Complex sentence: Mears followed advice from William Gilpin, former Territorial Governor of Colorado who he encountered on Poncha Pass while building his road, and applied to the Colorado legislature for toll road charters for the roads he built and built them in conformations and at grades suitable for railways.
Split into simpler sentences: Mears followed advice from William Gilpin, former Territorial Governor of Colorado, whom he encountered on Poncha Pass while building his road,. He applied to the Colorado legislature for toll road charters for his roads and built the roads in conformations and at grades suitable for railways.