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The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (Part 1)

© Elizabeth Gibson

A profitable trade between Santa Fe and the eastern U.S. existed since 1811, when William Becknell led the first expedition there. It took 80 to 90 days for a wagon train to reach Santa Fe from Missouri. Enter Cyrus Kurtz Holliday. He wanted to build a railroad to connect Santa Fe with the east. He also meant to establish a new town that would be at one end of the route. This he accomplished first, when he established Topeka, Kansas. In 1860, he joined forces with Luther C. Challis, to build the railroad from Topeka to Atchison, Kansas.

In March 1863, Congress granted land use of nearly three billion acres. However, the grants would be rescinded if the railroad had not reached the Colorado border. On October 30, 1868, ground was broken for the railroad. The first project was a bridge across the Kaw River. Pauline was the first station, just six miles from town. The first train was called the Wakarusa Picnic Special, which took its inaugural run on April 26, 1869. By 1871, the tracks reached Dodge City, an important center in the cow business. The line took some of the business away from a pre-existing line known as the Kansas Pacific Railroad.

The track reached the Colorado border by 1872. As the railroad went west though, its builders realized it couldn’t make any profit unless the territory through which it passed was populated. So it opened a land office and vigorously promoted land in its right of way, offering discounted train tickets to inspect the land, which was applied to the purchase if the prospect bought land. The 1870s did not produce much result, as that decade was marked with grasshopper plagues and severe droughts. One group of Russian Mennonites stayed and grew hardy strains of grains. The railroad helped them out by hauling seed grain and equipment for free. The favor was repaid when successful farms were established that shipped via the railroad.

On March 1, 1876, the line reached Pueblo, Colorado. The railroad was especially excited about this accomplishment since rich coal mines in the area would ensure a steady stream of goods passing from west to east. From there, the railroad turned its sights south. It wanted to reach Santa Fe to open up grade. So did the Denver & Rio Grande. The race was on to conquer Raton Pass, a strategic location on the route. Through legal maneuvers, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe acquired the rights to lay track. A couple of times crews nearly came to blows over the right of way. Finally D&RG was confined to Colorado, while the ATSF built into the southwest.