The original 75 miles (121 km) of the Utah Northern Railroad (later named Utah & Northern Railway) was conceived and built by the Mormons. It was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge spur off the Union Pacific portion of the transcontinental railroad. The labor for this railroad was largely volunteer Mormon labor as the intent of the railroad was to serve the Mormon communities in the Cache Valley that had been settled almost entirely by the Mormons. It was a case of Mormons forming a company and building their own railroad because existing railroad companies showed no interest in building such a railroad.[1] The northern half of the Cache Valley is in Idaho and, due to claims and disputes by the Shoshone and Bannock Indians, was not settled by the Mormons until after the Bear River Massacre and subsequent Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 that forced the Shoshone and Bannock onto reservations.[2] The original Mormon plan for the Utah Northern was to build a railroad to the communities in the Cache Valley and about 60 miles (97 km) into Idaho to Soda Springs, Idaho, that lies in a valley beyond called the Bear River Valley. This was by dictate of Brigham Young as he owned land in Soda Springs and believed that the Bear River Valley had potential for further Mormon settlement.[3] The Mormons also believed they could break the monopoly that the anti-Mormon town of Corinne, Utah, had on the wagon freight business on the Montana Trail by extending the railroad into Idaho.[4] There were tentative plans to eventually extend the Utah Northern to Montana. The road was constructed northward from the Union Pacific line at Ogden commencing construction on August 24, 1871. In three years, the largely volunteer railroad company had built 75 miles (121 km) of road. It reached Franklin, Idaho, across the Idaho border, in May 1874 where construction was halted. Investors had become hesitant after the panic of 1873 and the railroad was now moving into the northern half of the Cache Valley where there were fewer Mormon volunteers due to this area only recently having been relinquished by the Bannock and Shoshone. Poor decisions by the planners and the lack of business from the frugal residents of the Cache Valley led to the bankruptcy and foreclosure sale of the Utah Northern only a few years later in 1878.
Utah & Northern Bridge at Eagle Rock (Idaho Falls), Idaho circa 1880 with railroad shops in background.
Robber baron Jay Gould transformed the Utah Northern. He and Union Pacific acquired the Utah Northern Railroad, changing the name to the Utah & Northern Railway and infused the railroad with capital.[5] Big business knew that an electrical age was coming and that the demand for copper products was putting pressure on copper prices.[6] They knew that there were rich copper deposits at the mines near Butte, Montana. Union Pacific quickly resumed construction on the Utah & Northern Railway after purchase in April 1878. Jay Gould invested personal money to get construction started just beyond Franklin in the fall of 1877.[5] The new plan was not to build the road to Soda Springs, but to build a longer road on a direct route through the Cache Valley, then north across eastern Idaho and north across western Montana to Butte, Montana. In the first year of construction, they reached Eagle Rock (now Idaho Falls, Idaho), 120 miles (190 km) north of the Utah/Idaho border, where they built a bridge across the Snake River in early 1879.[7] In the second year, they added another 90 miles (140 km) of track and crossed the continental divide at the Idaho/Montana border. After three and a half years of construction, before the close of 1881, they completed the additional 120 miles (190 km) of road to Butte, Montana. Butte became the largest copper producing city in the world and Butte's population, by some estimates, grew to nearly 100,000. This made Butte, with its "Copper Kings," the second largest city in the West with more influence than Salt Lake City, Denver, Sacramento, Seattle, or Portland. Only San Francisco remained larger and more important. Butte, with its large-scale mining and smelting operations, was dubbed the Pittsburg of the West.[6]
The Utah & Northern was switched from 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge on July 25, 1887 [8] only six years after completing the line to Butte.[9] The railroad operated successfully for several years and finally became a branch of the Union Pacific Railroad.
