"Short End of the Golden Spike" -- The Salt Lake Tribune
November 14, 1999
Joan O'Brien
Mormon dignitaries gathered with the others at Promontory Point on
May10,1869, for the driving of the golden spike that joined the Union
Pacific and Central Pacific railroads. They came with feelings of
pride and gratitude, knowing the pioneers had proved themselves as
able workers on the railroad and believing the pay for their labor
would help the Latter-day Saints recover from seasons of drought and
pestilence.
They had no way of knowing then that in future months the railroad
companies would refuse them their due, causing what author David
Haward Bain calls a "financial plague" to befall the Mormons in
Utah.
In the newly published Empire Express: Building the First
Transcontinental Railroad, Bain tells the stories not just of empire
builders like the Central Pacific's Collis Huntington, he also sought
less-documented stories, like those of Bishop John Sharp, Ogden Mayor
Lorin Farr and Chauncy West, LDS contractors on the railroad and
Brigham Young's emissaries to the golden-spike ceremony.Bain tells of
how the railroads' failure to meet their obligations left the men
heavily in debt and their community suffering without the much-needed
cash.
"Utah was completely thrown into a barter system for the next two
yearsbecause of all the failed promises," Bain said in a telephone
interview. "It was a big personal hardship for people."
Bain, who will be in Salt Lake City this week for a reading and
signing, has written what publisher Viking calls "an epic account" of
the first transcontinental railroad. At more than 700 pages, Empire
Express covers three decades -- from the mid-1840s, when the railroad
was the stuff of dreams, to the mid-1870s, when the Credit Mobilier
scandal exposed a hidden railroad lobby and government
corruption.
He spent 14 years researching and writing the book -- more than
twice the time it took to build the railroad. But then, Bain jokes,
he did not have the help of 12,000 Chinese or 10,000 Irish workers.
He read through original handwritten accounts of participants, while
many other railroad histories have relied upon records that were long
ago transcribed and edited.
"I came across these voices, voices unheard in 130 years, and it
completely changed the story in a lot of dramatic ways," he says.The
book is a micro-history, a detailed account of the railroad's
construction; it also is a macro-history, presenting the construction
in the context of the national picture.
"This is not just a railroad story," he says. "This is a being and
becoming story. This is where the nation of the late 20th century
came from. This is where the roots got planted."
Construction began in 1869, with Central Pacific heading east from
Sacramento and the Union Pacific heading west from Omaha. Along the
way, tribal lands were seized and Indians killed; "Hell onWheels
towns" popped up at railheads to keep workers entertained with
alcohol, prostitutes and gambling; and Utah would prove to be more
battleground than meeting ground, with railroad officials feuding
over routes as the Credit Mobilier scandal was coming to light.
Many Mormons worried about the railroad bringing hordes of sinners
to their midst, but Young was eager for its arrival. One of the
founding incorporators of the Union Pacific, subscribing stock in
1862, Young foresaw the economic benefits the railroad would bring,
Bain says.
Young was sorely disappointed when the railroad route bypassed
Salt Lake City and veered north, heading down from Echo Canyon and
through Ogden. Bain reveals that Huntington planned to bypass Ogden
as well, hoping to build his own "true national city" to the north.
He would call it Centralia.
"He figured it was going to bleed Ogden and even Salt Lake City
dry," Bain says. "But there was one problem: There was no water
there. There was no way to get water there. . . . Centralia never
came toanything."
Brigham Young managed to get his Salt Lake railroad. Union Pacific paid off some of its debt in the form of surplus railroad materials, which Young used to build his own line from Ogden to Salt Lake.