Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-26
The HQskin Letter By , : Rss2s
GUIDEBooK PROVES A THRILLER

of west for about 100 miles, and then
turning northward, goes another lW
miles to regain the latitude OF Denver
before heading west on the direct route
to Utah. More than one traveller must
have assured himself idly that such
a route was forced by the necessities of
mountain railroad building, yet a second
thought would tell anybody that the
Denver & Rio Grande might have cross
ed the Rockies due west of Denver,
because today several railroad lines do
cross there.
To explain the naming and routing
of this railroad Mr.. Campbell found it
necessary to tell the early history OF
this railroad. It started out with every
intention in the world of reaching the
river whose name it still bears and
eventually of going on to Mexico City
on the route now occupied by the Mex
lean National railway. This it was pre-
vented from doing By the Santa Fe In
a railroad wan which convulsed Colo
RADIO in the 7Os and involved not only
'injunctions and other court proceedings,
but also armed opposition. battles and
dozens of casualties. When the war
ended the Denver 4 Rio Grande found
itself building to Salt Lake City, a route
which had mot entered into its calcuia-
tons at the outset.
Built a Mile a Day
t General William j. Palmer. a former
PENNSYLVANIA railroad man, who had
won a brigsdier g~eneralship in the Civil
war. was the genius of the Denver d
Rio Grande. As q builder for the Kan
: sas Pacific railroad, he came into Den
yer in 1870, at the head of a construc-
ton force which had laid down $50
miles of trackage in that many days.
He was a true empire builder. Other
railroad pioneers were obsesssed with
the transeontinental idea. The Union
Pacific had already crossed the noun
tains on the easy grades to the north.
But, whether General Palmer doubted
the possibility of east to vest con-
struction through the more rugged
mountains of Colorado, his provision
showed him a great north and south
line along the eastern hem of the noun
tains with branch feeders into the
mountain mining regions, the line also
to tap and lay tribute upon such trans
continental lines as might be built
south of Denver.
His courage enlisted capitai-none
too much Of it-and the Denver & Rio
iGrande was incorporated. In the sum-
mer Of 1871 General Palmer set forth
from Denver to connect that settlement
with FL Paso by steel. Eleven months
later found him at Pueblo. where he
heard disquieting rumors of q new rail-
road organization, the Santa Fe. which
was much more strongly capitalized
than his organization and which was
looming up the Arkansas river and head
ing for passes which the Denver & Rio
iGrande claimed for its own.
One of these passes was at Ration,
New Mexico. Rio Grande engineers
had already surveyed the route through
the pass, but the Santa Fe rushed men
ahead and built track through the pass
before the Rio Grande could stop it,
This act, stopping the Rio Grande's
progress southwark, was bad enough,
port that the Santa Fe had designs
upon the Royal Gorge west Of Pueblo.
Through this gorge. the only passage.
General Palmer had projected one OF
his branch feeders, and his forces were
actually grading in one part of the
gorge. But the Santa Fe moved a
| strong force into the canyo and seized
a position aud fortified it.
1t was real war then between the
building gangs. until a United States
court enjoined both sides from building
lin the gorge. The outcome of this
court action was Il victory for the
Santa Fe. which thereupon was able to
compel the Rio Grande to hand over lts
whole property to the Santa Fe under
lease. A year later the Rio Grande
seized a pretext to break the lease, and
it retook its lines by force, also OCCUPY,
ing the Royal gorge with an armed
party. The wal finally ended hy 8
supreme court decision In favor OF
the Rio Grande. After this decision
the two roads reached n eompromiss
agreement which gave the Santa Fe
the rights TO the south of Pueblo anu
the Rio Grande the construction rights
to he westward of Pueblo. Conse-
a~ueptly the Rio Grande turned definite.
" westward and in the early SOs II
reached Salt Lake City.