Chapter XXIV: Final Remarks (1)

Character of Associates

It is to be regretted that the oil, land, and timber litigation of recent years has once more presented the Southern Pacific in the light of a corporation more heedful of its own financial interests than of the requirements of public policy or of a high ethical code. In all fairness to the company, it should be said that this controversy does not truly represent its attitude at the present time. Stanford and Huntington are dead, and their properties are in other hands. The great railroad system which they left, controlled by leaders who are responsive to new policies, is in general no longer a profit-making device in the hands of a small group of men, but instead is a powerful machine for the promotion of industry and commerce on the Pacific Coast.

Our narrative will now close with a few words of summary and conclusion.

The purpose of the writer in presenting the story of the Southern Pacific has been to throw light upon the problems encountered by the most important railroad upon the Pacific Coast, and to characterize and interpret the policies adopted by that railroad and by the men who governed it.

The writer’s view with regard to the so-called Southern Pacific associates, Stanford, Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Crocker, is that they were rough, vigorous, and grasping men, tenacious of rights to property once acquired, kind-hearted within the circle of their families and intimate friends, but narrow in vision, uneducated, and inexpert in the details of railroad operation, and uninformed in all that related to questions of public policy. Huntington alone, while rough and selfish as the others, showed important constructive capacity in the railroad field. The strength of the associates lay in their courage and persistence, in their loyalty to each other in business matters, in their readiness to attract and to support able men whose views did not differ too greatly from their own, and in a native shrewdness which, in Huntington at least, reached to a superlative degree.

Achievements of Group

The reputation of the Huntington group rests upon the fact that within fifty years they built up an organization operating 11,152 miles of lines and earning an operating revenue in a single year of no less than $282,000,000. A statement like this is quickly made. The significance of it comes home, however, only to those who understand the difficulties of successful management of great corporations and who appreciate the multitude of decisions as to policy which must have been, on the whole, soundly made, at least from the point of view of the corporation itself, in order to achieve such a success.

Doubtless most of the details of the Southern Pacific management were necessarily handled by subordinates. It is unlikely, for instance, that the associates had much to do with the construction of railroad rates in the West, with the negotiation of special contracts with California shippers, or with agreements with the Pacific Mail. The contribution of the owners was here the appointment of competent men at liberal salaries to attend to matters which they did not understand or for other reasons were not able to handle themselves. The credit for general direction and support of the policies adopted, however, belongs to the associates even in these matters, when credit is due, just as responsibility for errors properly falls upon them.

Principles of Operation

There are three principles relating to the operation of these railroad properties which the author feels that he can attribute with some confidence to Huntington and his friends. The first of these was that the Southern Pacific enterprise should remain under the associates’ control and free from eastern entanglements. The second was that railroad monopoly in California was essential to a satisfactory railroad profit, and that the utmost possible profit should be exacted when monopoly power had been attained; and the third was that regulation by public bodies was in all respects objectionable, although public grants were considered to be legitimate sources of revenue.

Looked at in a comprehensive way, the history of the Southern Pacific may be said to have centered in the application of these principles to the solution of a series of problems, of which the final disposition of the Southern Pacific oil and timber lands was the last. These problems, to name them consecutively, included the construction of the original Central Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads; the establishment of these companies as going concerns with opportunity for prosperity and power; and the adoption by the associates of policies with respect to government regulation, with respect to rates, and with respect to relations with competing lines. They included also the negotiation of a plan of settlement with the federal government under which the financial assistance tendered to the companies in their younger days was repaid, and the railroad stood forth free of unusual responsibility and devoid of special privilege. At a later date the merger of the Southern Pacific with the Union Pacific represented an additional adventure, although one which was never part of Huntington’s plan; and still another episode, the oil and timber litigation just described, was concerned with a forced liquidation of interests of which Huntington had known and approved.

Two Eras in Company’s History

Grouped in a somewhat different way, but with the same essential point of view, the history of the Southern Pacific may be divided into two parts, the one ending and the other beginning in or about the year 1883. Before 1883, the Huntington group was primarily interested in construction from Sacramento to Ogden in order to obtain the benefit of the federal subsidy, and in construction in southern California, New Mexico, and Arizona, in order to prevent the building of an independent competing line. In this period, also, steps were taken to crush the competition of certain local enterprises in California. After 1883, or more accurately, after 1879, the attention of the associates was concentrated upon the establishment of their credit, the resistance to the threatened regulation by the state of their properties in California, and upon the competition of the newly created transcontinental railroad lines and the water routes from the Pacific to the Atlantic Coast. The second of these dangers led them into local politics, and the third resulted not only in a variety of agreements with competitors, but also caused the Southern Pacific to modify its rate structures and to subsidize potential competitors upon the sea. Still later came the necessity of repaying the loans which the Central Pacific had received from the federal government at the time of the construction of its road and the new relations with the Union Pacific under the Harriman régime. The oil and timber litigation, though falling within the second period, represented the closing up of grants received in the first.

