Brgham Young Unversty BYU ScholarsArchve All Theses and Dssertatons 972 The Unon Pacfc Ralroad and the Mormon Church, 868-87: An n Depth Study of the Fnancal Aspects of Brgham Young's Gradng Contract and ts Ultmate Settlement Thomas M. Stevens Brgham Young Unversty - Provo Follow ths and addtonal works at: http://scholarsarchve.byu.edu/etd Part of the Hstory Commons, and the Mormon Studes Commons BYU ScholarsArchve Ctaton Stevens, Thomas M., "The Unon Pacfc Ralroad and the Mormon Church, 868-87: An n Depth Study of the Fnancal Aspects of Brgham Young's Gradng Contract and ts Ultmate Settlement" (972). All Theses and Dssertatons. 539. http://scholarsarchve.byu.edu/etd/539 Ths Thess s brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchve. It has been accepted for ncluson n All Theses and Dssertatons by an authorzed admnstrator of BYU ScholarsArchve. For more nformaton, please contact scholarsarchve@byu.edu.
D 3q 03 0.3 03 tot lot tol THE TIM ta UNION PDIIFY pacl PACIFr yr Y RAIIROAD AM AND THE MORMON carch chrch 8687 7 87 AN study stu IN DEPTH STUDY OF TIE THS FINAIFIAL prts TS perts pnts asf3 OF BRICHAM brgham youngs younos YCUNGIS GRADEN 3 GRADING fc7txt AND kle ITS tc ULTIAYTS ultlvt le settlement A thess presented to the department of hstory brgblam Brghaam charr blam haan gharr young unversty n l L partal fulfllment of the requrements for the degreee ster master haster kaster vaster of arts by thor s thomas thonas M stevens
ths thess by thomas M stevens s accepted n ts present form by the department of hstory of brgham young unversty as satsfyng the thess requrements for the degree of master of arts eugene EJ ampbell farrpbell commttee Cnarban cnaran qan E farr cnarqan jwarner JWkarner atner ted Jewarner karney t commttee member klember dte date 722 de Ilanar lamac apan aplan jensen de eprtsnt narnan charman nan Rrtent L nar
TABLE TPLBLE clolnrlm OF CONTENTS nm page gatny acknowledgments AQKNOW gatnm 0 0 v chapter I ntroducton II background a 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 ll l t III EARLY assocaton WITH THE UNION ellaf PACIFIC AND PALJFI RAILROAD RAIIRQAD BRIGHAM MIGHM YOUNGIS YOUNGS GRADDIG GUDDIG CONTRACT GMTRAT 0 0 0 0 0 0 IV xetrugton THE coetructon COETRUCTION PERIM PERICD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 V negotatons IN BOSTON AM PAPTIAL settlement AND A PARTIAL SETTmente MENTo 3 VI youngs SEVERAL youn3s ASPECTS OF you5s S- AL TIONAL AND TIE ADDT addtonal cla clad 6ab younas gru grm CTU GRADING cong tle bong 0ong CONTRACT tu settlzhft ENT IN BOSTON bosoll SFT ll T-TE set nt tle tr TIE THE 8 v VU vl I FINAL FDIAL settlement OF THE TME ral qjr IT tee REKAINPG ajr IG addtonal CLAIMS 73 VIII tes THE THS tee UTAH ulah CENTRAL lla ENTRAL AND AIM paat UNION UINION PACIFIC SUB uhlon pakt lra THE resoluton OF flu fu subuonma6tors subcontractors CONTRACTORS 0 0 0 0 88 IX concluson ood 00 LUSION 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 a 0 0 0 0 0 0 02 bblography 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 07 fappendix pendx0 P 0 e 0 0 0 s 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 f 2
ACKNUTIEDGMENM ackncmedgments pete plete complete con eon I wsh to thank those who have been nstrumental n helpng me ths flete study professor gustve 0 larson suggested ths area of study and I contnuously felt rewarded n ths search dr eugene E pbell has gone far beyond the call of duty to gude correct and campbel campbell Can cad encourage my work assstan e assstant of dr ted J warner has been most the assstance helpful n hs support and construr constructve rut suggeston construer tve I also wsh to acknowledge department for ther patence and ad ar the staff at the L D S hstorcal mrs ranelle odell has been exceptonally helpful and cooperatve n typng ths thess even at great personal nconvenence v
CHAPTER I ntrodxton ntrodu3ton ntroducton n 868 as the unon pacfc ralroad conpany fompany kompany approached utah terrtory brgham young was gven the opportunty to complete that part of the road bed that was to be bult from the head of echo carwon canyon to the northern or southern end of the great salt lake dependng upon whch route was chosen was no longer possble realzng that mormon solaton from the east young decded that the contract would beneft structon the people of utah because of jobs brought to utah not only durng constructon but also after the road was set n operaton he also realzed t would reduce the costs of goods transported to or from utah as well as the cost of overland passenger transportaton notably the mmgrants from the east and europe determned bo to buld a broader economc base n utah young sgned the contract wth rth the unon pacfc ralroad once contractors he accepted the contract he sublet t to a number of subcontractors who were members of the mormon church the purpose of ths paper s to clarfy brgham youngs contract wth the unon pacfc wth regards to the fnancal arrangements and negotatons the ntal settlement the fnal settlement and the mode of payment the work n ubah utah proceeded accordng to plan barrng a few dffcultes but major problems arose between brgham young and the unon urdon pacfc over the payment contractors young were the major subcontractors bshop john sharp and joseph A on youngs contract and they were also the lasons lasons between young and the unon pacfc n the fnancal
2 clams aganst the company durng ths perod the unon pacfc was beset by fnancal reverses whch were compounded by the fact that after the completon of the work young not only sought payment for the orgnal contract but also for addtonal work beyond the contract extensve negotatons through efforts by john sharp and joseph A young ultmately termnated the contractual relatonshp between the two partes as well as an acceptable settlement of all clams ths study nvestgates the exchange of goods and money n an attempt to determne whether or not the settlement was equtable and also to nvestgate what brgham Brgharr hara young hoped would transpre because of the presence of the unon pacfc n utah wth growng antagonsm n the east aganst the mormons cormons as a radcal relgous group la young realzed a need for a more conger congenal Lal relatonshp wth the east utah was anxous to acheve statehood and vewed the ralroad as a vehcle to carry them one step closer to that goal the ralroad showed promse of mprovng the economc status of utah through cheap transportaton an expanded labor market and domestc ralroads n utah scholarly nvestgatons n ths specfc area have treated ths problem only superfcally robert G athearn has bas probably done the unta most extensve study n hs book unon pacfc country Co he s the only scholar who has las laas been allowed access n recent tmes to the unon pacfc archves n omaha nebraska hs basc purpose was to wrte a comprehensve hstory of the successes and falures of the unon pacfc n western amerca and thus has not made arr any attempt to treat each phase n depth although athearn made a survey of the total fnancal con- sderatons of youngs yeung contract wth the unon pacfc he dd not mot present rot contractors a thorough study of youngs relatonshp wth hs subcontractors or the
