veto was over ridden but the act did not provide sufficient inducements to enable the Utah Northern to take advantage of it.[68]

Joseph Richardson, in the spring of 1874, turned to his second possible financial source and approached Sidney Dillon, Jay Gould and the other officers of the Union Pacific regarding the extension of the Utah Northern. Samuel Hauser supported Richardson in this endeavor by giving assurances to Dillon and Gould that Montana would assist in the financing of the construction and that there was plentiful business awaiting the railroad.[69] They were able to interest Sidney Dillon, and in June of 1874 he Journeyed to Utah to inspect the prospects of the Utah Northern Railroad.[70] The outcome of this visit did not result in the extension of the track; however, Dillon, Jay Gould and other U.P. men began buying the stock and bonds of the Utah Northern from Joseph Richardson at only a small percentage of face value. In time these men would gain control of the road.

Three events took place during the lingering years of 1875 and 1876 that should be reviewed. The first occurred in the spring of 1875 when Joseph Richardson ordered the first section of roadbed towards Soda Springs prepared. He assured the Utah laborers that they would receive cash for their efforts and that rails would be available. Thirty miles of grading were completed and an iron bridge erected, but Richardson was unable to finance the purchase of rails and the roadbed lay dormant. When, in 1877, construction was renewed, the route was changed and all but five miles of this roadbed was abandoned. The second event was the resignation. of john W. Young as president of the company in October of 1875. Young had developed considerable interests in various business areas and found himself financially involved in too many railroads. He was succeeded as president by Royal M. Bassett of Birmingham, Connecticut, a good friend of Joseph Richardson.[71] The third event was the passage of an act by the Montana Legislature in February of 1876 that provided $1,150,000 in bonds for the Utah Northern Railroad and $3,500,000 in bonds for the Northern Pacific Railroad.[72] Once again Utah Northern officials refused the Montana offer as they now felt that the combined subscription of bonds for the two railroads was too great and, therefore, would not be sold. A second consideration in refusing the offer was the necessity of building 200 miles of road to reach the Montana border in order to receive Montana's aid.[73]

In 1877 the Montana Legislature passed still another bill wherein $1, 700, 000 in aid was offered to the Utah Northern. Again refection was the choice of the Utah Northern officials because of a stipulation in the bill which required payment of a small percentage of the profits of the entire railroad.[74]

The Utah and Northern Railroad

Sometime prior to the end of January , 1877, Jay Gould and Sidney Dillon, representing the Union Pacific Railroad Company, purchased Joseph Richardson's bonds and some of his stock for the Utah Northern Railroad for a total amount of $400, 000. They had also quietly purchased the stock of the Utah shareholders for $80,000 which was about ten cents on the dollar. The only remaining substantial amount of stock at that time was in possession of Joseph Richardson and Brigham Young who held a considerable amount as trustee for the Mormon church. The Union Pacific was able to obtain the church stock after President Young's death in 1877 when it fell into the hands of John W. Young who traded it to Gould for railroad equipment.[75]

The purchase of the Utah Northern bonds and stock coincided with Mr. Gould's interests in extending the track from Franklin to Montana; and in pursuit of plans to this end, he incorporated the Utah and Northern Railroad Company on January 31, 1877, to replace the old Utah Northern of 1871. Stock in the old company was to be traded for stock in the new. The company was chartered under Utah law with the purpose of owning a railroad along the route of the Utah Northern of 1871 to the northern border of the Territory, and under Idaho or Montana law to Butte, Montana. The list of stockholders in the new company indicated that Jay Gould held 265 shares; Sidney Dillon, 264 shares; and Joseph Richardson, 264 shares. Utah stockholders in the Utah and Northern each held one share.[76] Whether these articles were ever acted under is questionable; they were not filed with the State Auditor until December 31, 1877, and the cover and first page of the incorporation papers are marked "VOID."[77]

In any event this company was either recaptured or superseded by the filing of articles far a new Utah and Northern Railway Company on April 30, 1878. The new charter reflected the change of stockholders that had taken place, principally that Joseph Richardson and Jay Gould[78] had been eliminated by the sale of their stock to Sidney Dillon and Benjamin Richardson who each held 295 shares of stock in the new company. The fourteen other shareholders each held a token share. This charter left no question about the Utah and Northern Railroad belonging to the Union Pacific whose president was Sidney Dillon.[79]

