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Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition

Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition. CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD. Transportation Problems in Gold Rush California Transportation hampered development --Distances within, beyond the state --Mountains cut off southern San Joaquin Valley, interior valleys

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Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition

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  1. Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD

  2. Transportation Problems in Gold Rush California • Transportation hampered development --Distances within, beyond the state --Mountains cut off southern San Joaquin Valley, interior valleys • Water travel easiest --Great distances from ports to mining towns --Delayed delivery, raised costs --Added to business risk

  3. Ocean, overland travel expensive, dangerous --Discouraged immigration after Gold Rush --Few women, children • Californians demanded better transportation

  4. Early Transcontinental Railroad Schemes • US railroad networks expanded through 19th c • Transcontinental rr would link eastern manuf with Asian markets • Fremont surveyed central route for transcontinental rr 1845 • Mexican War, Gold Rush intensified interest

  5. Eastern industrialists, western communities pressured Congress to subsidize road • 1853 Senator William Gwin proposed road w federally subsidies --Too expensive for private companies --2000 miles with no freight, passengers • Supporters disagreed on placement --Southern or northern route --Terminus, communities served

  6. Pioneer Rail Lines • 1850s, 1860s Californians built trunk lines • Difficult to raise funds, find laborers • Projects speculative, sometimes fraudulent • One success: 1856 Sacramento Valley Railroad completed 23 mile line --Connected Sacramento steamboat port with American River --Carried miners, supplies --Created boom town at end: Folsom

  7. Short routes in SF Bay Area --1863 railroad between Oakland port, business district --1865 50-mile San Francisco & San Jose Railroad completed --1866 15-mile San Francisco & Alameda Railroad opened --Secured city's dominance over interior --Helped build bedroom communities

  8. Theodore Judah, Visionary • Chief engineer Sacramento Valley Railroad • Civil engineer on Erie Canal • Built eastern bridges, railroads • Finished road in 2 years • Company went bankrupt • Judah left 1856

  9. Promoted central transcontinental railway route through Sierra Nevada --Searched mountain passes --Looked for backers in SF, New York, Congress --Nicknamed "Crazy Judah" --Investors doubted Sierra route

  10. 1859 state legislature convened second Pacific Railroad Convention --rival cities again prevented agreement on precise route --convention agreed should connect SF Bay Area to central Sierras --included federal construction subsidies

  11. Judah took plan to Washington --Promoted 1859-1860 --Presidential campaign north-south contest --Northern Congressmen favored route, southerners opposed --Lincoln elected November 6, 1860 --South Carolina seceded December 20, 1860

  12. The Founding of Central Pacific Railroad • Judah returned to California summer 1860 • Gold rush to western Nevada in spring 1859 --Trade boom for SF --SF steamships, stagecoach businesses dominated --Saved Sacramento rr --Goods, passengers carried by steamer to Sacramento, rr to Folsom, wagon over Sierras --Monopoly renewed interest in railroad

  13. SF group hired Judah to extend road from Folsom --Judah discovered central Sierra route --Secretly formed rival company, searched for financiers • Route began at Sacramento --traveled north, east 70 miles --7000 feet, 115 miles over Donner Pass --Followed Truckee River down to Nevada

  14. October 1860 formed Central Pacific Railroad --Construction estimate $115,000 --Issued stock to raise --State required bond of 10%, $10K per mile • Judah promoted in San Francisco --Threatened steamship, freight lines --Sacramento Valley Railroad fired Judah, criticized route --Discouraged investors for years

  15. Looked for backers along route --Tracks from Folsom to Dutch Flat, toll road to Virginia City --Merchants, businesses supported • Collis P. Huntington, partner Mark Hopkins owned Sacramento hardware store --Brought in Huntington attorney Charles Crocker, brother Edwin, banker Leland Stanford --Subscribed to state's 10% minimum --About $2800 each

  16. April 1861 partners reorganized Judah's company --Stanford elected president --Huntington VP --Hopkins treasurer --Edwin Crocker attorney --Judah chief engineer

