Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-24

which marked the meeting of
the rails laid westward from
Omaha by the Union Pacific
and those set eastward by the
Central Pacific from Sacra-
mento, the final act in the con-
quest Of the great trans-Missis-
sippi region had been accom-
plished. The generation then
living regarded the event as one
of vast Importance in the his
tory of the nation. For several
years the building of the con-
Meeting link in a transcontinen-
tai route by steam had been
watched with eager interest.
It's completion furnished a thrill
to the country that was equaled
in the Cos only by two other
events-the firing of the first
shot on Fort Sumpter and the
surrender of Lee to Grant. At
this time it seems strange that
so vast an undertaking should
have been completed within a
third Of a century of the time
it was first thought of. The
dispatch with which the first
hazy idea was crystaliZed in
to a definite plan, and with
which that plan was executed
successfully stands as a monu-
ment to American enterprise of
the nineteenth century.
The first report presented to
congress on the construction Of
a railroad to the Pacific was
made in 1916 by Sidney Breese,
chairman of the committee on
Pacific lands. This was the
first result of the labors Of
Asa Whitney, a New York mer-
chant who had become an en-
thusiast on the subject of a
Pacific railroad. Between 1880
and 1885, while in China, Whit
ney read of the experiments in
railroad building in England
and began to reflect at once
upon the enormous possibilities
the new transportation method
made possible. He thought it
would be an easy matter to
cross the American continent
and connect Europe with the
Orient by way of the Pacific.
AS the dream grew upon him
he began to gather statistics
concerning the trade of China,
Japan and India. He devoted
a year or two to this work, re-
turning to America full of faith
in his great scheme.
Whitney proposed to build a
road from Lake Superior to Pu-
get Sound in consideration of a
grant of land from the govern
ment along the entire line. In
l841 he began his first public
work in America upon the prof.
ect. After four years of hard
work and many disappoint-
ments, he secured a hearing be-
fore congress. Then he had to
wait seven more years before
congress, with considerable re-
luctance, made an appropr1a-
ton for the first preliminary
survey.
First Martyr to Cause
For a score or more of years
Whitney held to his ideas with
a faith that was almost fanat-
ical He fretted the best part
of his life away trying to over
come impossible obstacles. He
sacrificed his private fortune.
He was regarded by men of af-
fairs with pity, SO lost was he
in the pursuit of his dream. His
plan was not feasible, but he
gave his enthusiasm, his for
tune-possibly his lifa-to the
work, finally disappearing from
the scene, the first martyr to
the great enterprise.
Others followed in Whitney's
footsteps. Scores of men
wasted their fortunes and Wor-
ried themselves into their
graves in a vain effort to Sc,
cure a suitable franchise and
the capital necessary to build
a Pacific railroad. At last, in
1862, a charter was granted by
congress, but it was too cir
cumscribed in it's provisions to
permit anything more than the
~effecting of an organization:
But in 1864, convinced that
nothing could be done without
more help from the government
and that a railroad to the Pa
cific was a military necessity,
.~loI Tho orIri7oo |