In the report of the Government directors for 1866 they refer to the following eight routes as having been investigated during the preceding year by the Company, viz.:
- 1st Via South Platte River and Hoosier Pass.
- 2nd Via Platte River and Tarryall Pass.
- 3rd Via North Fork of South Platte River.
- 4th Via Berthoud Pass.
- 5th Via Boulder Pass.
- 6th Via Cash le Poudre-Dale Creek and Antelope Pass.
- 7th Via Evans Pass.
- 8th Via Lodge Pole Creek, Cow Creek, and Evans Pass.
- 9th Via Lodge Pole Creek and Cheyenne Pass.
- 10th Via Lodge Pole Creek and South Pass.
The first seven of these routes included Denver en route. Something that the Company considered essential and which was very reluctantly abandoned.[(Back to Content)]
CHAPTER V.
Progress Made.
Completion of Eleven Miles — Excursion — Officers — Labor Supply — Ex-Soldiers — Methods Employed — Progress Made — Headquarter Towns — Rough Times — Competition With Central Pacific for Territory — Stations — Buildings, Etc.
As we saw in our last chapter, ground was broken at Omaha, December 2nd, 1863. This, however, was more in the nature of a jollification on the part of the citizens of Omaha over the selection of their city as the eastern terminus of the line,—it being under the auspices of "the leading citizens," organized and enthused by the irrepressible George Francis Train.
Grading was commenced in July, 1864, and track-laying the spring of 1865. The start was not auspicious, the line was originally located directly west from Omaha, but after one hundred thousand dollars had been spent, it was abandoned on account of the hills and consequent heavy grades, and two new lines were surveyed, one to the north and then west and the other south nearly to Bellevue, Kan., and then west. This latter was called the "Ox-bow Route" and was finally selected by the Company, notwithstanding violent opposition on the part of the people of Omaha, who feared that the Company would cross the Missouri at Bellevue, thus leaving Omaha out.
September 25th, 1865, saw eleven miles finished, and in November an excursion was run from Omaha to the end of the track, fifteen miles. This was gotten up by Vice-President Durant, who took an engine and flat car, inviting about twenty gentlemen to go with him on the first inspection trip to Sailing's Grove. Among the excursionists was General Sherman who gloried in the undertaking and expressed regret that at his age he could hardly anticipate living until the completion of the work. The party was very enthusiastic, and as the narrator naively puts it "as the commissary was well supplied, the gentlemen enjoyed themselves."
For a number of reasons the work dragged. It took one year to complete the first forty miles. The lack of rail connections east of Omaha were, previous to January, 1867, when the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad reached Council Bluffs, a very serious occasion of expense and delay. The work was new, those in charge were not at that time experienced, funds were scarce, and the credit of the Company not yet established, and as a result the average rate of progress during the first twelve months was but a mile a week.