3 buldng of the utah central ralroad as an outgrowth of that contract nor does he break down negotatons nto ther resper respectve parts n treatng youngs atttude toward the omng zonng o m ralroad he dsmsses n any way the dea that young was bascally opposed to the ralroads comng conng to utah however he does not dscuss n any arr detal the possble reasons why young lomed welcomed the ralroad arngton n great basn kngdom leonard J arrngton k has wrtten an ommn hstory of mormon endeavors from 830 to 900 ecommn economc a perod of seventy years tates the magntude of ths task dctates that an n depth study of ndvdual undertakngs ngs was not possble further unon undert andert pacfc documents n possesson of the mormon hurh avalable untl after the publr publa publcaton church were not nade made laade atlon of ths work fnancal fgures are approxmatons and frequently are ncorrect and detals ot of tm the negotate negotatons ons lons ons bons between pa f young and the unon pacfc af are larkng lackng however he ton has consdered the assona assocaton of tract youngs unon pacfc non contract wth the buldng of the utah central ralroad and the settlement of fnal oblgatons to the contractors subcontractors tons arrngtons Arrng study cod com concludes ludes that youngs prmary concern n ralroad nvolvement centered around the faclty of transportaton and he does not treat other advantages that t may way nay have been a consderaton 2 A recent publcaton publc&ton atlon bubl n whch a reapprasal of the unon pacfc constructon has been Pons consdered by charles edgar ames n hs book tract Poneer poneerng M the unon pacfc he refers brefly to the non contract between and company mobert robert G athearn unon undon Corpa 97 rw urmon pae pacjfj uron ft Pa paft nt country count new york rand pand menally mcnally 2leonard bleonard J arrngton grest ea unversty of nebraska press 55 5 great basn kngdom 7w k lncoln lndoln Ln don kgb ngb neb
4 young and the ralroad and ncludes only rudmentary fgures and facts nanal surroundng the fnancal nanlal tract f consderatons hs treatment of ths contract nvolves a total of less than a page of materal and mentons nothng of a personal nature of brgham young or hs assocates wth regards to ther relatonshp wth the compardy company comparjy though KL although ths work s a farly recent study t sheds no new lght on the topc under dscusson3 dscussons3 around the turn of the century hans P preece freee rreece completed a masters freecee freer frebe thess at columba unversty enttled the mormon church and the unon pacfc ralroad the work whle dealng exclusvely wth the topc under dsr dar dscusson asson was only sxteen pages long and as suh such was an nsuffcent study r clent the author exhbted an ant mormon bas chh whch whh compromzed compromsed ompromzed hs bs hb bb objectvty and he dealt solely wth nformaton of a general nature whch could be found n any comprehensve nomprehensve hstory of the unon pacfc com nom ralroad44 ralroads related artles artcles have been wrtten by both dr athearn and dr arrngton cheh wheh deal wth the unon pacfc n utah whh but generally pe ng lert speakng pek they reflect the same concepts as contaned n ther books the lak of a comprehensve study of brgham youngs dealngs and assor assocatons assof latons wth nth the unon pacfc ralroad justfed research and wrtng n ths area the materal used n wrtng ths paper was obtaned prmarly from orgnal documents papers and letters from the archves of the hstorans offce of the mormon church n salt lake cty church Hstoran ts utah appleton acharles 3charles edgar ames century croft croftss 969 9697 Poneer poneerng ne nz lne the unon pacfc new york eans heans hans P freece the mormon church and the unon pacfc ralroad unpublshed masters thess columba unversty 909
5 the brgham young Letter letterbooks lefcterbooks com rbuted contrbuted most sgnfcantly to the wrtng of ths paper these papers are bound nto twenty three volumes lettersand etter telegrams wrtten prmarly by brgham Brghana hara hann of letters young to others partes cor respondence only a small porton are nor correspondence to brgham young superfcal ndexng has been done these should not be non confused wth brgham young correspondence whch are uncatalogued letters and notes gabelled to brgham young that are fled n ffty boxes labelled only by date yourg young kept a detaled account of hs bs fnancal dealngs wth the unon pacfc ralroad conpany comparw corpany and these records are found n the unon pacfc ralroad papers cataloguer these are nether catalogued catalo nor arr arranged arged n any order and con cor comprse prse two boxes of materal the john sharp papers are rndscellan ascellan eous bous letters notes and telegrams to and from hm the Pol co collectonlecton s very small and nformaton s lmted the journal hstory of the hstorz church of jesus chrst of latter day sants s a day by day account of ncdents and happenngs mportant to the church and recorded by the church hstorans offce t cow congrses numerous cot cotrses well ndexed volumes and contrbuted sgnfcantly to the paper from these sources t can be determned that youngs busness dealngs wth v the unon pacfc ralroad can be logcally broken down nto several areas before dscussng them and n order to fully apprecate the materals dscussed n the body of the paper t s necessary to understand at least n part the events leadng up to the constructon of the ralroad through utah chapter two deals brefly wth the early hstol hstel hstory7 of the unon pacfc ralroad Brgl brgham xan xam young cormons and the mormons Mor mons the nfc terms of the contract wth the specfc delneatons of the respons- bltes bltes of both brgham young par v yourka and the unon pan pacfc comprse chapter three n chapter four the actual constructon s dscussed wth specal spenal la lal pe al