In solving all the problems presented in the course of the Southern Pacific’s career, the associates followed consistently the three fundamental principles laid down in a preceding paragraph whenever the principles were applicable and the circumstances permitted of a deliberate choice. The only striking variation from them occurred when the Union Pacific was allowed to obtain a controlling interest in Southern Pacific stock—a transaction which occurred after Huntington’s death and one for which the associates were not responsible.

The Charge against Associates

The weakness in the position of the Huntington group lay in the fact that their insistence upon monopolistic control of railroads in the state of California and their resistance to government regulation, ran counter to public policies of a most fundamental kind. A further ground for incisive criticism is properly found in the methods which the associates adopted in their business and political campaigns. It is not sufficient to declare that Huntington and Stanford merely imitated practices which they found about them. There is reason to believe that the Southern Pacific associates lowered the standard of business ethics of their time. The reader who has examined the data submitted in preceding pages will need no specification of this charge. In finance, in politics, in questions of rates, and in their relations with public bodies, the associates were indifferent to standards of private and public conduct, which alone can bring trust and confidence into business relations. The great material achievements of the Huntington group were marred by the moral and spiritual defects of its members.

Public’s Present Favorable Attitude

This narrative closes without consideration of the part which the Southern Pacific played in the war of 1914-1918, and without detailed analysis of the present position of the company or of its prospects for the future. As a matter of fact, the tendency today is for individual systems to be assimilated into the national railroad net through governmental regulation of rates, of wages, and of many details of operation, so that elaborate discussion of the affairs of single companies has lost much of the interest which it once possessed. The future of the Southern Pacific will depend more on the outcome of national policies with respect to the support and control of railroads in all parts of the country, than it will on the success of the strategy of any group of railroad men.

For good or bad the pioneer days are over. Public opinion in California is now well disposed toward the Southern Pacific in marked contrast to the attitude of earlier days. Probably the change is in part due to the efficiency of the technical staff of the company and to the excellence of its service as compared with other roads. Probably also the recent enforced separation of the Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific has on the whole strengthened the latter by relieving it of the unpopularity which would have followed long-continued outside control, while the completeness of public authority over rates through state and federal commissions has removed still another cause of discontent. In spite of past errors the Southern Pacific now looks forward to a long and prosperous career and to a popularity properly the result of the loyal and efficient service of a great body of official employees.

INDEX

A

Adams, Edson, 86

Agricultural products, 349

Alcade, 141

Amador branch, 143

Antioch, 224

Associated Oil Company, 449

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé Railroad, 241, 275;
acquires San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad, 331, 339-342

Atlantic and Pacific Company, 226

Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, 122, 125

Atlantic and Pacific Steamship Company, 305

B

Baker, Col., of Tulare, 28

Bakersfield, oil fields, 442

Balfour, Guthrie and Company, 305

Bankruptcy, threat of, 415

Banning, Phineas, 127

Bassett, J. M., 214

Battle Mountain, 361

Bear River, 8

Beerstecher, Mr., member, State Railroad Board, 1880-1883, 189-198

Benicia, 107, 141, 224

Board of Land Commissioners in California, 62

Bonds, California Pacific Railroad Company, 110-118;
Central Pacific Railroad, 418;
United States subsidy, 51-56;
lien on, 407-410;
payment and refunding of, 371-424;
payment of interest at maturity, 371;
settlement of indebtedness, 416-424;
sinking fund provision, 376, 383

Booth, L. A., 15, 19

Brice, Senator, 397

Brown, Mr., 147

Brown, Harvey S., 188

Brown, W. E., 75

Burch, John C., Congressman from California, 8

Burke v. Southern Pacific, 443

Business depression of 1891-1897, 363

Business Men’s League v. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé, 281, 282

C

California, aids Central Pacific Railroad, 25-44;
“Five Per Cent Act,” of 1870, 44;
industrial conditions, 237;
Judah’s work in, 5;
Spanish and Mexican grants, 62

California and Oregon Railroad, 81, 140, 152, 363, 450

California League of Progress, 319

California Pacific Eastern Railroad Extension Company, 110

California Pacific Railroad Company, acquired by Central Pacific,
104-118;
alleged mismanagement of, 116;
bonds of, 111;
competition of, 107;
growth of, 1871-1877, 141;
lease, 143;
shares, 112

California Southern Railroad, 123

California State Board of Transportation Commissioners, 181-198, 242, 335

California Steam Navigation Company, 224

Calistoga, 141

Canadian Pacific Railroad, 276, 308

Cape Horn route to San Francisco, 225, 306

Capital (See “Finance”)