In December of 1877 the Utah Northern Railroad of 1871 had been ordered to be sold as a result of a suit brought against it by the Union Trust Company of New York for the $1,03,765.32 that was due on bonds and interest.[80] The Union Trust was acting as trustee for Sidney Dillon, Benjamin Richardson and a number of minor bond holders. On April 3, 1878, the Utah Northern of 1871 was sold for $100,000 at public auction to S. H. H. Clark--a Union Pacific officer. Clark paid $4,230.95. in cash on April 6 for court and sale costs; on April 20 he paid another $6,308.05 in cash and $89,600.00 in Utah Northern bonds, for a total of $100,139.00. All the cash and bonds--except for the court and sale costs--were turned over to the railroad's attorneys who had been instructed to divide the proceeds among the creditors of the Utah Northern of 1871; the creditors proved to be principally Dillon and Richardson. S. H. H. Clark then certified that he was acting as trustee for Dillon and Richardson and the other creditors, and the court ordered the cash and bonds to be returned to him. This was then exchanged for stock in the Utah and Northern Railway which had already begun operating the old Utah Northern Railroad of 1871.[81]

The result of this morass of legal maneuvering was to create a new railroad corporation without a bonded debt; such a road could then issue enough bonds against the track already laid between Ogden and Franklin to construct a good part of the railroad to Montana and then to continue to issue bonds against each newly finished portion of line to complete the track. On July 1, 1878, the Utah and Northern issued the first of $2,520,000 of first mortgage, 7 percent, thirty year bonds at the rate of $12,000 per, mile.[82]

Construction north from Franklin had actually begun under Jay Gould's direction in October of 1877. The preparation that had been done at that time on the Soda Springs route was abandoned and grading was undertaken through Marsh Valley.[83] The grading contract was given to Mariner W. Merrill, former bishop of Richmond, and the contract for laying the rails was awarded to Bishop William D. Hendricks of Richmond and Thomas E. Ricks of Logan. These men supervised the construction of the railroad all the way to Butte, Montana. Dr. Arrington estimates that Cache Valley citizens were paid $780,000 on the Franklin-to-Butte construction.[84]

The Utah and Northern obtained a right-of-way and a federal charter on June 20, 1878;. and this authorized it to build the road north to Butte or Garrison, Montana.[85]

After the long years of idleness, construction moved rapidly from Franklin; and track was laid through Preston, Oxford, Oneida and Income to the future site of Pocatello, Idaho, by August of 1878.[86] The road was then pushed on to a winter terminus at Blackfoot, Idaho.[87]

In late September of 1878, while the construction gangs were moving toward Blackfoot, fifty-five men of a timber crew who were working for the railroad under the supervision of Hyrum Smith of Brigham City, were arrested for cutting timber on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The men, nearly all Mormons, were taken to Malad, Idaho, and retained under guard on a diet of bread and water for two weeks before they were brought to trial. They were found guilty and each sentenced to six months in jail and fined an aggregate of $9,000. The Mormon press was quick to point out that this "outrage" was perpetrated by a group of apostate Mormons living at Malad and a federally appointed anti Mormon judge. It was further claimed that no evidence was introduced at the trial to prove that the accused were actually on the Indian reservation; and even if they were guilty-, the sentence was far too severe for the crime committed. The Union Pacific Railroad officials appealed to the President of the United States who promptly remitted the sentence; and the men returned to their jobs after a month in a damp, cold, tiny jail.[88]

In early 1879 the winter terminus at Blackfoot was left behind, and the track was crowded on toward Eagle Rock (Idaho Falls) 217 miles north of Ogden. As the railroad pushed on from Eagle Rock, the valley of the Great Salt Lake and the high, fertile Cache Valley nestled beneath towering peaks had been left far behind. The construction crews had slowly laid the road across the rugged, sage covered plains of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, where the great chief Pocatello, standing a full six-feet- ten-inches and viewing life through a single eye, was as lithe and sinewy as in his youth and oversaw the quiet lives of the once fierce and cunning Blackfoot tribe. The builders then crossed the arid land, covered with lava rock from the eruptions of volcanoes of a distant age, to Eagle Rock. Now, they looked north in the spring of 1879 to rich green valleys stretching for miles from the base of the awe-inspiring Eton peaks; and they laid their track through those valleys during the warm summer months.[89] Surely Thomas E. Ricks, as he drove his track crews every mile forward, must have viewed those valleys closely and laid plans for the day when he would return with a large number of Mormons to settle there. As autumn approached, the railroad climbed into the forest-covered high country to Beaver Canyon and then to the Montana border at the close of 1879.[90] In 1880 the road was constructed as far as Dillon, Montana, 347 miles north of Ogden and only sixty-eight miles short of Butte, the goal the company sought. In that year passengers on the Utah and Northern, for the first time, had the option of choosing to ride in a Pullman sleeper on the twenty-four hour ride from terminus to terminus.[91]

