The Railroad, part 13

Back in 1853, Young had petitioned Congress to construct just such a railroad as was now, in 1868, being constructed through Utah. He had proposed the route to go through South Pass into the Great Basin. The route the railroad was following now was identical to the one Young had previously suggested, except for one major change. The railroad being presently constructed was not going to run through Salt Lake City in spite of all the investment capital and labor the Mormons were providing. When the Union Pacific chose to bypass Salt Lake City the Mormons stoically began to construct a branch line to connect the Mormon capital with Ogden. Young's branch line was completed in January 1870. This was the first of a network of Mormon railroads that in time would tie the entire territory to Salt Lake City and the transcontinental line at Ogden.

To learn more, on the Internet, about the building of the railroad please see:

The Coming of the Railroad http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages...

Transcontinental Railroad http://www.linecamp.com/museums/american... Here are all the important facts concerning the Transcontinental Railroad at a glance.

Take a quick gander out the train window and you just might see some Mormon railroad laborers, some hard-working folks like the rest of the country, and here's a link to The Railroad, part 14, : http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1379...

THE WILD WILD WEST HAS ARRIVED AT SUITE 101 UNIVERSITY

To get in on the action check out these two courses: THE GREAT AMERICAN WEST, 1861 to 1876 http://www.suite101.com/course.cfm/17161...

BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN, 1872 to 1876

http://www.suite101.com/course.cfm/17638...

The source for this article is:

Brown, Dee. Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow: The Epic Story of the Transcontinental Railroads. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1977.

Durham, Michael S. Desert Between the Mountains. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1997.

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