Carpentier, E. R., 88

Carpentier, H. W., 86, 88, 89, 90

Carr, William, 204

Casserly, Eugene, 213

Central Pacific Railroad Company, 4;
Acts of 1862 and 1864, 49-64;
acquires California Pacific Railroad, 104-118;
acquires California Steam Navigation Company, 224;
bond issues, 24, 51-56, 370-424;
capital of, 22;
consolidation with Western Pacific Railroad, 84;
construction of, 1863-1869, 65-83;
ceremonies attending inauguration of work, 65;
contracts for, 70;
cost estimated, 16;
financing of, 75-82;
gradients, 65;
supplies for, 68;
temperature of climate, 67;
contract with California Pacific, 112;
discriminations against charged, 357;
dividends, 365, 374;
earnings, 16, 22, 169, 361;
expenses, legal and general, 213;
finances, 1870-1879, 169-180;
financing of California survey, 14;
government aid by California, 25-44;
government aid expected, 15;
government debt, 370-424;
in 1877, 140;
incorporation, 1899, 421, 423;
Judah’s second survey for, 19;
Judah’s work for, 4-10;
land grants, 50-64;
leases, 142, 153;
litigation with San Francisco, 31-40;
monopoly control by, 104;
Oakland water-front acquired, 85-94;
organization, 1861, 18;
rates, 237-256;
receipts to December, 1869, 21;
refuses to buy Sacramento Valley railroad, 43;
reorganization plan, 1899, 418;
San Francisco water-front acquired, 94-103;
stockholders, 146-149;
stock issues, 1863-1869, 23;
county subscriptions, 29;
subsidies demanded from towns, 28;
surveys, 66;
terminal facilities in 1869, 85;
transcontinental line finished, 84

Centralia, 19

Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, 149

Chico, 224

China Basin, 335-338

Chinese labor, 70

Cleveland, Grover, 403

Clipper ships, 225, 303-316

Cohen, A. A., 174

Colon, Panama, 234

Colorado River, 140

Colton, David D., 28, 133, 154-168, 175, 184, 201, 202, 204-217, 387

Colton, Mrs. David B., 164-168

Colusa, 223, 224

Commissioner of railroads (See “Railroad Commissions”)

Competition, effect of, on rates, 263, 280;
foreign ships, 294;
proposal for competing railroad, 318;
restraint of trade, accusations of, 356, 429-440;
San Joaquin project, 320;
transcontinental, 275;
water, 222-236, 303-316

Cone, J. S., member of State Railroad Board, 1880-1883, 189-198

Congress (See “Legislation”)

Connor, Mr., commercial agent, 356

Consolidation, Union Pacific and Southern Pacific, 425-440

Constitutional convention, California 1879, 184-187

Contract and Finance Company, 75-82;
builds railroad from Sacramento to Dansville, 113;
construction of Southern Pacific, 132

Contracts, construction of Central Pacific, 70-82;
rates, 250-255

Coon, Henry P., Mayor of San Francisco, 35

Cornish, Judge, 446, 447

County stock subscriptions, 28, 29

Crocker, Charles, 13, 19, 22, 65, 70, 145, 170, 284;
contracts for construction, 70-75;
director, Southern Pacific Railroad, 123;
President Contract and Finance Company, 77;
relations with David D. Colton, 154-168;
shares of, 146-149

Crocker, E. B., Judge, 88

Curtis, William B., 240

D

Dane, Timothy, 84

Davisville, 112, 141

Dawes, Mr., 409

Debts (See “Government aid”)

Dimond, William and Company, 304, 306

Dividends, payment of, 171, 374;
policy, 366;
suspension of, 365

Donahue, Peter, 123

Doyle, John T., 216, 401, 407

Dutch Flat, 6, 7, 8

E

Earnings, Central Pacific, 16, 22, 169, 361, 364;
charges by Auditor of Railroads, 389;
net earnings defined, 391;
Southern Pacific, 347-369

Eberlein, land agent, 445-448

Edmonds, Senator, 409

El Paso route, 354

Election of 1863, 32, 33, 38

Elk Hills title suit, 445

Eureka and Palisade Railroad, 361

F

Fair, James G., 310

Farming, 237

Felton, John P., 87, 88, 89, 90

Finance, construction work, Central Pacific, 71-82;
Southern Pacific, 136-139;
early years, 360;
federal aid, 42-64;
survey, 14;
inability to get capital, 170;
notes, 1878, 176;
organization of company, 18;
repayment of government debt, 370-424;
San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad, 322;
short-term borrowing, 174;
state and local aid, 21-41