6 ea emphass upon tpon lpon work done by bshop john sharp and joseph A young followng the constructon chapter fve deals wth the ntal dffcultes young encountered when attemptng to ollet ollent allent money due from the unon pacfc bshop sharp and joseph A young were sent to boston to confer wth unon parl pam pacfc Par fc offcals about the settlement of youngs outstandng clams C after the passage of some tme and a great deal of negotaton undon pacfc the unon urdon agreed to pay the man porton of ther oblgaton to young chapter sx s an n depth study of all fnancal consderatons of youngts s contrar contract contrad wth the unon pacfc contrar t and further explans the fn rn fnancal annal aspects and method of payment as arranged by john sharp and joseph A young n boston n vew of the fact that a complete payment of youngs clams had not occurred n boston chapter seven dscusses further negotatons whch were scheduled to take place n omaha nebraska the ralroad faled to comply wth ths agreement however several months later a complete and fnal fna fm settlement and payment of youngs clams were reached snce the majorty of the payment was satsfed wth ralroad materals young had no 7aptal apta adtal captal wth whch to pay tractors sub contractors hs subr subcontractors chapter eght deals wth hs subsequent payment to them through the utah central ralroad the fnal chapter syntheszes the factual nformaton contaned n the prevous chapters and offers an analyss of ts sgnfcance
CHAPTER CHAFM II background bar KGROUM the concept of a transcontnental ralroad lnkng the east and west whle the object of much speculaton was not gven serous consderaton untl the 860s 8603 the begnnng of the cvl war n 86 retarded progress of the proposed road because of the wartme tme demand for men and materal n another sense t accelerated the day when work would begn because there were no longer any ary southerners n congress thus elmnatng support for the proposed southern route to the west the rebellon dd however 9 present the dstnct possblty that calforna or other western areas of vast mneral resources beng separated from the control and protecton of the central government rebellon or external nvason verment n washngton were vulnerable to nternal congress Iron non gress was already burdened wth a war n the east and was fearful that smlar dffcultes could develop n the west nterest bal bal n the pacfc ralroad Palroad was hobbysts from also strongly advocated by lobbysts the east and west both wthn and wthout congress t therefore passed the pacfc ralroad act n 862 n vew of the magntude of the manpower materals and fnancng that was to be nvolved congress later passed the act of 864 nas essentally provded that the government ths would at least underwrte part of the cost and to some degree protect the nvestor even after constructon began there were stll many holdng postons n government and busness who felt that the entre project was unwarranted owng to ts hgh cost and the few f any ary returns 7
8 to be gleaned from the amercan west regardless of the pessmsts and the seemngly nsurmountable obstacles to be encountered both physcal and fscal work began at omaha n the nebraska terrtory and at sacramento n fl calforna these efforts culmnated several years later at promontory summt n the utah terrtor terrtory when the rals were lnked on may 0 869 the pacfc ralroad act of 862 was to brng profound economc munty and socal changes to the mormon coma cora conn communty the survey and constructon work for the transcontnental road through utah was endorsed by mormon leadershp and the majorty of the work undertaken by themselves or ther followers from ths begnnng there was to ensue a number of spur and short lnes several of whch were fnanced and constructed through mormon enterprze enterprse some trans contnental twenty years before the transcontnental ralroad was begun a relgous group from llnos called the church of jesus chrst of latter day sants or more famlarly the mormons cormons Mor arrved n utah fsch rtch ftch at that tme was part of the republc of mexco they were led by brgham young the sprtual as well as busness and economc leader of the relgous organzaton g lous these settlements were to stretch from daho n the north to ralforrr alforrdaa n the south from the begnnng of these settlements n utah young was anxous that a ralroad should lnk the east and the west when the terl ter terrtoral legslature was organzed n 852 82 85 one of the frst measures to be consdered was a memoral to the unted states mon Iron congress trongress rongress pettonng that t take under advsement a bll wth regards to a transcontnental ralroad llleonard of nebraska press leonard J arrngton great basn kngdom egdom lncoln unversty pross 958 98 p 237
9 several years later a mass meetng was ras nas held n utah agan proposng such a road to congress wth the suggeston that t pass through salt cty gty 2 lakee olty the mormon petton obvously had no effect upon congressonal decson they were consdered just another western pressure mport nport ane group of questonable poltcal mportance seekng means from the government to yn fn further ther own ends slavery congressonal consderaton was at that tme focused upon the esso slavery ssue whch at that moment was threatenng to upset the shp of state these sectonal dffr dffer dffcultes untes rulau rulru culmnated bated n 86 wth the advent of the cvl war temous nature of any unon as demonstrated by the war the tenuous was undoubtedly one factor whch stmulated the pacfc Pac paclfn fc ralroad acts of 862 and 864 despte the dffr dffer dffcultes pa lfr untes of war the unon pacfc afr ralroad company was formed and preparatons for constructon of the new road were begun n calforna smlar actvtes were undertaken and the central pacfc ralroad company was organzed 2jmd p 236 2bd
