USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume I > Part 41
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
The success of the Denver & Salt Lake road, it was clear now, depended upon the building of the tunnel through the range. At an election held May 20, 1913, a charter amendment was adopted by an enormous majority of the voters of Denver, creating a tunnel commission which was to supervise the issuance of bonds for the construction of the "Moffat" tunnel. On February 17, 1914, the city authorized the issue of $3,000,000 in bonds, its share of the proposed tunnel expense, for the new owners of the road had agreed upon a plan of joint con- struction.
This the Supreme Court of the state declared unconstitutional on the ground that the contract between the railway company and the city construed as a part- nership is in violation of the state constitution, and that the provision to use the tunnel to bring water from the Western Slope "is merely a subterfuge."
The efforts to pass an amendment to the state constitution to permit of this tunnel construction also failed.
In June, 1911, the "Moffat" road was taken over by the Denver Railway Securities Company, under a reorganization accepted by the bondholders. On May 1, 1912, the road went into the hands of Col. D. C. Dodge and S. M. Perry, as receivers. This was in an action begun when the Railway Securities Company failed to meet interest and principal payments on short term notes of the com- pany aggregating $3,000,000. These had been secured by $8,000,000 in Denver, Northwestern & Pacific bonds, $4,000,000 in notes of the Colorado Construction Company and $8,200,000 par value stock of the parent company.
On January 24, 1913, Newman Erb, an eastern railroad man, became inter- ested in the properties, together with Dr. F. S. Pearson, English financier and railroad builder, who with Percival Farquhar, another English promoter, had just completed the financing of Central and South American railroads. It was now incorporated as the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad Company, and its directors in 1915 were: Lawrence C. Phipps, Charles S. Boettcher, of Denver; Ward E. Pierson, Harry I. Miller, Newman Erb, all of New York; W. M. Madden, of F. H. Prince & Co., of Boston.
On December 5, 1915, the local owners of stock secured control with Charles Boettcher as president. In the winter of 1916 and of 1917 the road was forced to shut down operations of trains by unusual weather conditions. Lack of cars, heavy operating expenses, discrimination in the matter of rates, made deficits certain. For the year ending June 30, 1917, the deficit from operations alone was $186,436.
On August 17th the court appointed Charles Boettcher, its president, and W. R. Freeman, co-receivers. These are now in charge of the system.
The deficits have been large. In 1909-10 its passenger earnings, largely tourist, were $336,204, its freight earnings, $592,896; its net earnings $209,494. Taxes and interest were $637,097, leaving a deficit for the year of $406,583. In 1910-II the deficit was $287,826. In 1911-12 it was $234,443. Then with the reorganization and the reduction in interest the road had a surplus of $58,229 for the year 1912-13. In the following fiscal year the deficit was again $147,565. In 1915-16, with gross earnings $1,893,747, and interest charges of $565,514, its deficit was reduced to $83,912. In 1916-17, with passenger earnings $330,406, a normal figure for the entire period, freight earnings $1,585,676; interest charges $674,001, its deficit was $526,871.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
The Northwestern Terminal Railway, incorporated July 30, 1904, is a sub- sidiary company owning the terminals of the road in Denver. The property is leased to the Denver & Salt Lake for fifty years from January 1, 1914.
THE DENVER, LARAMIE & NORTHWESTERN
The Denver, Laramie & Northwestern Railway Company was incorporated in Wyoming February 19, 1906, with a capital of $5,000,000, and the following directors : Edward A. Buck, William R. West, Robert H. Dwyer, Joseph T. West, all of Laramie; J. O. Curry, of Boston; Jesse W. Avery, of Aurora, Illinois; and Charles S. Johnson, of New York.