“Five Per Cent Act,” of 1870, 44

Flower, Roswell P., 177

Folsom, 8, 10, 19

Franchot, General, 204, 213

Freight traffic, 353;
rates, 191, 349

Fremont’s route, 9

French, Thomas, 89

French v. Teschemaker, 33

Friedlander and Reed, 249

Frye-Davis report, 396

G

Gage, L. J., Secretary, U. S. Treasury, 415

Gage, Stephen T., 204, 209, 210

Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, 149

Gates, I. E., 213

Gear, Congressman, bill for refunding of debt, 399, 416

General Land Office, 57-59

Gerke, Mr., 195-197

Gilroy, 141

Gleaves Act, 338

Goat Island, 100, 101

Goodall and Perkins, 226

Gordon, Senator from Georgia, 203

Goshen, 119, 126, 127, 140

Gould, Jay, 226, 234, 427

Government aid, California, 25-44;
California laws, 1864, 34;
claim for indemnity, 374;
county stock subscriptions, 29;
federal, 45-64;
Judah’s proposals, 15;
opposition to in San Francisco, 31;
Pacific Railroad bill, 1860, 8;
repayment of debt, 370-424;
state aid, direct, 30;
United States bonds, 51-56, 371

Government, U. S., withholds payments, 377

Grace, J. W., and Company, 304

Grading of railroad, 65

Grain rates, 342

Gray, R., 246

Great Northern Railroad, 276

Griggs, U. S. Attorney-General, 415, 416

H

Haight, H. H., 216

Hale, Henry M., auditor of San Francisco, 35

Hammond, President, California Pacific Railroad, 115;
Vice-President, California Pacific Railroad, 114, 115

Hannaford, Mr., 432

Harriman, E. H., 428

Harriman system, 428

Hawley, Edwin, 253, 427, 432

Hess, Mr., of Boca, 258

Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett and Company, 282

Hood, engineer, 68

Hopkins, Mark, 22;
agreement with California Pacific Railroad 110;
biography, 14;
death of, 133;
director, Southern Pacific Railroad, 123;
finances Judah, 14;
general agent, California Pacific Railroad, 115;
report on construction, 72;
shareholder of Central Pacific Railroad, 19;
shares of, 147

Hopkins, Moses, treasurer, California Pacific Railroad, 115

Hopkins, Timothy, 145

Houston, H. A., 84

Howard, General, 216

Huntington, Collis P., 22, 28, 69, 73, 144, 145, 279, 283, 327, 351,
354, 357, 367, 370, 415;
acquires control of California Pacific Railroad, 109-118;
against state regulation, 200;
biography, 10;
death of, 426;
director, Southern Pacific Railroad, 123;
estate of, 427;
finances T. D. Judah, 14;
lobbying methods, 203-221;
negotiates purchase of California Pacific Railroad, 109-118;
organizes Contract and Finance Company, 75;
organizes Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company, 227;
policies, 426;
President of Southern Pacific, 218;
relations with Colton, 154-168;
shareholder of Central Pacific Railroad, 19;
shares of, 146-149;
submits annual report of Southern Pacific, 123;
Thurman bill, 387;
valuation of oil land, 442

Huron, 141, 179

Hyde, Mr., 129

I

Illinois Town, 8

Interest, on government bonds, 371

J

Jackson, Mr., 147

Jacobs, Isidor, 300, 301

Jeffery, President, Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, 432

Johnson-Locke Mercantile Company, 309

Jones, John P., Senator from Nevada, 128

Judah, Theodore Dehone, 4-10;
estimates construction cost of Central Pacific, 16;
financed by Huntington and others, 14;
organizes Central Pacific Railroad, 18;
solicits federal aid, 46-48

K

Kahn, Otto H., 429, 430

Kansas Pacific Railway, 408

Kasson, Mr., 203

Kearney, Dennis, 184

Kern county, 127

Kern Trading and Oil Company, 447

Knight’s Landing, 224

Kuhn, Loeb and Company, 428, 429

L

Labor, cost of, on construction of Central Pacific, 67

Lake Pass on the Truckee River, 8

Land, rebought by federal government, 451

Land grants, 50-64;
company policies toward settlers, 63;
transfer of title, 56-59

Lassen’s Meadows, 19

Latham, Milton, General Manager, California Pacific Railroad Company,
109, 110, 112, 114, 117

Lathrop to Goshen route, 119, 140

Lawler, Judge, 189

Leases, 142, 153, 335-338

Leeds, Joseph S., 283, 301, 302, 303, 307, 308, 313, 318-323

Legislation, Act of March 3, 1873, 377;
Act of 1880, 187;
“Five Per Cent” Act of 1870, 44;
Gleaves Act, 338;
influencing of, 199-221;
O’Connor bill, 183;
Pacific Railroad bill, 8, 47-64;
railroad control bill, 184-187;
state constitutional provisions, 1879, 184-187;
Thurman Act, 380-394

Lien on subsidy bonds, 407-410

Lincoln, Abraham, 8, 19

Litigation, oil and timber lands, 441-453;
U. S. v. Union Pacific and Southern Pacific, 425-440