The Utah and Northern made its way into the thriving mining community of Butte, Montana, on December 15, 1881; and the first passenger train arrived at 11:10 p.m. on December 21. The story of the arrival of that first train was told years later in the Montana Standard:

The night . . . was cold in Butte, chilling winds coupled with snow flurries swept over the city. But there probably hasn't been a warmer celebration in the history of the community than the night when Butte welcomed its first regular passenger train over the shimmering narrow gauge rails of the Utah and Northern Railroad. The train arrived here at 11:10 P.M. and received a hearty welcome from several hundred citizens who had assembled in honor of the occasion. Men cheered, women waved handkerchiefs, the locomotive was decorated with flags and flowers, and as the pioneers listened to the bark of the exhausts, the shrieking of the whistle, and the ringing of the bell on the balloon-stacked engine their enthusiasm knew no bounds.[92]

For three years Butte was to be the northern terminus of what was claimed to be the longest narrow gauge railroad in the world, about 415 miles in all. In 1884 an agreement was reached with the Northern Pacific Railroad (the railroad that laid its track west into Montana and on to the Pacific) to form a junction of the roads at Garrison, Montana; and during the year track was laid to that point--466 miles north of Ogden. A number of short branches were also constructed to other Montana communities in the ensuing years.[93]

The longest narrow gauge railroad in the world lost that distinction on July 24, 1887, when the entire 262 miles of track between Butte and Pocatello were re-laid as standard gauge on a single day after extensive preparations had been made during the preceding weeks. The remainder of the road between Ogden and Pocatello was converted a short time later.[94]

On July 27, 1889, the Utah and Northern Railway gave up its independent identity when it was consolidated with a number of Utah, Idaho and Montana railroads as the Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern Railway Company. The name of this corporation was changed to the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company on February 1, 1897. This road operated under a separate charter within the Union Pacific system until it was divided into the Idaho and Utah Divisions of the Union Pacific Railroad Company.[95]

Operations and Earnings

The records of operations and earnings for the railroads examined in this chapter are incomplete; however, the following tables reflect the information which is available.

UTAH NORTHERN RAILROAD
Operations for the Year Ending December 31, 1875

Gross Earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 137,000.00

Operating Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77,000.00
(56.12% of Gross Earnings)

NET EARNINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,000.00

Source: Howard Fleming, Narrow Gauge Railways in America (Oakland: Graham H. Hardy, 1949), p. 92.

UTAH AND NORTHERN RAILWAY
Operations for the Nine-Month Period Ending April 30, 1879

Earnings
From Passengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 51,843.69
From Freight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118,725.14
From Mail & Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,116.58
From Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443.28

TOTAL Earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 193, 128.69

Operating Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131,059.04
(67.86%)

NET EARNINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 62,069.65

Source: Poor, Manual of Railroads, 1879 (1879),pp. 922-923.

UTAH AND NORTHERN RAILWAY
Operations for the Year Ending December 31, 1881

Length of Road: Ogden, Utah, to Butte, Montana -- 415.5 miles

Total Earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,359,583.32
($3,271.84 per mile)

Operating Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756,964.55
($1,821.64 per mile)

NET EARNINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602,618.77
(43.58%)

Source: Poor, Manual of Railroads, 1882 (1882),pp. 858-859.

UTAH AND NORTHERN RAILWAY
Operations for the Year Ending December 31, 1882

Length of Road
Ogden, Utah, to Garrison, Montana . . . . 466 miles

Rolling Stock
Locomotive Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Passenger Cars ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Baggage, Mail & Express Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Box Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Stock Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Platform Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Service Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Passengers Carried . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,242

Freight Carried. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107,922 tons

Earnings
From Passengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 498,423.02
From Freight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,547,889.48
From Mail & Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137,833.56
From Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,542.24

TOTAL Earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2,210,688.30

Operating Expenses
Maintenance of Way . . . . . . . . . . . $ 427,619.18
Rolling Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570,453.95
Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263,046.79
Misc. & Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,259.21

TOTAL Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,305,379.93

NET EARNINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905,308.37
(43.58%)

Payments
Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 352,816.85
Dividends (6%) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332,580.00
Construc. & Equip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173,399.77

TOTAL Payments . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 858,796.62

SURPLUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 46,511.75

Source: Poor, Manual of Railroads, 1884 (1884), p. 876.