  17. June 27, 1861 Central Pacific Railroad Corporation incorporated --Hopkins, Huntington, Stanford, Crocker brothers brought credibility --Huntington brought eastern suppliers • Stanford brought Republican connections --California Republican party founded 1856 --Stanford campaigned for John C. Fremont, then Lincoln --1860 elections Republican sweep

  18. Civil War And Transcontinental Railway • Small minority Californians southerners --Majority sided with Union --Confederate support in southern California, San Joaquin Valley --Republicans controlled state, local politics through 1850s --Raised $1 million for U.S. Sanitary Commission --California volunteers joined Second Massachusetts Cavalry

  19. Wartime shortages stimulated local manufacturing • Comstock silver discovery late 1859 drained SF population --SF bankers, merchants made fortunes --Congress anxious to tie West to Union --Control gold, silver, move troops --Southern opposition to central route ended January 1860

  20. The Central Pacific Besieged • 1861 Central Pacific in trouble --Critics skeptical of Donner Pass --Hampered private financing --Shortages of money, workers, equipment, supplies, ships

  21. Judah underestimated costs, distance --First stock release raised $10K --Summer 1861 discovered 140 miles through Donner Pass --Meant 3 miles of tunnels through granite --$13 million to finish ($310M today), $88,000 ($2M) per mile --50% higher than Judah's original estimates --3x federal subsidies

  22. Local competition for federal subsidies --San Francisco & San Jose Railroad --Sacramento Valley Railroad --San Francisco, Stockton, Placerville, Marysville supported competitors --Pacific Mail Steamship, California Steam Navigation, Wells Fargo opposed Central Pacific control

  23. The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 • September 1861 Republican Stanford elected governor • Republicans carried state legislature, Congressional delegation --Judah, Huntington went to Washington --Joined Senate, House committees writing railroad bill --Lobbied Congress through winter, spring 1862 --Paid supporters with Central Pacific stock

  24. Settled with San Francisco & San Jose Railroad --Would build road from SF to Sacramento, collect subsidy --Dropped opposition • July 1861 Congress passed Pacific Railway Act --Central Pacific would build east from Sacramento River to Nevada --Union Pacific Railroad would build west from Missouri River

  25. --Given rights-of-way, rights to timber, stone --Granted 10 sq. miles per mile of track in alternate sections --Subsidies backed by 30-year government bonds at 6% interest --$16,000/mi flat lands; $32,000/mi deserts; $48,000/mi mountains --Companies could sell bonds, land

  26. Completion still uncertain --Subsidies too low --1876 line must be complete or assets forfeited --Subsidies paid as segments completed --Govn held first mortgage on assets --Govn lien discouraged private investors

  27. Local Subsidies and Mounting Opposition to the Central Pacific • 1862-1864 Gov. Stanford secured state financing --Sold state bonds --Authorized community bonds --Raised $1M

  28. Rival companies, communities filed lawsuits --Accused Central Pacific officials of corruption, bribery --Labeled plan "Great Dutch Flat Swindle" --Gov. Stanford protected company interests --Most of lawsuits settled by 1865 --Added expense, delays

  29. Breaking Ground • Construction began January 8, 1863 in Sacramento • Crocker formed Charles Crocker & Co. to built first segment • March 1863 Huntington secured funds, material on credit

  30. Judah Versus The Big Four • November 1864 deadline to finish first 50 mile segment --Funds gone --Big Four demanded payment from delinquent shareholders --Assessed new contributions

  31. Judah angry with Big Four --Gov. Stanford bribed state geologist --Told Congress Sierra Nevada began 7 miles from Sacramento • Big Four angry with Judah's costly mistakes • July 1863 Huntington faction took control of Central Pacific board --Demanded board pay assessments or give up seats --Judah unable to pay

  32. --Judah exchanged stock for $100,000 in Central Pacific bonds • October 1863 Judah left for New York --Planned meetings with Jay Gould, Cornelius Vanderbilt --Contracted yellow fever in Panama --November 1863 died in New York City

  33. The Pacific Railway Act Of 1864 • Tracks laid through Sacramento September 1863 --Connected port, construction site --First engine traveled November 9 --Named Gov. Stanford • Lawsuits settled, state, local bond monies available • Huntington, Union Pacific convinced Congress to amend railroad act