Loans, short-term, 174

Lobbying, 203-221

Loewy, William, clerk of the city of San Francisco, 37

London Economist, 367

Long hauls, 352

Los Angeles, 140, 141;
grants rights, 128;
in 1870, 127

Los Angeles and Independence Railroad, 128

Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad, 127

Los Angeles to Yuma route, 125

Lovett, Mr., 357

Luce, G. W., 247

M

McDougal, Senator, 46, 48

McFarland, Mr., 185

McKinley, William, President, 415

McLoughlin, Charles, 84

Manufactures, 237

Marier, Mr., of Oakland, 90

Markham, C. H., 446, 447

Marsh, Charles, finances Judah, 15;
shareholder of Central Pacific Railroad, 19

Martinez, 141, 319

Marysville, 29, 141

Mayne, Charles, 123

Meeting of associates in New York, 149

Merchants’ Shipping Association, 304

Merger, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific, 425-440

Merritt, Samuel, 87, 88, 91

Mexican Coast Steamship Company, 226

Mexican lands in California, 62

Midgley, J. W., 259

Mileage, 348

Miller, John, secretary, Contract and Finance Company, 80

Milliken, Theodore J., 75

Mills, D. O., 105, 172

Milton, 141

Mojave, 140

Montague, chief engineer, California Pacific Railroads, 113

Moon, A. J., 86

Morton, Paul, 432

Moss, J. Mora, 5, 7

Munroe, J. A., 246, 432

N

Napa, 224

Napa Valley Railroad, 107

Navigation lines, 222-236

Needles, the, 140, 180, 360

Nevada, influencing legislation in, 210

Nevada and California Railroad, 361

Nevada Central Railroad, 361

New York Stock Exchange, Central Pacific stock listed, 171

Newmark, Harris, 129, 130

Nicaragua Canal Commission, 303

North American Navigation Company, 308, 310-316

North Fork, 8

Northern Division of the Southern Pacific, 141, 144

Northern Pacific Railroad, 275, 308

Northern Railroad, 141;
lease, 142

O

Oakdale, 141

Oakland, 140, 141;
terminal at, 85-94

Oakland Water Front Company, 87-94

Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company, 227-229

O’Connor bill of 1876, 183

Ogden, 4, 140, 354

Oil land, litigation over, 441-453

Oil rates, 246

Operating, Southern Pacific, 347-369

Oregon (See also “California and Oregon Railroad”); connection with,
152, 276

Oregon Central Railroad Company, 450

Oregon Short Line, 276

Orient, trade with, 227

P

Pacheco, 224

Pacific Improvement Company, 133-135

Pacific Mail Steamship Company, 225-308;
agreement with, 229-232;
arrangements with Panama Railroad, 233-236, 309

Pacific Oil Company, 448

Pacific Railroad bill, 8, 47, 48-64

Pacific steamships, 225-236

Palisade, 361

Panama, 227-236

Panama Canal, 289

Panama, Isthmus of, 309-312

Panama Railroad, 233-236, 309, 310

Park, Trenor W., 226, 234

Paxon, Joseph S., Treasurer of San Francisco, 35

Peel, James, finances Judah, 15

People v. Coon, 35

Peters, 141

Phelps, T. G., 28, 48

Pierce, T. W., 149

Piper, William A., 32, 216

Placer county, subscriptions to stock, 41

Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad, 17;
Judah’s work for, 4-10;
refusal of Central Pacific to buy, 43;
Sacramento to Shingle Springs, 141

Political methods, 199-221

Population, southern California in 1876, 170

Portland, Ore., 276

Powers, Congressman, bill for refunding of debt, 398

Prince, John D., 177

Probst, Daniel, 177

R

Railroad Commission, United States Pacific, 80, 152, 209, 210;
report of commissioner on repayment of government debts, 395;
State Board of Transportation, 181-198, 242

Rates, as affected by industrial conditions, 238;
charging what the traffic will bear, 257;
classifications, 240;
competing railroad to cut, 318;
competition of steamship lines, 303-316;
contract system, 250-255;
controversy with Traffic Association, 293-316;
discrimination, 243;
dissatisfaction with, 282;
effect of water competition on, 263, 280;
favoring of interests, 239;
local, 242, 257-274;
rebates, 247;
San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad, 342;
State Board adopts new schedule, 1880, 191-194;
state regulation over local, 317;
transcontinental, 275-292

