Omaha daily bee., 1883-12-01

NfNlGt w ttNu bNiAp'.s NtAttus WIN ahhApA -
can roads, espe sially in the west, have
been gradually callod into existence to
SUI oply q need they Themselves have
created, am which did not in the beg N.
ntng exist. The Baltimore & Ohio aud,
at a later date, Che Pennsylvania roads
eonnectlng the Ohio with Baltimore aud
Philad. elphia, the Moble & ohio. CON
Meeting that river with The Gulf of Mexi-
co, may be called the first through lines.
Tho necessity of connecting newly.
developed Pacific states with the older
oody gave rise to tho most extended sys'
tenn of reconnaissance and survey through
a vast expanso of mountain. chain and
desert, as the plains were called, for the
determination of practicable routes, and
finally to the rapid construction OF the
most remarkable through line of railway
in the world In 1850
THE FIRST PACIFIC RAILROAD BILL
wGs introduced into congress by Senator
Benton. of Missouri. The project of a
Pacific railroad, however, had been dis
cussed at times for several years before
Senator Benton introduced the initial
bill. The idea was not original with him,
and it is safe to say that the idea was
suggested to him by his son-in law, John
G. Fremont, the great American path
finder, whose early explorations across
the continent are matters of well-known
history, who in lS42 explored the South
Pass. Then followed several other ex.
peditions through the vast west. and he
surveyed n route for a great road from
the Mississippi to San Francisco. After
the close of the war of the rebellion he
occupied himself to a great extent in for
warding tho interests of a southern trans
continental railway. incidentally it
II light be mentioned that had not the war
of the rebellion occurred the first trans
continental railway would very likely
have been by a southern route, probably
starting from st. Louis. In 1851, Hon. S
Butler King submitted a plan which was
universally approved. 1t was to the
effect that the government should guar
antee to any company or persons who
would undertake and complete tho road
a net dividend Of D per cent for fifty or
one hundred years; the road to be con-
strutt ed under the supervision of an en-
gineer appointed by tho government, the
cost of the road not to exceed a certain
and the guarantee not to begin until
the road was completed and equipped for
operation. In 1853 ID nine routes were
surveyed across the continent on various
parallels, under the supervision of Jetfer-
son Davis, then secretary OF war With
each returning session of congress- the
benefits and peculiarities of these several
were submitted, and tho results
were summarized In the interests of the
southern line. Finally it was
demonstrated that the route along the
side of the Platte river was the
most practicable. In June 1857, q nun.
Der of distinguished gentlemen from
various portions of the United States
Omaha and conferred with parties
in view the construction of the
road by way of the Platte valley
and South Pass. The visiting party con.
of Col. Orr, of South Carolina;
Gen. Robinson, John Covode, and Mr..
Bradshaw, of Pennsylvania; Judge Bar
Der, of Wisconsin; Col. Curtis, of Iowa;
Mr.. Hosmer, of Ohio; Mr.. Pierce, of
Indiana, and others. They united in a
recommendation to congress- hat such a
reasonable grant of land and other aid be-
contributed as would prove a sufficient
inducement to build the road, and they
also recommended the Platte valley
route. The project of a Pacific railroad
WAS agitated at every session OF the
Nebraska territorial legislature, and it
n of the most cherished hopes
of this new country.
During the session of the thirty. sixth
congress a Pacific railroad committee was
appointed, and on the Goth of January,
1853, the committee, through Senator
of California, reported n bill
which proposed to locate tho eastern
road at some point between the
Big Sioux and Kansas rivers. The bill
provided for the donation of alternate
of land on each side of the road,
and $l2,5 500 per mile, tho same to be ad.
vanced, upon the completion of every %
miles, until 1926, 900, 600 should be
reached; the amounts thus advanced to
be returned in mail service and trans
portation of men and munitions of war;
3 per cent of the stock to be issued; the
President of the United States to receive
bids and locate the road. The bill, how
ever, was killed in the senate. Another
effort WAS made at the session of 1890.
when a new bill was Introduced by Mr.,
Curtis, of Iowa, which met with more
favorable consideration, but with no
better results.
On the evening of January Goth, 1859,
a meeting of citizens of Omaha was held
IN Pioneer block, at which n memorial
was adopted which had been prepared at
a nrautnpu tnanttnn hy .4
sisting of William A. Gwyer, G.. C. Mon
oil and A. ID Jones. This memorial was
forwarded to Washington.
Thus the matter rested until February
9th, 1862, when Mr.. Rollins, of Missouri,
by unanimous consent, introduced a bill
to aid i'll constructing n railroad and tele.
graph line from the Missouri river TO the
Pacific ocean, and it was referred to the
Pacific railroad committee. IL was sub.
stanlially the same as that introduced by
Con. Curtis at the previous session. On
May 9th, 1862, tho bill, with various
amendments, was passed by the hous. by
a vote of 70 to 40, and was then sent to
the senate for concurrence.
Decisive action was delayed until June
goth, when by a vote Of 80 to B, the bill
was adopted and sent back to the house
The bill, as amended by tho senate, was
then adopted by the house by a vote of
1Oi to 81. The bill was approved July
l, 1862, when it became a law. The bill
provided among other things chat quite a
large number of persons. whose names
were given, should be created into a
body corporate and polite, in law and
deed, by the name, style and title OF
rHE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY.
The persons named were from all Sec