  34. 1864 Pacific Railway Act of 1864 more generous --Extended first 50 mile deadline to 1865 --Doubled land grant to 20 miles per mile of track --Assigned govn second position on bonds --More attractive for private investors • 1866 Congress removed construction limits --Companies began competing to lay track --Private subscriptions rose

  35. Completing the Transcontinental Railway • April 1864 first passengers, freight --18 miles Sacramento to Roseville • June 1864 finished road to Newcastle (near Auburn), Dutch Flat wagon road • Took over Comstock trade --Revenues finally greater than expenses

  36. Winter 1865 building slowed --Snows in Sierra --Labor shortages --Mining easier • Crocker experimented with Chinese labor --Foreman objected --Learned fast, worked hard, paid 60-90% less than white workers --Provided own food, shelter

  37. By May 1865 Chinese 2/3 of Central Pacific labor force --Crocker imported additional Chinese workers --Completed extension lines --Repair gangs • Problems multiplied at Auburn --Grade to crest 5,000 ft over 40 mi --Below-zero temperatures, 40-ft snow in mtns --Workers killed in cave-ins, explosions, strikes

  38. Track progressed --14,000 workers worked round the clock shifts --1868 built snow-sheds through Donner Pass --November 1867 first train crossed summit --May 1868 reached Nevada line --Next 12 months, another 550 miles --Union Pacific slowed by Rocky Mountains --Companies laid parallel tracks to collect subsidies, land • Congress amended legislation • May 10, 1869 Union Pacific, Central Pacific met at Promontory Point, Utah

  39. The Big Four and the Emerging Rail System • Trunk lines built around state --SF Bay connected to coastal valleys --1869 Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad connected pueblo to harbor --Interior populations grew --North coast, San Diego left out

  40. Big Four bought out competitors --Rate wars drove under --1865 forced Sacramento Valley RR out of business --Initial revenues disappointing

  41. Options monopoly or bankruptcy --1873 national depression meant couldn’t sell out --Borrowed, reinvested to maintain monopoly --1868 bought roads around SF Bay area --Controlled ports at Alameda, Oakland --Moved terminus from Sacramento to Oakland

  42. Invested in steamships, ferries, riverboats, freight service --1871 partnered Pacific Mail Steamship Company --1874 founded Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company • Communities granted valuable real estate, cash payments or lost connections

  43. 1868 purchased Southern Pacific Railroad --Formed 1865 by San Francisco & San Jose --Southern route avoided Sierras --Planned to connect San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, then east to Arizona --Congress authorized to complete second transcontinental road across Colorado River --Atlantic & Pacific to build west from St. Louis

  44. 1869-1876 Central/Southern Pacific completed southern routes --Built from San Jose to Hollister --Second line south through San Joaquin Valley, through Tehachapis • 1872 forced Los Angeles to subsidize trunk line --Connected Los Angeles to northern, Sierra routes --Completed September 5, 1876 --Big Four bought out competitors in Los Angeles

  45. 1877 bridged Colorado River, built to Yuma --Didn't wait for Congress, federal subsidies --Began laying tracks across Arizona, New Mexico --1881 reached El Paso, Texas --Connected to Huntington-owned roads in Texas, Louisiana --1883 completed lines to Houston, New Orleans --Now controlled coast-to-coast system

  46. February 1883 offered service from San Francisco to New Orleans --1887 bought out Oregon & California Railroad --Connected Sacramento and Portland --Bought out other Oregon lines

  47. The Southern Pacific Company • By end of 1870s Big Four controlled California transportation --Operated 2,340 miles of track --Controlled 85 % of roads in state --Controlled traffic in, around San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Joaquin valley

  48. 1884 reorganized under Southern Pacific Company --Holding company protected assets --Helped prevent federal control --Big Four operated system from headquarters in San Francisco, New York

  49. Santa Fe Railroad encroached in 1880s --Built new lines into state --Forced Southern Pacific into rate war --Cheap fares sparked pop. Boom So. Cal. --1890s built tracks into San Joaquin Valley, built trunk line to Richmond • 1900 Union Pacific, Western Pacific Railroad finished competing transcontinental lines • Southern Pacific still dominated California into 1950s

  50. Theodore D. Judah California State Railroad Museum.

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