The project was an ambitious one for the railroad was to go through the rich northern counties of Colorado, through to Laramie and on to Seattle. Under the management of Charles S. Johnson it began a stock selling campaign, largely in Kansas and Oklahoma, which netted it sufficient in a couple of years to begin construction. A subsidiary "Land and Iron Company," looked after town sites, the purchasing of producing properties in the coal and iron regions of Wyoming, and the leasing of terminals. The company had gone so far as to dicker for dock properties in Seattle. It actually built the tunnel through Fish Creek Cañon near Virginia Dale, Wyoming, while the road was still a hundred miles south. Sixteen hundred stockholders residing in the middle west subscribed more than $3,400,000 for the securities of the main and subsidiary companies.
On February 8, 1910, the name was changed to the Denver, Laramie & Northwestern Railroad Company, and its capital was increased to $30,000,000. By the end of 1910 it had made Denver terminal arrangements with the Moffat road, was operating 56.16 miles of road to Greeley and was grading the first twelve miles beyond.
Many prominent Denver and northern Colorado men became interested in the road, and on April 1, 1911, its directors were : C. S. Johnson, W. E. Green, John D. Milliken, W. E. Skinner, Z. C. Felt, C. M. Day, A. J. Spengel, W. L. Clayton, S. J. Kent, N. H. Heft, H. B. Holcomb, Allyn Cole and O. D. Berroth.
The heavy promotion expense, inability to sell bonds, differences among the stockholders, dissensions among directors, finally necessitated a receivership. The deficit for the year 1909-10 was $25,643; for 1910-II it was $122,229.
On June 12, 1912, Marshall B. Smith, bailiff in the court of District Judge H. C. Riddle, was made receiver together with the Continental Trust Company.
All efforts to oust the receivers failed, and the road remained in the jurisdic- tion of the district court until May 16, 1917, when it was sold as junk for ap- proximately $300,000. In June the purchasers of the road, together with Mar- shall B. Smith and Clinton Smith, incorporated the Denver & Northern Railroad Company for the purpose of disposing of the property which had been bought in May.
On August 29, 1917, the State Utilities Commission sanctioned the sale of a portion of the road to the Great Western Sugar Company. This was the sec- tion extending from the Union Pacific crossing east of Brighton to Elm in Weld County. The remainder of the road, the tracks from Utah Junction to Brighton, fifty miles, and from Elm to Greeley, about fifteen miles, were then junked by
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
the purchasers. The Great Western Sugar Company at once began the operation of the purchased section.
THE ROCK ISLAND
The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific completed its line to Colorado Springs in 1890, coming into Denver from Limon on the Union Pacific tracks. It still operates to Pueblo under a traffic agreement with the Denver & Rio Grande.
The Colorado Eastern, incorporated in 1886 as the Denver Railroad & Land Company, later as the Colorado & Eastern Railway Company, was, to begin with, a narrow-gauge road running from the site of the former Grant smelter to the Scranton coal field, a distance of seventeen miles. In 1894 it was sold under foreclosure, and named Colorado Eastern. It has since been abandoned. Its first president was E. H. Hallack.
The Denver, Lakewood & Golden Railway Company incorporated July II, 1892. Its original incorporators were: J. W. Starkweather, R. Ryan, H. J. Hersey, of Denver; W. B. Willard and J. P. Hayner of Hartford, Connecticut. It was completed early in 1892. It runs from Denver via Lakewood to Golden, with a branch to Barnum. On July 31, 1896, it went into a receiver's hands. The president of the corporation at the time was Samuel Newhouse.
The Denver & Intermountain Railway Company was incorporated May 20, 1904, as successors by foreclosure of the Denver, Lakewood & Golden road. On April 21, 1909, the name was changed to the Intermountain Railway Com- pany, being a subsidiary of the Denver City Tramway Company.
The "Cog" road from Manitou to the top of Pike's Peak is one of several roads that now take the tourist to the towering heights of the Rockies. Maj. John Hulbert, of Manitou, conceived the idea in 1889, and in 1890 the com- pany was organized with Roswell P. Flower, of New York, R. R. Cable, president of the Rock Island, David Dows, H. H. Porter, David H. Moffat, Maj. Jerome B. Wheeler and Maj. John Hulbert as its backers. In August, 1891, trains were run to the half-way house. The following year the old. Government signal station at the top was the terminus. It was first built on what was known as the Swiss "Abt" system, but has been greatly improved and strengthened in recent years.