utah, northern, railway, utah, northern, railway, defunct, railroad, that, operated, utah, territory, later, idaho, territory, montana, territory, western, united, states, during, 1870s, 1880s, first, railroad, idaho, montana, line, acquired, union, pacific, r. The Utah amp Northern Railway is a defunct railroad that was operated in the Utah Territory and later in the Idaho Territory and Montana Territory in the western United States during the 1870s and 1880s It was the first railroad in Idaho and in Montana The line was acquired by a Union Pacific Railroad subsidiary the Oregon Short Line and is today operated by the Union Pacific Railroad as the Ogden Subdivision Ogden to McCammon Idaho part of the Pocatello Subdivision McCammon to Pocatello Idaho and the Montana Subdivision Pocatello to Butte Montana Utah amp Northern RailwayOverviewHeadquartersOgden UtahLocaleOgden Utah to Butte MontanaDates of operation1871 1889TechnicalTrack gauge4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm standard gaugePrevious gaugeoriginally 3 ft 914 mm gaugeRoadside marker noting route of Utah amp Northern Railway through Franklin County Idaho The original 75 miles 121 km of the Utah Northern Railroad later named Utah amp Northern Railway was conceived and built by the Mormons It was a 3 ft 914 mm narrow gauge spur off the Union Pacific portion of the transcontinental railroad The labor for this railroad was largely volunteer Mormon labor as the intent of the railroad was to serve the Mormon communities in the Cache Valley that had been settled almost entirely by the Mormons It was a case of Mormons forming a company and building their own railroad because existing railroad companies showed no interest in building such a railroad 1 The northern half of the Cache Valley is in Idaho and due to claims and disputes by the Shoshone and Bannock Indians was not settled by the Mormons until after the Bear River Massacre and subsequent Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868 that forced the Shoshone and Bannock onto reservations 2 The original Mormon plan for the Utah Northern was to build a railroad to the communities in the Cache Valley and about 60 miles 97 km into Idaho to Soda Springs Idaho that lies in a valley beyond called the Bear River Valley This was by dictate of Brigham Young as he owned land in Soda Springs and believed that the Bear River Valley had potential for further Mormon settlement 3 The Mormons also believed they could break the monopoly that the anti Mormon town of Corinne Utah had on the wagon freight business on the Montana Trail by extending the railroad into Idaho 4 There were tentative plans to eventually extend the Utah Northern to Montana The road was constructed northward from the Union Pacific line at Ogden commencing construction on August 24 1871 In three years the largely volunteer railroad company had built 75 miles 121 km of road It reached Franklin Idaho across the Idaho border in May 1874 where construction was halted Investors had become hesitant after the panic of 1873 and the railroad was now moving into the northern half of the Cache Valley where there were fewer Mormon volunteers due to this area only recently having been relinquished by the Bannock and Shoshone Poor decisions by the planners and the lack of business from the frugal residents of the Cache Valley led to the bankruptcy and foreclosure sale of the Utah Northern only a few years later in 1878 Utah amp Northern Bridge at Eagle Rock Idaho Falls Idaho circa 1880 with railroad shops in background Robber baron Jay Gould transformed the Utah Northern He and Union Pacific acquired the Utah Northern Railroad changing the name to the Utah amp Northern Railway and infused the railroad with capital 5 Big business knew that an electrical age was coming and that the demand for copper products was putting pressure on copper prices 6 They knew that there were rich copper deposits at the mines near Butte Montana Union Pacific quickly resumed construction on the Utah amp Northern Railway after purchase in April 1878 Jay Gould invested personal money to get construction started just beyond Franklin in the fall of 1877 5 The new plan was not to build the road to Soda Springs but to build a longer road on a direct route through the Cache Valley then north across eastern Idaho and north across western Montana to Butte Montana In the first year of construction they reached Eagle Rock now Idaho Falls Idaho 120 miles 190 km north of the Utah Idaho border where they built a bridge across the Snake River in early 1879 7 In the second year they added another 90 miles 140 km of track and crossed the continental divide at the Idaho Montana border After three and a half years of construction before the close of 1881 they completed the additional 120 miles 190 km of road to Butte Montana Butte became the largest copper producing city in the world and Butte s population by some estimates grew to nearly 100 000 This made Butte with its Copper Kings the second largest city in the West with more influence than Salt Lake City Denver Sacramento Seattle or Portland Only San Francisco remained larger and more important Butte with its large scale mining and smelting operations was dubbed the Pittsburg of the West 6 The Utah amp Northern was switched from 3 ft 914 mm narrow gauge to 4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm standard gauge on July 25 1887 8 only six years after completing the line to Butte 9 The railroad operated successfully for several years and finally became a branch of the Union Pacific Railroad See also editUtah Central Railroad 1869 81 Utah Southern Railroad 1871 81 Butte Anaconda and Pacific RailwayReferences edit Colorado Rail Annual No 15 Colorado Railroad Museum 1981 pp 9 10 Bd Madsen The Northern Shoshone Caxton Printers 1980 pp 33 36 Colorado Rail Annual No 15 Colorado Railroad Museum 1981 p 14 Colorado Rail Annual No 15 Colorado Railroad Museum 1981 p 12 a b Colorado Rail Annual No 15 Colorado Railroad Museum 1981 p 31 a b Ken Burns Presents The West Directed by Stephen Ives Writers Dayton Duncan Geoffrey C Ward 2004 Deseret News 1879 07 17 p article Utah and Northern describes the scene at Eagle Rock and describes the new railroad bridge Union Pacific Railroad Track Profile 11Feb2004 Colorado Rail Annual No 15 Colorado Railroad Museum 1981 pp 55 56 External links editOgden Rails Utah Northern Utah amp Northern with citations Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Utah and Northern Railway amp oldid 1177505224, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