Footnotes

[1] Arrington, Great Basin Kingdom, pp. 258-261.

[2] Deseret News (SLC), January 4, 1866.

[3] Utah Reporter (Corinne), April 5, 1870, citing the Helena Herald.

[4] Utah Reporter (Corinne), November 11, 1869; Brigham D. Madsen and Betty M. Madsen, "Corinne, The Fair: Gateway to Montana Mines," Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 37 (Winter 1969), p. 114. This article is a detailed and comprehensive study of Corinne and its position in the freight business with Montana.

[5] Utah Reporter (Corinne), November 11, 1869; Madsen and Madsen, "Corinne, The Fair: Gateway to the Montana Mines, " pp. 120-121.

[6] The Utah Reporter (Corinne), April 5, 1870; The Corinne Reporter, May 21, 1871.

[7] The Utah Reporter (Corinne), November 11,1869; The Daily Utah Reporter (Corinne), June 18, 1871.

[8] The Utah Reporter (Corinne), November 11,1869; The Daily Utah Reporter (Corinne), June 18, 1871.

[9] Ogden Junction, May 4, 1870.

[10] Edward W. Tullidge, Tullidge's Histories. Northern Utah and Southern Idaho (SLC, Utah: Juvenile Instructor, 1889), pp.359-360.

[11] Merrill D. Beal, Intermountain Railroads, Standard and Narrow Gauge (Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, Ltd.,1962), p. 4.

[12] Letter, Brigham Young to John W. Young, July 12, 1871, L.D.S. Church Historian's Office, John W. Young Letter File.

[13] Robert G. Athearn, "Railroad to a Far Off Country" Montana, the Magazine of Western History, vol. XVLII, No. 4 (Autumn, 1968), p.4.

[14] Tullidge, Tullidge's Histories. Northern Utah and Southern Idaho, p. 359.

[15] Tullidge, Tullidge's Histories. Northern Utah and Southern Idaho, p. 359.

[16] Utah Northern Railroad, Articles of Incorporation, August 23, 1871, Utah State Archives.

[17] Utah Northern Railroad, Articles of Incorporation.

[18] Utah Northern Railroad, Articles of Incorporation.

[19] Utah Northern Railroad Account, p. 260, Brigham Young University Library Archives, Provo, Utah, Brigham Young Cash Ledger Books, vol. 3, 1871-1877. These records indicate that Young purchased the five shares of stock at 50 percent of their face value; he paid face value of $34,000 for the thirty-four bonds.

[20] Utah Northern Railroad, Articles of Incorporation.

[21] Ogden Junction, August 23, 1871; Corinne Daily Reporter, March 27, 1872; Flora Whittemore and Mildred Christopherson, Tosoiba (Salt Lake City Utah Printing Co., 1958), pp. 88-91.

[22] Deseret Evening News (SLC), August 25, 28, 1871; Ogden Junction, August 30, 1871.

[23] Deseret Evening News (SLC), August 25, 28, 1871; Ogden Junction, August 30, 1871.

[24] Ogden Junction, September 20, 1871.

[25] Salt Lake Herald, August 25, September 17, 1871; Deseret News (SLC), September 13, 1871; Ogden Junction, September 27, 1871.

[26] Salt Lake Herald, August 25, September 17, 1871; Ogden Junction, September 27, 1871; Deseret News (SLC), September 3, 1871; Leonard J. Arrington, "Railroad Building and Cooperatives 1869 - 1879, " in The History of a Valley, ed. by Joel E. Ricks, assoc. ed, Everett L. Cooley (Logan, Utah: Cache Valley Centennial Commission, 1956), p. 176. Dr. Arrington refers to Cache Hill as Colliston or Petersboro Hill. I have chosen to use Cache Hill because it is the name used in the newspapers at the time of construction.

[27] W. F. Fisher "Letter," Ogden Junction, October 7,1871.

[28] Ogden Junction, November 4, 1871; Deseret Evening News (SLC), April 12, 1872.