It is known as the Manitou & Pike's Peak Railway, and is operated from May to November of each year solely for tourist business. In 1913 it paid a dividend of 40 per cent. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1916, it paid a dividend of 10 per cent. In that year it carried 69,159 passengers to the top of Pike's Peak. Its officers are: C. W. Sells, president and manager ; H. J. Holt, vice president ; Z. G. Simmons, treasurer; A. H. Lance, secretary. Its ownership has practically remained unchanged.
The Laramie, Hahns Peak & Pacific Railway was incorporated in Wyoming February 27, 1901, and the road was built from Laramie, Wyoming, to Coal- mont, Colorado, a distance of III.35 miles. Its promoters were Otto Gramm, Jesse Converse, H. R. Woods, of Laramie; L. W. Thompson, of Woburn, Massachusetts; Wallace Hackett, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire; C. E. Davis, of Meredith, New Hampshire, and A. S. Howe of Boston. Failure to reach its terminal early in 1911 put the road into the receivers' hands on June 9, 1912,
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
although in November, 1911, the line had reached Coalmont. On June 2, 1914, the Colorado, Wyoming & Eastern Railway Company was incorporated in Colo- rado, and purchased the road at Master's sale. Its first directors under the purchase were: Trowbridge Calloway, Lewis B. Franklin, Carl M. Owen, Henry Sanderson of New York, C. Hutchins of Boston, W. E. Green of Laramie.
During 1915 the Denver Union Depot & Railway Company was completely reorganized. The old owners were the Union Pacific, Denver & Rio Grande and Colorado & Southern. The Denver Union Terminal Company took over the properties and the stock was divided evenly between the old owning companies, the Burlington, the Santa Fe and the Rock Island companies. The Union Pacific profit in the liquidation was $848,681.90. This is approximately what each of the other owners made.
GOLD CAMP RAILROADS
The Cripple Creek Central Railway Company, organized under the laws of Maine on September 30, 1904, is the successor of the Denver & Southwestern Railway, the property of which it bought in under foreclosure October 4, 1904. It is now a holding company, and owns the securities of the Cripple Creek & Colorado Springs Railroad Company, the Midland Terminal Railway Company and the Beaver Park road.
The Midland Terminal Railway was incorporated in Colorado, August 8, 1892, and the road opened from Divide to Midland December 11, 1893; from Midland to Gillett, July 4, 1894; from Gillett to Victor, December 10, 1894; from Victor to Cripple Creek, December 18, 1895. Its officers in 1895 were : H. Collbran, president and general manager; W. J. Gillett, of Chicago, vice president and treasurer; J. H. Waters, superintendent. Its directors in 1906, when it had gone into control of the Cripple Creek Central Railway Company, were Henry M. Blackmer, J. H. Waters, K. C. Schuyler, C. M. MacNeill and C. C. Hamlin, with J. H. Waters as president. On July 21, 1917, the entire road and equipment were leased to the Cripple Creek & Colorado Springs Rail- road Company.
The Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad was incorporated for $1,000,000, April 17, 1893, and opened from Florence to Cripple Creek, 40.02 miles, in July, 1894. It was an exceedingly profitable road in its first years. For the year ending June 30, 1895, its passenger earnings were $82,745, and its freight earnings, $142,128; its net earnings from operating were $89,916. Its surplus for that year was $36,990. Much of its equipment in those early years was furnished by the Denver & Rio Grande. The first directors were William E. Johnson, James A. McCandless, Eben Smith, George E. Ross-Lewin, and A. B. Roeder, what was known as a "Moffat" directorate. In 1904 it was controlled by the Cripple Creek Central Railway Company, and later operated under lease the Cañon City & Cripple Creek Railroad and the Golden Circle Rail- road. On April 30, 1915, the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad was dissolved and the line from Wilbur to Victor was abandoned. The remainder of the road, together with equipment, was sold to the Golden Circle Railroad, which changed its name to the Cripple Creek & Colorado Springs Railroad, the latter assuming
VIEW OF DENVER
(Reproduced from a photographic enlargement of a wood engraving published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, New York, December 15, 1860.)
