Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-05-12
LAYING THE WIRES OUT WEST
Telegraph Building Beyond the Missouri in
Pioneer Days.
EXPERIENCES OF ONE OF THE BUILDERS
UntimeIy Breakdown in Creighton's
Omaha-Denver Line-Demand for
war News and Cost of
Dispatches.

Laying telegraph wires in pioneer days
beyond the Missouri is a fruitful subject
Of "Reminiscences, and is of deep historical
value when related by men who partici-
pated in the work. One of these pioneer
telegraph builders is B. F. Woodward,
who details his experience in a late num-
Der of the Telegraph Age.
In the spring Of 1853, he says, when 1
started for Colorado, the state of Iowa
was mostly q wilderness OF rolling prairie.
The Rock Island railroad had penetrated
this as far west as Ottumwa, and the
Northwestern to near Cedar Rapids, thence
to Council Bluffs or elsewhere on the
Missouri river, there were only scattered
and widely separated settlements. Beyond
Omaha were the limitless plains, occupied
only by rowing bands of Indians and count
less herds of antelope and buffalo.
There was no communication between
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts except by
pony express and stage via Fort Kearny,
Fort Laramie, Fort Bridger and the Nor
mon settlement at Great Salt Lake.
TeIeEraph Subsidy.
In 1853 Senator Schuyler Colfax secured
an act of congress appropriatlng a subsidy
Of $4,000 per year for ten years to the
FIRST company that established telegraphic
communication to the Pacific csast Prior
to this date Shafner and Veitch had built
lines through Missouri and Arkansas under
tho Morse patent one Of which lines fol-
lowed the Missouri river to Kansas City,
Leavenworth, Brownsville and other
points The wire was attached to trees
wherever available and elsewhere to small
and inferior poles. Naturally Il was often
broken and the line did not pay expenses.
Charles M. Stebbins, who had been their
superintendent, bought out Shafner and
Veitch for a trine and for a time the
wires were known as the stebbins lines
When congress offered this $4,000 per an
mum subsidy, an arrangement was made
between Stebbins, the Western Union Tele-
graph company and the Overland company
Of California, under which Stebbins was TO
build a line from Brownsville, Neb.. to
Julesburg. Colo. about 100 miles. The
Western Union was to build from Jules
burg to Salt Lake City. about 900 miles
The Overland company from Salt Lake City
to California. each to receive a pro rata
Of subsidy, according to distance built and
cost OF construction. About the time that
Stebbins had constructed the first division
OF his section, Brownsville to Fort Kearny,
he sold his interest to the Western
Union Telegraph company. and from Fort
KeRny to Salt Lake City the line was
built by Edward Creighton for the Pacific
Telegraph company, controlled by the
Western Union. The line west OF Salt
Lake City was built by the California com
pany. The subsidy. together with the very
large business to and from California,
made It a profitable enterprise from the
beginning.
Brigham Young contracted for and fur
nished a large part Of the poles used be-
tween Julesburg and Salt Lake City.
Gold at Pixies Peak.
In the meantime gold had been discovered
in the Pixies Peak region and Denver had
grown in a few years to be an important
town Of 5000 or 1000 people, with Jules
burg 200 miles east as Its nearest telegraph
station. For a time kilograms were re-
eeiVed from and sent TO Julesburg by stage.
but after the breaking out Of the civil war
teverish anxiety for war news caused
urgent demands upon Mr.. Creighton for
branch line from Julesburg TO Denver. He
visited Denver and In few days secured
a cash subscription Of about $4,000 TO be
used for the building of this branch line
TO Denver and into the mountains 70 Cen
trail City, thirty-nve miles distant do
not know how hard the Central City people
were held up, but the total cash subscrip-
ton well covered the entire cost Of the
branch line For two or three years after
the completion Of the Denver branch the
net cash receipts OF the Denver once were
greater than at any other once IN town
Of its size In the United States.
DiEaEreeabIe Breakdown.
This branch from Julesburg 70 Denver
was opened for business october TO- 1853,
when but one message and reply passed
over II, dispatch from the mayor OF Den
yer to the mayor OF Omaha and the re-
sponse when the wire failed.
The line had been built with badly an
nealed English wire. and a few cold nights
just after its completion caused many fac
tory splices TO break by reason Of con-
traction. II required about ten days IN
which 70 reach and repair all these breaks.
Mr.. Creighton was greatly worried. He
was not much OF an electrician and he ex-
pressed the belief that the trouble was
caused by the mineral formation IN the
nearby mountains. and he aid not believe
the Line would ever work satisfactorily. I
Onsrsd 90 bas II Gt The cost Erioa and rlSp