Reagan, Judge, 189

Red Bluff, 224

Redding, 141

Reese, Michael, 117

Reilly, James, report on refunding of debt, 397

Reorganization plan, 418-424, 436

Restraint of trade, government action, 1911, 429;
testimony in regard, 356

River traffic, 223

Robinson, J. P., 5

Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company, 158, 161, 162

Root, Elihu, 415

Roseville, 141

Routes, Dutch Flat, 6;
Judah’s second report, 1861, 19

S

Sacramento, Judah, T. D., in, 9;
rates, 317;
route to Benicia route, 5;
route to San Francisco route, 107;
route to San Francisco via Benicia, finished, 141;
route to San José, 84, 140;
route to Shingle Springs, 141;
route to Ogden, 140;
route to Washoe, 8

Sacramento River bridge to Davisville, 111, 112

Sacramento Union, 215

Sacramento Valley Railroad (See “Placerville and Sacramento
Valley Railroad”)

Salinas Valley, 141

Salt Lake, contemplated railroad to, 318

San Benito Valley, 125

San Diego, 127, 223

San Fernando tunnel, 131

San Francisco, 140, 223, 321;
meeting at, to object to refunding bill, 402;
opposes to government aid, 31-40;
port of, 223;
rates, 281, 317;
terminal facilities in, in 1869, 85;
water-front grants, 94-103

San Francisco and Great Salt Lake Railroad Company, 318

San Francisco and Marysville Railroad, 29

San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda Railroad, purchased by Huntington
and associates, 103, 140

San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad, 44, 81, 140, 317-346;
China Basin lease, 335-338

San Francisco and San José Railroad, 48, 84, 120, 121, 123

San Francisco to Great Salt Lake, 318;
to Soledad, 141

San Francisco Bulletin, 98, 101, 182, 306

San Francisco Chronicle, 215, 219, 264

San Francisco Examiner, 328, 403

San Francisco Stock Exchange, Central Pacific stock listed, 171

San Francisco Times, 98

San Joaquin Valley, 119, 140

San Joaquin Valley Railroad (See “San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley
Railroad”)

San José, 141

San Pablo and Tulare Railroad, 141

San Pedro, 223

Santa Ana, in 1870, 127

Santa Clara and Pajaro Valley Railroad, 123

Santa Fé Railroad (See “Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé Railroad”)

Sargent, Congressman, 46, 47

Scott, Tom, 202, 208

Securities, advertised, 172;
first sale of, 177;
market for, 171

Shelby, P. P., 357

Shingle Springs, 141

Shipping statistics, New York to San Francisco, 1869-1884, 232

Ships, British vs. American, 294

Sierra Nevada Mountains, surveys of, 5, 59

Simmons Hardware Company, 282

Sinking funds, bond provisions, 376, 383;
court decisions, 410

Smith, Mr., Treasurer of the Southern Pacific, 163

Snow sheds, 67

Soledad, 141, 179

Southern Development Company, 135

Southern Pacific Company of Kentucky, 150

Southern Pacific Railroad acquires Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad,
128;
bonds of, 370-424;
construction of, companies organized to build, 132-136;
early routes, 125-128;
controlled by Stanford and associates, 122;
earnings, 347-369;
El Paso route, 354;
in 1877, 140;
incorporated, 120-123;
grant by Los Angeles, 128;
growth of, 1871-1878, 141;
leases of, 143-153;
northern division, 141, 144;
operating characteristics, 347-369;
reorganization plan, 1884, 149, 1913, 436;
rivalry feared by Stanford, 119;
route, 123;
traffic diversion charged, 356;
Union Pacific gains control of, 428

Spanish lands in California, 62

Spence, Mr., 286, 356, 432

Speyer, James, and Company, contract to sell securities, 147, 177-180,
414, 417

Spreckels, Adolph, 326

Spreckels, Claus, 324-328, 332, 336

Spreckels, John D., 326, 329

Sproule, Mr., 356

Standard Oil Company, 245

Stanford, Leland, 22, 64, 145, 284;
acquires control California Pacific Railroad, 109-118;
against state regulation, 199;
agreement with California Pacific Railroad, 110;
biography, 11;
claim against federal government, 374;
director, Southern Pacific Railroad, 123;
finances T. D. Judah, 14;
lobbying methods, 204-221;
Oakland Water Front Company, 87, 89, 90, 91;
objects to freight rates of 1880, 192;
on rates, 239;
organizes Contract and Finance Company, 75;
resigns presidency of Southern Pacific, 218;
senator from California, 218;
shareholder of Central Pacific Railroad, 19;
shares of, 146-149;
statement regarding Southern Pacific, 122;
Thurman bill, 385

Stanford, Philip, 32

State aid, 30

State boards (see under names of states, California, Utah, etc.)