[29] Madsen and Madsen, "Corinne, The Fair:," pp. 119-120. The authors state: "Realizing that the sole basis of its economic development was the transfer and forwarding business from the railroad to the freighters who jammed its yards, it quavered in uncertain terror before every railroad plan which would replace the wagon traffic by a railroad to Montana."

[30] Utah, Idaho and Montana Railroad Company, Articles of Incorporation, April 13, 1872, Utah State Archives.

[31] A history of General Connor's career while in command of Camp Douglas was written by Francis Edward Rogan, "Patrick Edward Connor, An Army Officer in Utah 1862 - 1866, " (unpublished Master Thesis, University of Utah, 1952.)

[32] Utah, Idaho and Montana Railroad Company, Articles of Incorporation.

[33] Statutes at Large, vol. XVIII, p. 212 (1872). The Utah Northern Railroad was not granted a right-of-way until March 3,1873. Statutes at Large, vol. XVII, p. 612 (1873).

[34] Utah, Idaho and Montana Railroad, Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation, July 8, 1872; Corinne Daily Reporter, May 1, 1872.

[35] Corinne Daily Reporter, May 29, June 17, 1872.

[36] Corinne Daily Reporter, June 17, 1872.

[37] For Jacobs' career with the Salt Lake, Sevier Valley and Pioche Railroad, refer to Chapter VII of this paper.

[38] Corinne Daily Reporter, June 17, 1872.

[39] Contract, John W. Young with the Directors, Utah Northern Railroad Company, April 10, 1872, Telegrams, Joseph Richardson to John W. Young, June 5, 1872, November 30, 1872, William B. Preston to John W. Young, February 26, 1872, L.D.S. Church Historian's Office, John W. Young Railroad Letter File.

[40] Ogden Junction. November 4, 1871; Deseret Evening News (SLC), April 12, 1872.

[41] Deseret Evening News (SLC), March 30, April 12, June 7, 1872; Corinne Daily Reporter, May 15, 1872; Salt Lake Herald. June 12, 1872.

[42] Salt Lake Daily Herald, June 18, 1872.

[43] Corinne Daily Reporter, July 8, 1872.

[44] Tullidge, "Biography of Colonel James H. Martineau, " History of Northern Utah, p. 77.

[45] Salt Lake Herald. August 11, 25, 1872; Deseret Evening News (SLC), September 28, 1872.

[46] Salt Lake Herald, December 11, 1872, January 12, 26, February 4, 1873; Deseret Evening News (SLC), February 4, 1873; Corinne Daily Reporter, January 31, 1873.

[47] Corinne Daily Reporter, August 19, 31, September 3, November 30, 1872.

[48] Corinne Daily Reporter, March 27, 1872.

[49] Corinne Daily Reporter, January 23, 1873.

[50] Corinne Daily Reporter, August 19, 31, September 3, November 30, December 10, 11, 16, 20, 1872; Salt Lake Herald, November 30, 1872; Utah Mining Journal (SLC), December 12, 18, 1872. Joseph Richardson was consulted in this matter before an agreement was reached--as he apparently was in all matters of importance. By this time Richardson held the majority of the issued stocks and bonds of the company. See telegram, Joseph Richardson to John W. Young, December 16, 1872, L.D.S. Church Historian's Office, John W. Young Railroad Letter File.

[51] Salt Lake Herald, October 9, 15, December 24, 1873.

[52] Salt Lake Herald, October 9, 15, December 24, 1873.

[53] Salt Lake Herald, October 9, 15, December 24, 1873.

[54] Salt Lake Herald, October 9, 15, December 24, 1873; Ogden Junction, October 29, November 26, 1873; Daily Ogden Junction, November 3, 1873, January 19, February 6, 1874.

[55] Journal of Discourses, vol. XVI (1874), pp. 63-64. Sermon delivered by Brigham Young, Logan, Utah, June 28, 1873.

[56] Arrington, "Railroad Building and Cooperatives 1869 - 1879," p. 179

[57] Corinne Daily Reporter, January 15, 1873, citing Helena Gazette.

[58] Corinne Daily Reporter, July 7, 1873.

[59] Salt Lake Tribune, April 22, 1875; Deseret Evening News (SLC), December 30, 1875.

[60] Arrington, "Railroad Building and Cooperatives 1869-1879," p. 183

[61] Arrington, "Railroad Building and Cooperatives 1869-1879," pp. 181-184.

[62] Daily Ogden Junction, November 11, 1873.