T STAHLE
VIEW IN DENVER, MAY 20, 1864, LOOKING SOUTHWEST FROM INTERSECTION OF LARIMER STREET AND CHERRY CREEK WHEN CHERRY CREEK AND THE SOUTH PLATTE RIVER WERE AT FLOOD STAGE
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
also the Florence & Cripple Creek lease of the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railway.
The Golden Circle Railroad was incorporated April 15, 1896, and was to begin with a small line running from Cripple Creek to Vista Grande, a distance of eleven miles. In 1904 it came into control of the Cripple Creek Central Railway Company. On April 30, 1905, it changed its name to Cripple Creek & Colorado Springs Railroad, and has taken over the equipment, the Cripple Creek District terminals and the lease of the District Railway from the former Florence & Cripple Creek Company.
Its mileage, owned and leased, is as follows: Cripple Creek to Vista Grande, 10.98, Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek, 46.62.
The Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railway was incorporated April 13, 1897, as the Cripple Creek District Railway, changing its name in November, 1899. It operates lines from Colorado Springs to Colorado City, Cripple Creek and Victor, a total mileage of 74.25. On November 1, 1911, it was leased by its owners, the Colorado & Southern, to the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad, and this was, on April 30, 1915, transferred to the Cripple Creek & Colorado Springs Railroad.
The following is a record of railroads operating in Colorado January 1, 1918, together with main track mileage.
Main Track Miles
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé Ry. Co.
505.94
Beaver, Penrose & Northern Ry. Co ..
6.49
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R. Co. 394.36
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Ry. Co. 165.52
Colorado Railroad Company. IO7.47
Colorado & Southeastern R. R. Co. 7.52
Colorado & Southern Ry. Co. 808.37
Colorado & Wyoming Railway Co. 36.70
Colorado-Kansas Railway Co. 22.20
Colorado Midland Railway Co .. 261.10
Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek D. Ry. Co. 74.25
Cripple Creek & Colorado Springs R. R. Co. 12.40
Colorado, Wyoming & Eastern Ry. Co. 43.88
Crystal River R. R. Co. 32.43
Crystal River & San Juan R. R. Co .. 7.40
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company 1,578.77
Denver & Salt Lake Railroad Company 252.35
Denver, Boulder & Western R. R. Co. 45.99
Georgetown & Gray's Peak Railway Co 15.90
Great Western Railway Company
.83
Manitou & Pike's Peak Ry. Co
8.70
Midland Terminal Ry. Co.
29.40
Missouri Pacific Ry. Co ..
152.12
Rio Grande Junction Ry. Co .. 62.08
Rio Grande Southern R. R. Co 182.27
San Luis Central R. R. Co. 12.2I
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
Main Track Miles
San Luis Southern Ry. Co.
31.53
Silverton Railway.
17.00
Silverton Northern R. R. Co.
20.80
Uintah Railway Company
50.80
Union Pacific R. R. Co.
591.22
Total · 5,538.10
The Argentine & Gray's Peak Railway is owned by the Georgetown & Gray's Peak Railway Company, which was incorporated in 1913. It is purely a scenic and tourist line.
The Beaver, Penrose & Northern, is a "fruit" road, organized in 1909, and provides rail facilities from the orchard portions of Fremont County. Its head- quarters are at Colorado Springs.
The Colorado-Kansas Railway Company operates out of Pueblo.
The Crystal River Railroad is a "marble" road, owned by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, and the Crystal River & San Juan is owned by the Colorado- Yule Marble Company.
The Great Western Railway Company is a "sugar-beet" road, controlled by the Great Western Sugar Company.