III ll l CHAPTER RAIIRQAD EARLY EARIZ assocatons WITH THE UNION PACIFIC RAIIROAD AND BRIGHAM YOUNGS YOUNGIS ING GRADING CONTRACT T young brgham youngs assocaton wth the unon pacfc began shortly after the company was organzed at the tme of organzaton the road began sellng stock to fnance constructon young became one of the ntal subscrbers purchasng fve shares valued at 000 each several years later n 86 he was apponted to the board of drectors 865 the unon pacfc began to survey the proposed road n 863 and by 864 the engneers had reached the utah terrtory dvson engneer samuel B reed called upon presdent young and contracted wth hm for men and supples to assst n the survey work ahl whl whch young readly furnsh agreed to furnsh2 reed led 2 vsted and councled wth young on several occasons as the work progressed on one such occason he produced a map of the survey work between weber canyon and bear rver mountan and spoke qute favorably of the route speculatng that the constructon would cost less per mle than the road bult across owa3 lowa owah whle reed should not be crtczed for hs enthusasm ths thrs mountanous area through northern utah was to nvolve a greater sacrfce n tme and money than any other part of the constructon work done on the unon pacfc lne ths was the frst of what was to become a long and bbd lbd d pp ap 23637 37 paa pamfc aletter 2letter2 letter peter A dey to brgham young december 6 964 unon pacfc ralroad papers manuscrpt secton L D S hstorcal department 6 86h 86u P 3letter aletter brgham young to D H wells and brgham young jr july mcroflm reel 0 brgham young letterbooks Letter pp ap 2403 3 books L D S hstorcal department 0
proftable relatonshp between brgham young and the unon Pa palf laff paf pacfc youngs assstance wth the survey netted hm A 469269 4692.69 chh whh whch he had subscrpton4 appled to hs stock subscrpton4 subscrptons4 reed was most favorably mpressed wth young and hs followers and reported ths to hs fellow assocates lates bates n the east n 865 further survey work was undertaken to determne the feasblty of several alternatve routes through utah and the unon pacfc agan avaled tself of brgham youngs servces5 servnes5 servces 5 n mdl86 865 unon pacfc began layng track west nd the vest from omaha progress was very slow to begn wth however effcency rapdly ncreased at the nsstence of company offcals do who nho were by ths tme hard pressed for results and funds by early 868 the tracks were ladd uel well uell nto present day wyomng and corpany offcals were certan that they would reach salt lake cty before wnter As the approach to utah was mmnent thomas G C durant vce presdent of the unon pacfc wrote young regardng the avalablty const ruton of men to work on the road constructon the mormon leader reported that all the men necessary could essary moud mould be obtaned for 00 loo.00 00 to 22.2 oud 225 225 2.25 per day plus room and board dependng upon ther ablty 6 several weeks later samuel reed telegraphed young concernng 7errlng the feasblty of obtanng oats and barley and flour from the utah communtes presdent young Pa pal pacfc fc Pac pacl pacfc fn fc aletter 4letter letter peter A dey to brgham young december 6 864 unon ralroad aletter 5letter papers letter samuel B reed to brgham young october 9 865 unon ralroad papers 6telegram telegram pacfc ralroad papers brgham young to T C durant aprl 22 868 unon 9.9
2 ommot tes r repled that all three commodtes were avalable but that prces were hgh owng to the demand for sur sun suchh mnes7 suah tems at the gold mnes nnes mnesa 7 apparently after some nqury he agan contacted dontae ted ta reed the followng day nformng hm that new flour would be avalable n july folln bolln the followng rng tng month durant telegraphed young nqurng as to hs tract dsposton to take a unon pacfc contract to grade the road bed from the head of echo canyon to salt lake n hs request he made t clear that the mormon lormon leader and hs followers were to be gven the frst tes opton for all work done near ther commuso commuro communtes f satsfactory terms could be reached he called upon young to name hs own prce the work ms was to be pred prced per cubc yard accordng to the materals to be used n gradng drt shale shae rock etc tunnel work was to be prced s e ro- k et n the same manner accordng to the type of materal encountered young was not requred to state a fgure for the entre job ths would be determned by hs unt cost per yard whch was to be computed as the work progressed durant requred that the work was to begn mmedately and was to be completed before wnter the unon panf pacfc hanf c offered to provde all tools and equpment needed for the work at cost plus transportaton f the terms were agreeable to both partes samuel reed and slas seymour were to proceed wth all haste to salt lake qlty alty to work out the contract so that constructon mght begn as soon as possble ds f ds ns hs labor force permtted young was also to send a number of hands to green rver to pursue the work there8 rea 8 there 7telegram brgham young to S BD reed aprl 23 868 unon pacfc ralroad papers telegram thos C durant to brgham young may 66 868 unon pacfc ralroad papers
3 presdent young fnanelal la al obvously pleased wth such a fnancal wndfall telegraphed durant the same day he receved durants duranta communcatons actons sayng takng ths contract wra and the surplus laborers who have r already gone east easu wll preclude my furnshng hands for green and west of that ponte pont9 ously I would lke to contract for the gradng you menton and presume that mes reed detals young was obvously seymour and myself can readly agree upon the ura t Durants conmun atons bously lookng to hs own fnancal nterests and hose of hs followers n declnng to supply men for the work at green francal fn frzncal rver wyomng he felt that the men would be at a fnancal fr advantage drg worl workng for ther fellow mormons hormors mormors Hor mons mors rather than for someone else noro moro more nore nterested n prosecutng the work than the laborer laborers well beng he also was not entrely aware of the labor force hs contract would requre andr n vew veu of ths and ark the necessty of completng the contract wthn the season he was nel nell well eel advsed to plan for a surplus of labor there easts the possblty that he dd not wsh hs followers to be also exsts assora vth assona assocated wth vath the unsavory types who as a rule were employed by the ralroad the mormons cormons havng mantaned to ths pont n hstory cormons were some degree of excluson from the gentles as the non mormons referred to n the twenty years sne the mormons lbrmons cormons had settled n utah they had undertaken some rather extensve projects ncludng a sugar mll and varous thng ra rrgaton projects but nothng xo qute as ambtous as buldng a ralroad t s possble young was not aca acquanted anted wth the prevalng rates n the ralroad constructon busness regardless of hs motves 9telegram telegram brgham young to T C durant may 6 868 unon pacfc ralroad papers
