The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-06-28
CHEY ENNE BUILT
0NM0RM0N BONES
S-
Site of City Was Once a Small
Grave Yard.
"REMINISCENCES OF DODGE
-4
BUILDER OF UNION PACIFIC RE
COUNTS WESTERN TALES.
"REMINISCENCES OF DODGE

The recent visit of General Granville
NJ Dodge TO the west the railroad
pathfinder and builder Of the Union
Pacihcsr0ad, recalls 20 mind his state
..Three dead lIormons were respon-
Eible for the location of the city Oh
Cheyenne
The general had reference TO Chey-
euue. WyO. Many residents OF salt
Lake recall the episode 10 which he all
Iuded. On this subject the present
western visit of General Dodge and ms
career. the Denver Post prints the FOL
lowing.
General Dodge is now chairman Of
the directorate of the Colorado d
Southern railway system, and has been
visiting Denver and vicinity for the
past week. A day or two ago he visit
cd the scene of his great triumph
Vv0mfug-Where ne met his greatest
engineering difficulties I'm 1875 while
constructing the Union Pacific road.
"E. II. Hartman and other railroad
maguates were anxious that the vet
erau-he is now % years of age-shOuld
see the changes that had been made in
the Union Pacific i'm Wyoming, such
as the Sherman hill cutoff and other
great works which altogether cost the
% build the line from Omaha 60 ogden,
There is hardly a foot of ground i'm
southern Wyoming unknown to Gem
eTal Dodge, and ne examined the im-
pT0VemeuJs i'm the road with great in-
JeresL and pointed out to the Denver
railroad men who accompanied him
the spots where memorable incidents
had happened TO the pioneer builders
who had dehed Indians and nature i'm
laying the bands of steel across the
continent,
Colorado Owes Him a Debt.
Colorado owes General Dodge consid-
fcrable i'm many ways. Ii was he who.
with Ex-Governor John Evans and
others built the Denver Pacific, now the
Union Pacific, line from Denver to
Cheyenne. Then the people of Denver
and Colorado feared they would be cut
Off from all railroad connection. The
Union Pacific surveyors had decided
upon Wyoming rather than Colorado as
The most feasible trauscOntiuentaI
route, and the situation appeared TO be
Up Cheyenne, Down Denver.
Almighty Marked the Route.
we certainly tried to push the road
through this state" said General
Dodge, TemiuisCeutIy, but the Lord
appeared to have Willed otherwise, and
we took the route through the noun
taius which he had apparently selected.
As DC was, we gave Governor Evans all
the assistance we could i'm building his
line from Cheyenne To Denver 1t was
certainly TO our interests to do so. That
was long before the Kansas Pacific had
entered or even thought of entering
Denver, and II was something of a
necessity for this city at that time
cheyenne Yes. / remember Chey-
eEue well, from its inception, IN fact
its location was determined by three
dead Momons. Sounds peculiar, eh2
but that was the way of it.
I'VE had pushed through from Sid
uey- Ne1., with the usual campbell
lowing population, and the military de-
Iachmeut which was always with Us
Tor our protection. A Mormon train
was ahead, going down Cheyenne pass
toward Crow creek, when a band of
Indians appeared and attacked the
train, trying To steal horses and pro-
visions and hoping To get away before
our party came up. The MoTmOns
naturally objected J0 such summary
seizure and fight followed iW which
three MOrmous were killed. A grave
Nard was hastily improyised, the Nor
mons were inferred and around that
little cemetery the capital of Wyoming
was built.
Mormon Killing Decided Location.
1T was for me TO decide on the east
ern base of operations i'm that diVi-
sion, and / fixed ON Cheyenne, and III
has been such ever since.
incidentally, that Mormon killing
also decided the location of Fort s.. ID.
Russell, as General Sherman had said
shat wherever / selected am eastern
base there would ne "a military post Tor
that section of the country.
THAT was ON July 4, 1861 and a
great day III was, lima Eiue a Fourth
az July celebration on the open plains,
but we had one and good one. Gen
sral John A. kaWIuS, after whom
ltaWlIus, II yo-- was named, was there,
and also General Anger. each with "a
fine staff and we had the reading of
the Declaration of Independence and
several speeches 20 as muJiey and COM
pick a crowd as ever celebrated the
Fourth i'm the good old style.
"a city of 10000 souls quickly srraDs
up mt Cheyenne and FOR time that
was the nigh water mark. but IL has
since PASSED those figures. All the
Iif-raI OF the Mississippi and Mis-
souri, river valleys was with u=-Eau-
HIeTS bad men. camp haugeTs-On-a
tough loL, as YOU may imagine. So
~ became tie people tha- J ordered
90 officer commanding tine military TO
establish q sllirmisl line and with his
soldiers he swept them out OF the city.
Iiut they accompanied us 10 PTomOu-
Tory Utah, where Ne met the Pacific
road builders from the west.
Road Built Very Rapidly.
THAT was certainly a great country. I
Many men have told more eIo0ueuLIy
than j can the immense amount of