State regulation, arguments against, 199;
local control, 317;
railroad commission, 1880-1883, 181-198

Steinman, Mr., 189

Stetson, J. B., President, Traffic Association, 295, 297, 318, 359

Stock, Central Pacific Railroad, 1863-1869, 23;
county subscriptions, 29;
California Pacific Railroad Company, 109-118;
prices of, 365-369

Stock exchange listings, 171

Stockholders, 142, 146-149;
English, 367;
liability of, 406;
under reorganization plan, 420

Stockton, 17, 107, 140, 141, 223, 224, 272, 317, 320

Stockton and Copperopolis Railroad, 17, 141, 143

Stockton and Tulare Railroad, 44

Stockton and Visalia Railroad, 141

Stockton Independent, 182

Stoneman, George B., member, State Railroad Board, 1880-1883, 189-198

Strobridge, engineer, 68

Strong, Daniel W., 6, 284

Stubbs, J. C., General Traffic Manager, 244, 249, 250, 252, 253, 255,
256, 258, 292, 432

Subsidies (See “Government aid”)

Summit Station, 65

Supplies, for construction of Central Pacific, 68

Sutro, Adolph, 402

Sutton and Beebe, 304, 306

T

Taylor, General, 203

Tehama, 141

Temperature, affecting construction, 67

Terminal Central Pacific Railroad Company, 100

Terminals, China Basin lease, 335-338;
facilities in 1869, 85;
Oakland, 85-94;
rates, 281;
San Francisco, 94-103

Tevis, Lloyd, 88, 123, 162, 167

Texas Pacific Railroad, 125, 275

Thayer, S. H., 172, 173

Thurman act, 380-394, 408

Tilford, A. E., 245

Tilford, W. H., 245

Timber land, litigation over, 441-453

Towne, Mr., general superintendent, 115, 144, 249, 264

Tracy, 141

Traffic, operating characteristics, 347-369;
rates, 237-274;
transcontinental, 275-292;
Traffic Association of California, rate war, 293-316, 318-323, 365

Traffic Bureau of Utah, 284

Tres Pinos, 126, 141, 179

Truckee River, 8, 9, 19

Tulare, 141

Tuttle, Mr., 194

U

Union Pacific Railroad Company, 49, 230, 275;
gains control of Southern Pacific, 428;
reorganization, 1913, 436

United States v. Kansas Pacific Railway Company, 408

United States v. Southern Pacific, 444-448

United States Pacific Railway Commission, 80, 152, 209, 210

V

Vallejo, 107, 141, 224

Vancouver, 276

Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 226

Van Sicklen, Mr., 323

Virginia and Truckee Railroad, 361

Virginia City, 361

Visalia, 141

Votes, purchasing of, 209

W

Washoe, 8, 9

Water routes to California, 222-236, 263, 303-316

Western Development Company, 132;
Colton interests in, 157, 158, 159, 165;
contract with Speyer, 178;
dividends, 160

Western Pacific Railroad, consolidation with Central Pacific Railroad,
84, 140;
constructed by Contract and Finance Company, 81;
litigation with San Francisco, 31-40;
receipts to December, 1869, 21

Whittier, Fuller and Company, 246

“Willamette,” steamer, 224

Wilmington, 141

Wilson, Mr., real estate transaction by, 195-197

Wilson, Sir Rivers, 367

Wilson, S. M., 164

Woodland to Tehama route, 141

Y

Yuma, 140

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The statement in the text is sufficiently accurate as a preliminary generalization. As will appear later, the road between Sacramento and Oakland was not built by the Central Pacific, but by certain other companies of which the Western Pacific and the California Pacific were the most important. It may also be important for some purposes to observe that the Southern Pacific system enters Ogden over Union Pacific tracks, and New Orleans over the tracks of the Illinois Central Railroad Company.

[2] On the early history of the Central Pacific, see a document printed by order of the Nevada Senate, entitled “Evidence concerning projected railways across the Sierra Nevada Mountains from Pacific tide-water in California, etc., procured by the Committee on Railroads of the First Nevada Legislature” (Carson City, 1865). This document contains several valuable reports and some interesting testimony.

[3] Judah’s report of his mission to Washington as a delegate of the Pacific Railroad Convention is printed in full in the _Sacramento Union_ for July 25, 1860.

[4] Testimony taken by the United States Pacific Railway Commission, appointed under an Act of Congress approved March 3, 1887, entitled, “An act authorizing an investigation of the books, accounts, and methods of railroads which have received aid from the United States, and other purposes.” (50th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Executive Document No. 51, pp. 2838-39, testimony D. W. Strong.) Hereafter referred to as United States Pacific Railway Commission.

[5] The expenses of this preliminary investigation were provided by small subscribers around Dutch Flat. A paper dated at Dutch Flat, June 26, 1860, contains 47 names, including that of D. W. Strong. No subscription was for over $15, and only nine were for as much as $10 apiece. (United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 2959.)

[6] Judah manuscript, letter of Mrs. Anne Judah.

[7] Evidence concerning projected railways across the Sierra Nevada Mountains, _sup cit._, testimony L. L. Robinson.