h lb he had nothng to lose by nqurng nto such matters pursung sjjjng ths matter ratter he prepared a schedule to nclude the types of work wth whch he would be engaged ths he presented to reed who had bad arrved n salt lake to work out the detals of the contract reed was asked to calculate the necessary facts and fgures at the farest rates for all partes takng nto consderaton the locaton of the work the knds of materals to be used and other such consderatons 0 thebe these fgures were receved by presdent young the same day he asked for them from these he made hs frst and only proposal to reed and seymour suffcent research has not been done on the part of the wrter n ter lter to make an accurate fnancal evaluaton of youngs contract n relaton to those of other contractors consderng the buldng of the entre road as a whole hgh profts were not unknown reed and seymour whle naturally seekng the nterest of the ralroad would not have undercut prevalng prces by a great deal for to have caused a fnancal loss on the part of brgham young would undoubtedly have caused a temporary halt of the work ths was defntely not n the nterest of the unon pacfc contractors subcontract tors bors lors one of the prmary deas behnd employng subcontractors tracklayers was that the road bed mght be n readness when the tracklayers reached t a gven pont on the proposed route presdent young n a wrtten proposal to reed and seymour proffered to take the tho contract at reeds estmate plus 0 he asked that hs contract extend westward from the mouth of echo canyon to the southern shore of the great salt lake va salt lake cty ety f the southern route loletterletter brgham young to samuel B reed may 9 868 brgham young letterbooks Letter mcroflm books reel 4 4 p 8 85
5 were chosen f the alternate northern route were chosen he requred that he should have the contract from ron echo to the northern shore of the great salt lake and as far west from that pont as the unon pacfc mght extend tself hovels sc mplements nplements of constructon such as schovels schovers powder wheel barrows scrapers and other tools as should be requred were to be provded by the company at ts cost plus the cost of ral transportaton any laborers who should be requred were also to be transported by the ralroad at cost young also stpulated that he be provded wth all such favors and facltes as were extended to other contractors n forwardng the road he agreed that the work was to be completed by the followng november or at such tme as the t racks tracks reached the mouth of caryon echo canyon t was further asked that payment for work completed should ll younge be forthcomng as t was requred by brgham young the followng day a contract was drawn up and on may 2 868 9.9 sgned by brgham young samuel B reed and slas seymour all the stpulatons requted requredred ted by young were met except that dealng wth the method of payment the contract stated that monthly estmates were to be made of the work completed to that tme percent was to be pad on a monthly bass of ths estmate eghty the outstandng twenty percent and the fnal estmate to be made upon completon of the work were to be pad no later than thrty days after the terms of the contract had been met 2 detter letter letter brgham young to samuel B reed and slas seymour Letterbooks mcroflm reel h 4 p 853 83 may 9 868 brgham young letterbooks may 20 868 unon pacfc ralroad papers 2unon unon pacfc ralroad J
6 the contract also provded that whle al all al the work was under t contract t was also to be under the drect supervson of unon pacfc corpleted engneers and all work corple completed conpleted was subje7t subject to ther approval the work was to begn ten days after the ron contract fon tme was kras fras to knas be allowed beyond the pleton november orplet plecon peton lon tract was sgned addtonal completon date provded the ncomplete work dd not nterfere wth the track layng D f there were delays the unon pacfc had the alternatve to employ addtonal men teams and equpment to hasten progress the expenses of whchh whr were to be pad by young compensaton for gradng as prevously mentoned was to be based on a gven prce per cubc yard of materal excavated earth used for fll whch was hauled less than two hundred yards was valued at thrty cents per yard earth excavatons wdna whch wdnh had to be transported more than two hundred yards were valued at ffty cents per yard excavatons of sold rock suh surh as sand lmestone or grante were pad at a rate of from three to four dollars per yard tunnelng work was to be compensated at ffteen dollars per yard all masonary const ruton constructon used n the project was prced fron from eght to ffteen dollars per yard dependng upon the materal and method of masonary nary used 3 aq mr q teleg reed mmedately helegl telegraphed presdent durant that he ze le ached lle and Br ghar young had reached brgham ghan rea an agreement on the gradng work and that a contract had been sgned he asked that a suffcent supply of tools to commence the work be shpped as soon as possble the followng day he was notfed that the equpment consstng of scrapers wheelbarrows ua wagons shovels gons etc had been procured and were n transt from green 3bd bd
7 4 rver wyomng 4 stll uncertan of the sze sse of the labor force needed to meet hs oblgatons and not desrng to brng n arv any outsders or gentles n grants young made preparatons to augment the domestc fore wth new mmgrants converts whch yearly r came ane cane from europe to utah generally speakng most practcng mormons cormons dd not favor a large body of gentles n ther mdst fearng t would destroy ther soral polt socal soldarty poltcal pal mal ma power and relgous practces shortly after negotatng the contract wth the unon pacfc young wrote rrote to frankln D rchards who drected the mmgraton for the church n europe he dscussed the dffcultes lcultes whch mght arse donest estl n utah f large numbers of laborers were taken out of the domestc farmng and manufacturng labor pool to forestall suh such dffcultes proce prone he proposed that rchards coordnate procedures dures that fju wju grants the mmgrants mght leave europe as soon as possble so that they would rea- reachh the termnus of the ralroad by md july to assure that the mmgrants were n the proper place at the proper tme t was suggested tl that they travel by steamer as opposed to salng vessel ths was a new turn n mormon mmgraton these mmgrants vere were era vera to be met at the end of the lne by wagon trans from utah to transport them to the valley t was determned that f one group arrved before the other that they were wore to attempt to seek employment nth wth rth dth the ralroad durng the nterm 5 tlls ms mls would help f only n a small way to fnance the mrrdgraton mmgraton the major porton pacfc lh lhtelegram telegram P to S reed may 3 22 868 unon parfc ralroad papers frost lletter 5letter aletter ll Letter br Pr brgham young letterbooks Letter young brgham Re books reel Uh p 86 ghan to frankln D rchards mcroflm ah hards may 23 868 865 9.9
