Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1916-07-01
GEORGE GOULO'S
dream Of OCEAN
T0.0CEAN line
Sale Of Western Pacific at
Auction Final Chapter in
Great Fight.


continental railroad system evolved
by George j. Gould It the cost of
many millions of dollars. Gould
pledged the resources O. the Denver
& Rio Grande railroad to reach the
: Pacific. yet his dream hardly was
realized, for the 927 miles Of Western
Pacific between San e ancisco and
| the Denver & Rio Gran1e terminus at
Salt Lake City were still uncomplct
ed when the great chain of lines he
had weld d together in the East be-
gan TO disinte CRATE.
1t is estimated that Western 'Fa-
cific involved an OUTLAY of not less
than S75,0G0,000. Construction was
earnestly begun in 1908. the road
was opened for traffic in 1910 and
| five yeas later receivers W re "a
possession.
After the death of his father in 1899
| George Gould, not yet 20. found HIM
self president OF the Missouri Pacific
| railroad and thousands Of miles {
| ramifying lines in the W st and
Southwest. There began his dream
Of an ocean to ocean railroad. Soon
he crossed the Rockies by acquisi-
ton of the Denve~ and Rio Grande,
thus becoming financial master Of a
system of railroads nding from
Omaha along the valley of the Mis-
sissippj river, to the Gulf. and west.
ward through rich Colorado aud over
the mountains to terminal at Salt
Lake City Utah. His hope then
turned to the Atlantic seaboa"d
He began struggle for control OF
the Wabash syst M and won. and then
pushed Eastward 10 Buffalo, with an
entry into Chicago. tying the Wabash
to the Missouri Pacific at s.. Louis
and Kansas City. An Atlantic port
he gained at Baltimore by purchasing
control of the Western Maryland
road which by acquisitions he extend
ed to Pittsburgh. At Toledo he joined
the Wabash to the Whea ling G. Lake
Erie, which again brought him within
striking distance of Pittsburgh
1t cost the Goulds a huge sum to
get in and ou; of Pittsburgh, for
tune unjustified even by the enorm-
Gus tonnage afforded thee by great
industries. yet not so incomm nsu
rate when ii is considered that the
Gould Pittsburgh Terminal railroad
was an absolutely vital unit in the
vision of a continent bridging rail
road
Goaded to Defiant Boast.
In the flush of the Pittsburgh fight
Gould was goaded to declare that the
Gould lines would join the Atlantic
and Pacific coasts. This was his d
lance to the Pennsylvania railroad
when Gould was ordered to remove
his Western Union wires from Penn
sylvania rights-of-wa
In San Francisco in the late eigh
ties he was a man who had long cod
died the hope of scaling the S ira
Nevadas with a railroad that would
bring to San Francisco the trains of
the great Middlewestern trunk lines
without paying tribute to the Contra
Pacific He was w. j. Bartnett. a
lawyer, who owned only his idea and
a short stretch of tack bstween
Tesla and tide water at Stockton. He
took his idea to Gould. and it fitted
in so snugly with the great railroad
mans dreams that it was finally &C
cepted and Gould pledged his support
and furnished money.
Barnett returned to California and
in 1901 he incorporated tbs San Fran
cisco Terminal Railway & Ferry com
pany for the purpose of building a
railway between Oakland ha.bor and
Stockton. At first his interpretations
and acquisition of franchises and
rights of-w3y created little public
comment, so religiously was Could,
connection kept secret. But there
were railroad interests in California
that were watching and preparing for
battle.
Barnett was next confronted with
the necessity of finding the best way
over the mountains. There came to
solve his problem an old man, who
fifty years before had stumbled upor
the North Fork of the Feather river
canyon and Beckwith pass way
through the Serrias. A. w Keddie
he was and he sought out Bartnett,
He told the lawyer how he had found
the way years ago when he was, as
an engineer, serving On a reconnols-
sance commission under General
Rosecrans.
In 1903 the Western Pacific rail-
way was brought into legible being
Even this did not disclose Gould's
identity because the incorporation
were Bartnett and his friends.
Bonds were issued to provide funds
but few were sold because investors
were certain that the men apparent
ly backing the project had not the
money to put it through. Friends OF
the incorpo. ators pressed them to tell
what they knew and agents OF mimi
cal railroad interests sought their
condolences. But Gould was not re
vealed.
Hartman Scents Danger.
Immediately difficulties beset the
new road from every angle. Harri-
man awakened to the danger. though
it is said that he did not know his
real opponent. The fight to cripple
the Western Pacific lasted until 1905
when it had its climax in the armed
POSSESSION by the new road of Oak
, land harbor lands. 1t began in 1901
Franchises at Sac- amento along the
waterfront. and at Marysville were
/ bitterly fought.
| Gculd's connection with the west
ern Pacific became known in 1905