[63] Pacific Railway Commission Hearings. Testimony of John Sharp, p. 2173.

[64] Salt Lake Tribune & Utah Mining Gazette (SLC), September 29, 1871.

[65] Samuel T. Hauser's role in the economic development of Montana is told by John William Hakola, "Samuel T. Hauser and the Economic Development of Montana: A Case Study in Nineteenth Century Frontier Capitalism, " (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1961). Chapter IV deals specifically with the railroad subsidy movement in Montana.

[66] Letter, Samuel T. Hauser, et. al., Committee of the Montana, National Park and Utah Railroad Company to John W. Young, July 26, 1872, L.D.S. Church Historian's Office, John W. Young Railroad Letter File.

[67] Ogden Junction, January 25, 1873.

[68] Letter, Moses Thatcher to W. F. Sanders, April 12, 1873, L.D.S. Church Historian's Office, Moses Thatcher Letter File; Salt Lake Herald, April 22, 1873; Corinne Daily Reporter, May 8, 1873.

[69] Athearn, "Railroad to a Far Off Country," pp. 8-9.

[70] Deseret Evening News (SLC), April 14, 1874; Ogden Junction, June 6, 1874.

[71] Letter, John W. Young to the Board of Directors, Utah Northern Railroad, October 19, 1875, L.D.S. Church Historian's Office, John W. Young Letter File.

[72] Deseret Evening News (SLC), February 15, 1876.

[73] Salt Lake Herald, March 22, 1876.

[74] Deseret Evening News (SLC), February 17, 1877; Salt Lake Tribune, April 5, 1877.

[75] Arrington, Great Basin Kingdom, p. 288; Arrington, "Railroad Building and Cooperatives 1869-1879," p. 180; Beal, Intermountain Railroads, p. 27; Athearn, "Railroad to a Far Off Country, " p. 15; U. S. Congress, Senate, Pacific Railway Commission Hearings , Testimony of Jay Gould and John Sharp, pp. 572, 2173.

[76] The Utah Railroad Incorporation Act of 1869 required two thirds of the stockholders in any railroad company to be Utah residents. Therefore, this company as well as many others, included several residents of Utah who held token amounts of stock to satisfy the law.

[77] Utah and Northern Railroad Company, Articles of Incorporation, January 31, 1877, Utah State Archives; Deseret Evening News (SLC), October 6, 1877.

[78] At this time Jay Gould was concentrating his finances and energy in gaining control of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company of Colorado.

[79] Union Trust Company v. Utah Northern Railroad, case 3383, Utah 3rd Dist. (1877), Utah State Archives; Utah & Northern Railway Company, Articles of Incorporation, April 30, 1878. Directors of this company were John Sharp, Sidney Dillon, S. H.H. Clark, Benjamin Richardson, Moses Thatcher, William Jennings and Royal M. Bassett.

[80] Union Trust Company v. Utah Northern Railroad.

[81] Union Trust Company v. Utah Northern Railroad.

[82] Poor, Manual of Railroads for 1879 , (1879) pp. 922-923.

[83] Salt Lake Tribune, October 26, 1877; Deseret Evening News (SLC), November 10, 1877.

[84] Arrington, "Railroad Building and Cooperatives 1869-1879," pp. 185-186.

[85] Statutes at Large, vol. XX, p. 241 (1878).

[86] Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, Corporate History as of June 30, 1916 (publication data not given in reference) p. 20; Deseret Evening News (SLC), April 27, May 2, 1878; Salt Lake Herald, June 27, 1878.

[87] Salt Lake Tribune, December 10, 1878.

[88] Salt Lake Herald, October 4, 13, 23, 1878; Deseret Evening News (SLC), October 23, 1878.

[89] Salt Lake Herald, April 1, July 26, August 15, October 16, 1879

[90] Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, Corporate History, p.20.

[91] Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, Corporate History, p. 20; Salt Lake Herald, July 21. September 21, October 13, 14, 1880.

[92] Beal, Intermountain Railroads, pp. 87-88; citing Montana Standard (Butte), Tune 13, 1954.

[93] Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, Corporate History, pp. 20-21

[94] Robert L. Wrigley, Jr., "The Utah and Northern Railway Company: A Brief History," Oregon Historical Quarterly, vol. XLVIII (September 1947), p. 258.

[95] Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, Corporate History, pp. 20-21, 34-38, 42-48; Wrigley, "The Utah Northern Railway," p. 258.

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