8 of the cost was met by the church young S as a part of youngs gradng contract through the provson whereby the unon pacfc had agreed to transport laborers tools and supples to the western end of the lne n order to forward the work stuaton brgham young not only eased hs fnancal stuaton6 6 by brngng n mmgrants at a reduced rate but provded the necessary hands to ncrease hs labor force whle such a practce could be looked upon as unethcal the ralroad found no reason to dsallow t brgham young was under contract wth the unon pacfc but he showed lttle or no nterest n supervsng the work personally the admnstraton of the project was to te be carred out by three of hs sons joseph A young brgham young jr and john W young they were authorzed not only to oversee the work but to let all of the masonary nary and gradng contracts on the road 7 contractors these subcontractors were mormon bshops or others of the 4drmon fcrmon fathful totalng close to one hundred persons ther contracts ranged n length from a few hundred yards to several udes mles alles ales the sngle largest contract was that let to joseph A young8 young younc and bshop john sharp 9 these two men who had organzed a frm known as sharp and ved veld ven vehcle ce lthe 6the the althe perpetual eb Da en emgratng bratng company organzed n 849 whereby new converts to mormonlsm mormordsm 89 was the mormonsm were normally transported to utah the company was dssolved by the edmunds tucker act n 887 the cohana cona conngng ketterl etterl letter U P R R june 3 868 p 88 885 8 RP 9 6 8joseph brgham young to engneers and other offcals of the Brg 88 brgham harr harm young7 joseph A young was born n 804 son of brgham young and mary ann angel letterbooks Letter books mcroflm reel lt 3 834 n krtland oho he was the n the emly early part of the utah perod he was engaged n the lumber busness n salt lake trans contnental ty gelty wth comng of the transcontnental ralroad n 868 he entered the ralroad busness whch he was to pursue the rest of hs lfe lfe he was one of the orgnal promoters of the utah central centrad and utah southern ralroads f e 9bshop john Bshop sharp was born n scotland n 820 n 846 he was contacted by representatves of the mormon church and baptzed nto
9 young contracted for all the tunnelng and rock work whch no one else was wllng to assume 20 that organzaton he emgrated to the unted states n 80 an and arnd n utah n 80 850 although a coal mner by trade he early became assocated wth the r church publc works program n 868 he and joseph A youra young your4 took a gradng contract under brgham young for work on the unon pacfc lne n utah 20jr 20h may 30 868 p annd arrved rentral he later was assocated wth the utah central utah southern and utah southern extenson ralroads n 874 he xmas was tras apponted to the board of drectors of the unon pacfc ralroad because of hs actvtes n ralroadng he was after referred to as the ralroad bshop
CHAPTER IV 7 THE TIE tle tm constructon PERIOD ICD after after the orgnal ralroad contract was gven to brgham Brglam lan lam young you the subcontract to sharp and young was the frst one awarded f fhe che the others were not avalable for a week or so after sharp and young had yo begun to work ths was due prmarly to the type of work nvolved n ths partcular contract and the nclement weather an unseasonably wet sprng had presented the unon pacfc engneers wth some dffculty n fndng the exact locaton of the track john sharp and a crew of ffty men left left salt lake cty on may 30 869 to begn the rock work n weber canyon camjon 9 sharp shaṟp and hs men eported were mere wera rdeported reported by the deseret news to be a agether together ogether as capable as body of blasters as could well be got and they wll rake make make some bg rocks tumble quckly tlls ths s the frst gang dstance between echo kanyon and the valley on presdent youngs contract 2 of graders for the dstane sharp reported several days later that the exact route through weber canyon carwon had stll not been decded upon he and hs men however repaldng red arng th3 were busly engaged reparng the tha road on the south sde of the weber rver n order to get through devls gate t had been determned that the ralroad would cross the rver n that vcnty and sue suchh preparatons were nen nem necessaryessary before the brdge rould oud be bult orftdent the bshop was confdent letter loetter IL young letterbooks Letter oetter brgham young to hram B clawson june 3 868 brgham rofla mcroflm lb books reel 4 pp ap 880 2jh may 30 40 868 p 2 20
2 that anyone arvone who wanted to work would be hred as soon as suffcent them3 tools arrved for them then thema 3 on june aj 8j8 to durant contacted reed n salt lake concernng add- tonal work whch he wshed young to take t was hs desre that should young decde to take the addtonal work that he should put on fve hundred extra teams and that work would begn on july 5 ths lake4 was presumably the gradng west of the great salt lakee young reported to the deseret news on june 9 868 regardng caryon the offcal commencement of the work n echo canyon the affar began when samuel reed now superntendent of constructon turned the frst offcal shovel of drt at bevlls devlls gate sharps sharpy men were stll the only crews workng at ths tms ams tme dffcultes encountered by the unon pacfc track5 engneers contnued to delay the exact locaton of the tracka the bshop whle n salt lake n md june ndcated that he now had eghty men engaged and that some progress was beng made he had hoped to put dut out more men on the job by ths tme but due to the narrowness of the canyon at that place t was not possble the engneers f had stll not completed ther fnal fna surveys but once ths was done sharp ntended to hre about four hundred more men to work n the area between the mouth of weber canyon carwon and devls gate hs partner joseph young was busly engaged procurng lumber to buld the necessary shantes n whch to house the men pror por to hrng them 3lbd ralroad papers 5jh jjr d june 3 868 p 4telegram telegram T ac durant to Cc S B reed june 8 868 unon pacfc 3jh june 9 868 p