The San Luis Central Railroad, incorporated February 18, 1913, runs from Monte Vista to Sugar Factory and from Sugar Factory to Center. J. B. Cos- griff, of Denver, and associates owned the road in 1917.
The San Luis Southern Railway was incorporated July 3, 1909. Road put in operation from Blanca to Jaroso September 1, 1910. It was built by the present owners of the old Spanish Land Grant in the San Luis Valley.
The Silverton Northern was incorporated November 4, 1895, and the road was completed in June, 1905. In July, 1915, it purchased the Silverton, Glad- stone & Northerly, running out of Silverton. The Silverton Railway, incorpor- ated on November 9, 1904, runs to Joker Tunnel, and is a reorganization of the Silverton Railroad Company, incorporated July 5, 1887, and after a receivership, which was ordered in 1898, was sold under foreclosure in 1904. A company, of which Otto Mears is president, controls these roads.
The Uintah Railroad is the line running from Mack, Colorado, to Dragon, Wyoming, and taps the gilsonite fields in that region. It is controlled by the Barber Asphalt Paving Company. It was incorporated in Colorado on November 4, 1903, and completed February 1, 1905. Its net earnings have been: 1910-II, $143,042; 1911-12, $79,473 ; 1912-13, $152,225 ; 1913-14, $43,220 ; 1914-15, $37,029; 1915-16, $156,190. For 1916, $98,445.
The Colorado & Wyoming Railway, incorporated in Colorado, May 9, 1899, runs from Guernsey to Sunrise, Wyoming, and in the southern coal fields. Its total mileage is 42.78. It is a C. F. & I. road. The Colorado & Southeastern is also a small coal road that operates to properties of the Victor Company.
The only interurban roads in the state are the Denver & Intermountain, Denver to Golden, which is part of the Denver Tramway system; the Denver & Inter- urban, Denver to Boulder, which is a Colorado & Southern company; the Grand
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
River Valley Railway, Grand Junction to Fruita; and the Trinidad Electric, Trinidad to the coal fields. Aside from these the Union Pacific has gasoline motors operating in northern Colorado.
Up to January 1, 1885, there were on file in the office of the secretary, 202 distinct articles incorporating as many different railroad projects. Among these was the Atlantic & Pacific Railway Tunnel Company, designed to go from Atlantic City to Pacific City, and capitalized for $7,000,000. There was also the Denver, Hot Springs & Pacific Railway, incorporated for $30,000,000 on February 12, 1882, the precursor of the "Moffat" road. The most important was that consolidating the Denver Pacific Railway & Telegraph Company, the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and the Kansas Pacific Railway Company, under the name Union Pacific Railway Company, with a capital stock of $50,962,300.
The cost of railroad construction in the early period was heavy, but with the peculiar financiering methods of holding and construction companies, was by no means accurately reported to state officials. In 1885 the state railroad com- missioner says in his report: "The Colorado Central, Utah & Pacific and Denver & New Orleans are the only roads that have fully reported the cost of road and equipment separately. The cost per mile of the Colorado Central, including road, $10,708,563.14, and equipment, $515,805.73, was $34,318 per mile ; that of the Denver, Utah & Pacific, road, $1,305,000; equipment, $109,653.88 per mile, $39,- 189.18; the Denver & New Orleans, road, $3,015,136.79, equipment, $269,431.90; per mile, $23,880.65. This last-named was the road built to Pueblo and was not of difficult construction.
