“My first venture across the Snake river was with the wagon gear run over the wagon box, the whole being gradually worked out into deep water. The load was so heavy that a very small margin was left to prevent the water from breaking over the sides, and some actually did, as light ripples on the surface struck the “Mary Jane,” as we had christened (without wine) the ‘craft,’ as she was launched. However, I got over safely, but after that took lighter loads and really enjoyed the novelty of the work and the change from the intolerable dust, and the atmosphere of the water.”
The Utah & Northern was the first railroad to enter the territory of Idaho. It was promoted by John W. Young, a son of Brigham Young, whose name has been given to Young street in Pocatello, but although a large sum of local capital was invested, the enterprise received its chief support from Joseph and Benjamin Richardson, two contractors of New York City, whom Young interested in the project.
In March, 1873, congress granted a right of way to Young’s company running along the Bear river valley, through Soda Springs, up the Snake river valley and across Montana to a junction point with the Northern Pacific. The act allowed ten years in which to complete the work of construction. A second act, passed in June, 1878, empowered “the Utah & Northern Railroad company and its assigns to build their road by way of Marsh valley, Portneuf and Snake river instead of by way of Soda Springs and Snake river valley.”
By the spring of 1877 the road had been constructed as far as the Snake river. In the following year a bond issue of $4,991,000 was floated and during 1880 the rails were extended to Silver Bow, Montana, a distance of 328 miles from the Utah line.
In July, 1882, congress officially ratified an agreement made at Fort Hall between the Shoshone and Bannock Indians and Joseph K. McCammon, whose name has been given to the town of McCammon in this county, and several railroad officers, by which the promoters secured a right of way through the reservation.
The opening of the Utah & Northern railway gave the first great impetus to settlement and development in southeastern Idaho, making it possible to market produce profitably and at the same time bringing the settler into touch with the outside world. The Portneuf canyon, through which this line was constructed, is one thousand feet lower than any other mountain pass within three hundred miles either north or south, and constitutes a natural gateway through which a very large portion of the produce of the great northwest must pass on its way to an eastern market.
The Utah & Northern Railway company was consolidated with the Oregon Short Line Railway company in August, 1889, being known as the Oregon Short Line & Northern Railway company, and in 1897 the two were merged into the present Oregon Short Line Railroad company.
The Utah & Northern had constructed a narrow gauge line. When the old Short Line Railway company built its line between Granger and Huntington it used the transportation facilities afforded by the Utah & Northern both to the east and west of Pocatello. During the early part of 1882 the Short Line laid a narrow gauge track between Pocatello and the Snake river crossing, now American Falls, and from McCammon, at that time called Harkness, to a point near the present station of Pebble.
During the year 1882, the Utah & Northern track between McCammon and Pocatello was rebuilt to standard gauge, the narrow gauge equipment of that company being provided for by laying a third rail. By the summer of 1887 the entire line between Pocatello and Silver Bow, Montana, was operating on a standard gauge, while the lines to the east and south had been similarly reconstructed before 1890.
At the time the first railroad bridge across the Snake river was built, American Falls was located on the western side of the river. The population was made up of the usual assortment of men, who make up the population of frontier towns. The good, the bad and the indifferent were there—graders, stockmen, Chinamen, gamblers and business men, with a few women—all rough and ready: hardy people of the plains and the mountains. Law and order were administered in a ready manner and summary justice was meted out to the evil-doer by self-constituted judges and juries.