22 the men also experenced mld dffcultes at ths tme because fa-t of the fact that the ralroad had not delvered the needed tools as promsed 6 As the work progressed there were rumors of strkes and dscontentment among sharp and youngs men but bubv tentment bu buk most were found to be groundless one of ther employees reported n a deseret news ntervew that the bshop was workng wth the men and had the confdence of them all accordng to the wrter ther camp was one of the best organzed on ralroad the ralroad7 ralroads 7 complants contractors by subcontractors and laborers began to mount regardng the shortage of tools and equpment and the falure of the ralroad to loate locate lopate ate road permanently ther dffcultes and the tme and the money lost as a result were to burden brgham young and he n turn was to press the unon pacfc Pac pael frn frl on the matter untl the fnal settlement between the two was reached several years later P H young and B H youngworkng Young on ther contrat contract from june 22 to july 8 lost sxteen days work durng t ths ds perod they had ffteen teams and teamsters engaged whh wtlh chh wtch came to a total of two hundred C and forty days lost tme they nformed brgham young that even though thngs had mproved somewhat they stll were only onlv onla able to use about half ther work force forne owng to the fat that what few ploughs plought and scrapers sl they had were obtaned from other ralroad sources 8 another contractor bd june 6 868p p 7 bd june 8 868p p 2 8letter detter aletter letter P H young and B H young to brgham young july 3 868 brgham young respondence correspondence 0 department 6jbd 7bd 3p Clor box 55 folder 7 L D S hstorcal
23 da dallngers L 0 Bal ballnger complaned that after he had nearly ncompleted hs work as per the unon Pac pacl pacfc fm fn engneers specfcaton that the grade was rased costng hm sxty days work9 worke youna brgham young concerned about these problems and others of a smlar nature appealed to paf the unon pacfc palf parl laf for relef these problems not only retarded the progress of hs contract ontran whch was to be completed n a fve month perod but were also costng ostne contractors ostng hs sub7ontrators subcontractors consderable sums n terms of tme and money the ralroad was also anxous that nothng should happen to slow the work and promsed fathfully to bear the cost of lost tme for whch they were responsble whr h 0 n spte ene of ther good ntentons however young was to experence lene collectng on ths promse some dffculty As the sharp and young partnershp evolved john sharp bename became bacare benane the most artve actve member spendng most of hs tme wth the constructon work joseph young whle stll mantanng an nterest was engaged n other matters by md july sharp and hs trews crews were stll workng n weber canyon the nature of the terran was such that a great deal of rock work was requred to cu mutt fc the road bed along the northern bank of the weber rver ths was to be romplebed rompleted completed before any gradng could be done2 f by the frst part of september he and hs men had progressed as par r lr af f gletter letter L 0 ballnger to brgham young july 5 868 unon pacfc ralroad papers 0acount account of papers handed to bshop john sharp july 22 868 unon pacfc ralroad papers par af f lh llh jh lah july 20 8682 p 9.9 2lbd 2bd 868p
24 far as lost creek on the weber they were stll engaged n cuttng the road bed from what n many places was sold rock and requred extensve rock removal they had also begun work on two tunnels one of whch was one hundred and ffty feet and the other one hundred feet n length there were ponts where t was mpossble to construct a normal road bed nork tork had begun on each work ea7h end n order to speed up progress whle the work was not movng as rapdly as had been hoped sharp felt the major part of t wth the excepton of the tunnels would be fnshed an accordng to the tme specfed n the ron contract fon tract he ewe eve further expected that they should be fnshed before the tralayers tracklayers layers reached them n an artcle whch appeared n the deseret news sharp was very complmentary when speakng about hs men the men ptch n wth a heart and a wll the progress made s mueh much munh nuch nueh greater than t would be wth the same number of men who needed the eye of the boss bossa on them all the tme 3 bobs 3 dffu dffn bshop sharp stll experenced dffcultes fndng sufft suffcentent bent lent men to work tract trant wth the non contract perod one half over and most contractors behnd n ther jobs every avalable man had been hred tva whle le le lle there were many men n the utah communtes who could have been free to work young had specfed spefed that bshops should see that the food supply was not endangered by allowng too many to leave ther farms to work on the ralroad the manpower shortage was n part responsble for a corplant orrplant complant cop regstered by S B reed to brgham young n early september reed had remaned n utah after contractng nth wth young and was supervsng the work for the ralroad hs brte nrte crtcsm sm was amed prmarly at the tunnelng as well as other heavy rock cuts dreton of sharp shael puts under the drepton drecton shall and bd 3bd september 868 p 5 868p