CHAPTER XIX
THE TELEGRAPH AND THE TELEPHONE
EFFORTS TO ORGANIZE TELEGRAPH COMPANIES IN 1860 FAIL-CONGRESSIONAL SUB- SIDY IN 1861 EFFECTIVE-LINE REACHES JULESBURG-DENVER USES PONY EX- PRESS TO STATE LINE-FIRST LINE REACHES DENVER-CONSTRUCTING TO SANTA FÉ -- WESTERN UNION ACQUIRES ALL EXISTING LINES IN TERRITORY IN 1870- ENTRANCE OF POSTAL TELEGRAPH IN FIELD-MILEAGE IN 1918 THE TELE- PHONE COMPANY ORGANIZES FOR BUSINESS IN COLORADO-DETAILED HISTORY OF ITS GROWTH-THE BEGINNING AT LEADVILLE-SUBSTITUTING GIRLS FOR MALE OPERATORS-IMPROVEMENTS-EXTENDING THE SYSTEM- ORGANIZING THE MOUNTAIN STATES TELEPHONE COMPANY
The agitation for telegraphic communication with the east began with the first rush of gold seekers, for in 1859 and in 1860 it seemed as though the Union must break asunder under the driving stream of the slave-holding section. And these thousands who were crossing the plains were eager for news. Fast as was the pony express, it could not satisfy their hunger for information. In 1860 President Charles M. Stebbins, of the Missouri & Western Telegraph Company, came to Denver, and obtained the promise of a small realty subsidy, but the ex- pense of construction proved too heavy, for all supplies, all material, had to be hauled by teams and this was not only a slow but a money-devouring process.
Congress, however, in 1860, offered a guarantee of $40,000 a year from Fed- eral business to the builders of a transcontinental telegraph line. Edward Creigh- ton and associates had previously organized the Pacific Overland Telegraph Com- pany, and begun building from Omaha westward. The Missouri & Western lines were secured by the new company and early in 1861 construction on the long overland route began via Fort Kearney, Julesburg, Fort Laramie, Fort Bridger, Salt Lake City, where it expected to meet the construction gangs from the Pacific Coast. Henry M. Porter, one of Colorado's prominent pioneers, built the division between Omaha and Fort Kearney. Denver was in 1861 getting its telegrams by pony express from Julesburg, that mode of transmission having kept pace with the advance of the telegraph lines.
Edward Creighton came to Denver in 1861, and offered to build the line from Julesburg to Denver for a subsidy equal to the cost of construction. This was rejected. At this time the telegraph company had opened an office in Den- ver and placed David H. Moffat in charge. The business soon became so heavy that the company officials returned in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, when the hunger for news was keenest, and secured advance telegraph payments amounting to $35,000, part of which was contributed by Central City on the
383
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
promise that the line would be extended to that point. B. F. Woodward, another of Colorado's noted pioneers, built this line, cutting across country from the present site of Fort Morgan by way of Living Springs to Denver. This was even then called the "cut-off road." On October 10, 1863, Mayor Amos Steck, of Denver, sent the first message to the mayor of Omaha. Mr. Woodward succeeded David H. Moffat as manager, and in November announced the completion of the line to Central City. He remained manager until 1866.
The business was by no means profitable in these early years, for the buffalo herds made scratching posts of the poles, which were generally planted in sandy soil, and the outlay for repairs wiped out profits, even though rates for ten words were $9.10 to New York; $9.25 to Boston; $7.50 to St. Louis. The Indians too were troublesome, and storms on the prairies wrought great havoc. Con- struction, too, was crude, and it was some years before these long lines were really profitable.
B. F. Woodward, however, saw other opportunities for telegraph business, and with William N. Byers, David H. Moffat, H. M. Porter and Fred Z. Salo- mon and other progressive Denver men organized the United States & Mexico Telegraph Company, later the Denver & Santa Fé Railway & Telegraph Com- pany. On March 8, 1868, Denver was in telegraphic communication with Santa Fé. This was really a part of the north and south railroad planned about this time by Mr. Moffat, and later merged into the Denver & New Orleans project of John Evans.
In the autumn of 1868 the same telegraph company built along the located route of the Denver Pacific to Cheyenne.
In 1870 the Western Union acquired both telegraph lines.
Wire facilities were, however, planned with all railroad lines and followed the right of way of these projects.
The Western Union controlled the telegraph business in Colorado, extending its lines into all districts until 1890, when the Postal Telegraph Company reached Denver.
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