Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-11-20

ta,,,.i 49, "uiivtls whose aggressive en-
.elpnse opened the path Of proen.ss Il,
the transAiississlppi reciot, NJ Jsna ~
r. JOY, Of Detroit, enjoys front rnnL
n a talk with a reporter Of The Defeat
free Press Mr.. JOY gave inst,,riive
"reminiscences OF railroad building orross
Iowa, and the making Of towns on the
Missouri river. '''
"a There was no trouble" said sIr. JOY,
IN obtaining the right TO bridrr either
The Mississippi or Missouri, me din.
Slity was in getting money 10 do the
work. The returns from an Investment
In building q railroad across the stnte
OF Iowa, 800 miles, through a country
almost unsettled, were not easily per.
eelVarle, ana many men Of courage and |
entcrprlse were slow TO engage in what |
1 seemed TO them doubtful scheme Tho |
/ Quincy road had obtained a small land |
| grant IN Iowa, about 100000 acres. and |
| with tile help Of that and the strength |
OF our connections to the East-the 1'h.
cago, Burlington aud Quincy and the
Miehigan Central~the money WINS
fHlsed TO build 20 the Missouri river,
onr terinlnus there was TO be at the
point where the river Platte debouchas
INTO the Missouri. Plattsmouth-alto
gether the best place for the crossing
and Otherwise desirable for a towu-but
We subsequently turned there aud went
up stream 10 Omaha
The conclusion shows what slight
things sometimes decide the future Of
great cities. When II was discovered
that the Union Pacific, after following
the easy and natural route down the
valley Of the Platte TO within four miles
Of Plattsmouth, DETECTED thence and
went upstream twenty miles over rough
hills and heavy grades TO end at Omaha.
! went to the directors To see about 1t.
Ihey give mo hearing and | did my
best Ia convince them that il was for
the interest Of their road to join us at
Plattsmouth. They agreed with me per-
fectly on this point but said they were
so tied up MS an absolute condition, TO
make Omaha the terminus, that they
could not on any consideration, bring
their line to Pl0ttsmouth.
President Lincoln, by the terms of
the act, decided where the eastern
terminus of the Union Pacific should be.
When he WAS asked TO select the place,
he put his finger on the map at Omaha,
and said Thismust be the point
Il know not whether Mr.. Lincoln had
any interests In Omaha or not. or what
decided him TO select that place as the
, terminus Of the trunscontinental line,
= hut he chose 1t, at any rate and that
: settled the question, We all went Ia
| Omaha as the terminal point, west, fof
our lines. The Quincy the Rock Island
and the Northwestern, all reached there
) at about the same time. The Rocl
Island was the first. l believe, to gel
{ there, the Northwestern next Our ter
= minus having been Plattsmouth, we die
p not 20 up TO Omaha until afterwards.
q This was the Burlington extension
e of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
h Our Quincy terminus remained for SOM
T. time longer without any western con
i nection. The Hannibal ind St Josepl
r railroad was chartered by the legisl
+ ture Of Missouri. A portion Of the ron
r was built before the war. The trouble
Q in that state and the presence of III
( armies there absolutely stopped all sue
work as railroad building. Atterward
{ ] became president Of the road, and th
1 extension TO the Missouri was immed
L ntely undertaken"
y The road would have accumulate
e our Quincy connection better " IL la
n started from that city, but the Nilsson
It Legislature would not do anything
II it might initiate against the pro
perity of Missouri town. Down Il
river, ways below Quincy, was q
G town of Hannibal. ambitious, and inf
d ential enough with the Legislature to mai
II the chartered starting point of q
\. ! road. The war Was over and the race
A. advance the interests of an Illinois tow
ar the Missouri river was begun from II
"A town. We turned our line at Quin'
- and ran down the river opposite Hanni1
n and built long bridge across the ais
n issippi and connected with the liam
IF bal and st. Joseph there. -, 4,
~ As we progressed westward with Il
n work. It becomes necessary To decide
n Question. as vet unsettled, where shou
r. we cross the Missouri Our charter toe
- MS to st. Joseph, but that was not col
II pletely satisfactory point though
n- built there.
q zone Sunday evening three geluemt
Ia from Kansas City came TO my nome
n Detroit. and In my library they take
= Of the advantages OF their city as u
7s terminal point for our road. lhey hi
r. letters with them from people in bosto
N who were in control Of the Hnnnl1al ai
N 81. Joseph and the Chicago burlugt,
rs and Quincy railroads. these lellsIs
nd uuested me to 20 to the missouri nv
,, and decide upon the place for the eros
M iug Another town that wonted
ha 1yea I,eavenworth where the COVER
NJ mont had established Il military posi- III
On built an important fort IN
H Accordingly | went down there, l.
nj country had been desolated py the W.
and had not yet begun TO recover tio
,o III effects. Al one place we passed ne
"a a village every house in which had De-
stlrlned. and every door ana Wlhuo
on broken. - O. Ioso
~, twenty miles through the, woous a,
In, there | crossed the river to LeaNelWot'
~ IL was then q city Of 5000 or lOQO pt
, Mo II seemed most beautiful place,
- naqni6eent country with handsome le'
"a nrairies-the finest ] had ever sech-.h
- 4 very pretty town. ! looked the Mlu
ia tion over, and FROM the lay OF lhe sIou
NJ md the character Of the river nv
"a presenting no difficulties for crossing
'as was most fayorably impressed win II;
~ ~ 'Ieayenworth, az j nave snlg'
,a, then GOOO or 1000 people, and Nan
iae City about 1000 II was an imporla
" oncstion 10 the inhabitnnts OF both Gu
~ Snd they realized 1t. | was acqualn'
VI. Win many IN each Of the two cities az
a VI Of course, everybody knew the object
'I went up the river TO Kansas y
n ,nd 4, seemed to me the toughest, NJ
nm eorhidding and undesirable place u
mo MON eyer undertook 10 build CITY
NV I'be Mills rose up from the edge OF y I
the ,5rer 10 the height Of 2JU teet' i
an -,,hoia face Of the country was y
the 'assioB Of hills and rnvines. Inc u
Sos 80 very high and the raviucs W
ats very deep II compared mo 81 uiiiA'
nee ably with I,eayenworth. -. L,
can aLea~enwOrth bad charmed me, ~
nca sas City disguised me. yet spon
mn cided that Knnsas CITY was the Pihee
mt onr crossing, aud made ~ my hinu y y
4 a Il would be the biggest aiy IN the =
ted snuri valley. rough as II was \,
iue ',T'he reasons were PLAIN Inc
MI. so,,ri rSyer comes down nom the no
tat AVA nj mis- place turns night nnsle
nbv 6o1rs almost directly east rms
III. sl-o.,,bieai mot marks it as the end OF