252 young youm up to ths pont the frm had one drll runnng at the end of each tunnel loyed reed felt that f at least fve were not eup employed on earh each ste that the work could not possbly be completed on schedule young n communcatng hs feelngs to sharp sad he would lke to see ten or ffteen drlls runnng at each sde of the tunnels f t were possble he also suggested that the less dffcult parts of the work mght be let contractors to some other tractors on bff dff ut alt ult n order to concentrate on the more dffcult areas t4 t tl bshcpsharp bshop sharp took ths as good advce and compled wth atl although joseph young dd not take an actve part n the wactual tua work ale all ael shall shale he dd take care of the affars of the ab sb sharp and young frm n salt lake he was the recevng agent for mones pad to the busness from hs father as the monthly estmates were pad by the ralroad he arted as the general purchasng also acted pur agent for supples needed by both canyon 5 men and arrvals at work n the arvon As the work progressed n utah contractors sub so dd that of the subcontractors and tracklayers to the east by nc vember november they were ware nere less than ten mles here alaton from bear rver and there was speculaton that they would work through the wnter or as long lorz as t was nee necessary nef essary to complete mplete pete the road the eastern porton of youngs tract gradng contract f n dho D5 ho canyon was completed as was most of the western part west of weber heber canyon the tunnelng and a few other dffcult rock ponts stll were not completed young however was confdent that n spte of ths there was no call for concern he sad n ully uly f expert elpe I fully t to be ready for ror the ron horse for bletter e 9 letter brgham young to ralroad employees september 8 868 Letterbooks mcroflm mroflm fln reel 5 p 28 g gl detter 5etter letter Letter mnro mcroflm reel 5 p 36 brgham young letterbooks young letterbooks etter john sharp to brgham young september 0 868 brgham
26 when t makes ts appearance 6 0 regardless of extensve efforts by sharp and young 0 9.9 an early orpleton Pa ton date was not forthcomng by december young asked the unon Pa pacfc pal few fel flew for an extenson n hs plea he lad the blame for hs dffcultes at the door of the unon pacfc pal rc ralroad the ehanges elanges hanger ehanges the unon engneers had r mposed loa ton as to oa locaton and type of grade requred after the work orgnally called for had been completed had wthout doubt retarded the work the company consstently refused to approve a gven job untl ther specfcatons had been met7 Iwhatever the reasons for delay to have refused sur sueh suchh a request would not have been of beneft contrw to the company so the contract r t contow tme lmt was extended takng advantage of every avalable means to fnsh the job sharp had fourteen hundred men employed n weber canyon by nd md december8 decerpber8 progress was further hampered by the fact that wnter had set n and the area was located at a rather hgh alttude and was experencng very lo 0 ated abed unfavorable weather condtons t was decded that the unon pacfc trak tracklayng crews would ont ontl also contnue nue to work through the wnter and by md january 869 were workng well wel nto echo the pressure on sharp caryon had ths decson not been made some of etho canyon sham and youn young would have been allevated 9 the unon pacfc now fearful that the tunnelng would not be ll lletter 6letter aletter Letter etter brgham young to ralroad employees september 8 868 books nero mero 5 brgham young letterbooks Letter mcroflm reel flm p 28 7 letter brgham young to T C durant december 7 868 brgham young letterbooks Letter mcroflm books reel 5 p 23 lh der december ember g 9lbd 9bd enber 868 dee 5 p 4 bd january 5 869 p
27 completed by the tme the track canyon trank reached weber carron careon caneon sharp wthdraw hs men n favor of ralroad employees asked that bshop ths he dd rok wthout undue hestaton as there were several rock roek cuts whch were stll not completed and he concentrated hs men on these ponts brgham young was qute pleased wth the turn of events statng I could not have asked dr durant to confer a greater favor 20 evdently he felt that he had now escaped any repercussons from the unon pacfc for not havng fulflled hs part of the contract the hope of havng escaped the oblgaton was to become a realty the followng month superntendent reed havng decded that the ralroad employees were makng less progress than had been made by sharp and young asked them to reassume work on the tunnels young bragged that the ralroad had had four men edg epp eng employed to every one man under sharp sham and Yyoung and stll made less progress glorfy he also was not mmune from glorfyng ng ther technques and personal qualtes bshop sharp and joseph A ntro glycerne young are usng the ntroglycerne for blastng and ts superorty over powder as well as the sobrety and steadness and ndustry of our r men aen een gves us a marked advantage 2 ths s llustratve of youngs Tarng warng feelng n cot co comparng the mormons cormons to the gentles f ndeed sharps tends men dd make better progress than reeds ralroad hands mends t was probably due to the fact fht that sharps men had been engaged n the work for fve quanter or sx months and were much better acquanted a wth t young however often spoke tongue n cheek and many marq nany marv narv especally the gentles dd not understand or apprecate hs dry wt t pd 20 bd 2jh 2h february I 869 p 4 8699
28 at ths pont n tme t was apparent that the 4tunnelng would U not be completed by the tme the traks tracks reahed reached ks them ths would delay tracklayng work west of that pont to remedy the stuaton a temporary track was lad around the tunnels untl such tme as they could be co- om mpleted by ths means youngs contract t contran coltran wth the road was essentally completed by the frst of march marah macch 869 22 the bshop sharp contnued wth tho labor n weber canyon corple tng completng the last tunnel n the raddle mddle cdde addle of aprl 23 all that remaned now was the untng of the rals of the unon onon pacfc and central Pac pae pacfc fll ralroads congress had decded that ths was to take place at promontory summt north of the great salt lake and some ffty mles west of ogden la lal al ths was to benone become the offcal dvdng pont between the two lnes the festvtes took place on may 0 869 and the last 9.9 las ral was lad at 45 l am A dstance of 5 882 mles between san francsco and omaha had now been spanned lnkng the naton east to west n spte of the natonal elebratons celebratons takng place all over the country rountry attendane brgham young was not n attendance at those at promontory or even salt lake cty there was a conflct of tmng wth the celebra- alebra tons and hs annual trp to the mormon settlements n the southern part of the state and young faced wth nth a choce holce r ee elected the ted latter bshop at john sharp was apponted to art aft as hs personal representatve at the drvng of the last spke the wrter has been unable to uncover art ary surp boundng any evdence surroundng surroundng shw sharpy p I spreseme presence on ths occason there were numerous dgntares letter T W ellerbe ellerbeck to judge smth september 2 8690 brgham young letterbooks Letter mcroflm reel 6 p 82 22a tter ater 25 23jh 23h aprl 2 869 p 2