The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-03-20

/ "a AI4t- bdI4'll anu hIllIIF ilIuS COUNT =
trayersed came to be understood. the
people at large. Interestingly overlook
ing the scenes OF his operations and
ths procession of great consequences
which followed IN the wake of his en-
eineers and tracklayers through deep
canons and sorges-began to see that
a new and prodigious force had come
among them for universal good.
They saw in him a splendid cpl
tome OF progressive vitality, who
raised millions abroad and spent them
here in a time when markets were
staGnant and confidence in the West
nearing its lowest stage, and winning
success with an untried experiment
which the orthodox builders OF the
time regarded with doubt and suspi-
ciou because it was a radical innuva-
ton OF their established usage, hav-
ing no part in their education and eY-
D perience.
His original plan was to construct
base line from Denver to El Paso.
Tex and from il send out distributing
lines to all parts Of the Rocky noun
tains. a bold and broad conception
| based upon his comprehension OF
I
/ dents of the territory at the period
Of lis inception can fully appreciate
/ the magnitude OF the undertaking or
| realize the daring of the mind that met
and mastered all the difficulties that
/ lay iu the path OF his ambition.
To comprehend even approximately
d the surface conditions upon which he
entered when the Denver & Rio Grande
railway was Incorporated, we must ad-
vert to the original state of the couu-
Z try in 1871 and accept the fact that be
tween Denver and Pueblo and west
and south OF the latter point there vas
/ little beside open, uncultiyated. unde-
! v"loped plains and mountains: no
/ Colorado Springs no Manitou; not a
/ Town nor hamlet save a few struggling
cabins ar Colorado City and Fountain :
/ no evidence Of remarkable resources: !:
/ Pueblo but village OF few hundred
4 inhabitants without commercial impOr-
tance. no BeSsemer or FL Moro. no
coal or iron mines opened; Trinidad
and Walsenburg small Mexican settle
ments. Canon City scarcely more than
/ IN abandoned townsite.
I The wonderful resources of Lead
willie wer" undiscovered; Durango,
Buena Vista. Salida. Grand junction,
. NiolltlpS'', Jl'u "tfpl SpilISS anu AS
pen unoccupied. the rich valleys be-
/ youd the Marshall pass a part OF the
| tie Indian reservation; the San Juan
/ region, though known. comparatively
4 unsettled: the San Luis VALLEY with
4 the exception of the Mexican towns of
! Conejos and Costilla, in its primitive
! state. Santa Fe as remote and unap-
1 proaehahle by our lines OF commerce
| As the City OF Mexico itself. Yet Gen
| -ral Palmer'S doubtful experiment"
| in less than Two decades of time pro-
| iuced the extraordinary. the almost be-
! wilderng contrast between the situa-
/ tion just defined and the present. a
country now dotted with brisk, most Of
them beautiful and prosperous, towns,
4 the greater part OF them presenting
scenes OF industry in manifold forms
creating commerce from the soil and
wealth for the people.
{ Then came. as We have seen para
I lyZing financial embarrass that
ryCu Palmcr's versatile genius and
aNhaustless energy could not over
come: the enforced surrender to the
Atchison. Topeka & Santa Fe. the
prolonged struggle with that power;
T the desperate strife for possession OF
| the Grand canon of the Arkansas. and,
]
road a new era of building and exten-
I sion. a second submission to the inev-
table and the final severance of his
; connection with the company
When the difficulty between the Rio
! Grande and the Atchison. Topeka &
/ Santa Fe was decided by the action of
/ the Supreme Court in Washington on
/ April l. 1880 in favor OF the former
/ General Palmer resumed the presiden-
/ cy OF the road and held it until some
, time in 1889. when dissension arose
/ between the directors and officers OF
| the railroad and the Colorado Coal and
/ Iron Company. which resulted in Cen
| aral Palmer's resignation. In this con-
/ nection it may be mentioned that Cen
/ aral Palmer was the real founder OF
/ the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company,
/ now one of the most powerful corpora
/ tionS in the country. The company
was originally projected by him in
1872 as the Central Colorado Manufac-
turing Company and later came TO be
/ known as the Colorado Coal and Iron
| Company, which name was again
! changed to the title the company holds
| at present
After his resignation as president OF
I the Denver & Rio Grande, General
| Palmer pushed with renewed vigor
| the construction of the Mexican Ma
tional railroad from Laredo, Tex. to
the city of Mexico. at the same time
| retaining the presidency OF the Rio
/ Grande. Western. the road which he
| built from Grand Junction. Colo, to
| Salt Lake and Ogden. Utah, and which
| turned out eventually to be the most
profitable of all his ventures from the