[8] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 2960-61, testimony D. W. Strong.

[9] _Sacramento Union_, January 9 and 10, 1861.

[10] _Sacramento Union_, January 4, 1861.

[11] Stanford’s election to the United States Senate was resented by Huntington, and led eventually to an open breach between the two men. It is not improbable, however, that Stanford’s friends, and not Stanford himself, were responsible for the latter’s candidacy. It would not have been difficult to persuade a man of Stanford’s temperament that he was performing a public service in allowing his name to be used.

[12] Crocker said of his own personal appearance during the sixties: “While I was building the road, I weighed nearly all the time 264-5 pounds; at one time, in China, I weighed about 274 pounds; the Chinaman who weighed me called me a 4-_picul_ man--a ‘_picul_’ being 66⅔ pounds.... While I was building the road, I weighed the first year, 244, which increased to 265, and when I finished the work, was weighing that. I am 5 feet 10¾ inches tall.” (Crocker manuscript, p. 63.)

[13] Huntington manuscript, p. 36. The Bancroft Library of the University of California possesses notes of interviews with a number of men prominent in California history collected by H. H. Bancroft or his representatives. In some cases these notes are very full and informing. They will be referred to in the present volume as “Huntington manuscript,” “Crocker manuscript,” etc. See also Redding, “Sketch of the Life of Mark Hopkins” (San Francisco, 1881).

[14] Huntington manuscript, pp. 9-10.

[15] Crocker manuscript, pp. 28-29. See also Hittell, “History of California,” Vol. 4.

[16] Report of a committee of the board of directors, Sacramento Valley Railroad Company, August 7, 1855.

[17] Articles of association and by-laws of the Sacramento Valley Railroad Company, together with an estimate of the gross receipts of the road when in operation, New York, 1853.

[18] Engineer’s report of a preliminary survey of the Stockton and Copperopolis Railroad with estimates of cost and traffic, October, 1862.

[19] Report of the chief engineer on the survey, cost of construction, and estimated revenue of the Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad of California, San Francisco, 1863.

[20] Report of President Moore to stockholders, 1873.

[21] Report of the chief engineer on the preliminary survey, cost of construction, and estimated revenue of the Central Pacific Railroad of California, etc., October 22, 1862; report of Acting Chief Engineer Montague, October 8, 1864. Reprinted in “Evidence concerning projected railways across the Sierra Nevada Mountains,” _sup. cit._

[22] Report of the chief engineer on the preliminary survey, cost of construction, etc., October 22, 1862 (October 1, 1861), _sup. cit._

[23] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 3774, testimony C. P. Huntington.

[24] Complaint of Samuel Brannan, June 21, 1870. Filed in the case of Brannan v. Central Pacific Railroad, in the District Court of the Fifteenth Judicial District of the State of California.

[25] Bancroft, “History of California,” Vol. 7. p. 545, note. The assessed value of the associates’ property in Sacramento County in 1861 was $118,035.

[26] United States Pacific Railway Commission Report, p. 87.

[27] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 3421, testimony M. D. Boruck.

[28] Crocker manuscript, p. 32.

[29] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 2630-31, testimony Leland Stanford.

[30] _Ibid._, p. 2652. testimony Leland Stanford. Stanford and his associates bought stock in 1871 for which they paid $400 or $500 a share, but Stanford says that this was to quiet litigation which he described as blackmail.

[31] Ellen M. Colton v. Leland Stanford _et al._, in the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Sonoma, 1883. Hereafter referred to as “Colton case.” The record in this proceeding contains much valuable information relative to the history of the Southern Pacific and the activities of the Huntington-Stanford group.

[32] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 3493, testimony D. O. Mills.

[33] Crocker manuscript, pp. 29-30.

[34] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 2731, testimony Leland Stanford.

[35] _Ibid._, p. 2399, testimony A. Cohen; p. 2767, testimony Leland Stanford.

[36] Colton case, pp. 948-49, Huntington to Colton, October 8, 1874.

[37] Tinkham, “History of Stockton,” p. 356; _San Francisco Chronicle_, June 13, 1874.

[38] Laws of California, 1852, Ch. 77.

[39] _Ibid._, 1857, Ch. 243.

[40] _Ibid._, 1858, Ch. 300.

[41] _Ibid._, 1859, Ch. 241.

[42] _Ibid._, 1859, Ch. 263, 264.

[43] _Ibid._, 1859, Ch. 262.

[44] Laws of California, 1863, Ch. 77

[45] _Ibid._, 1863, Ch. 125.

[46] _Ibid._, 1863, Ch. 207.

[47] _Ibid._, 1863, Ch. 310.

[48] _Ibid._, 1863, Ch. 209. The value of these privileges has been estimated at $200,000.

[49] _Ibid._, 1863, Ch. 291.

[50] _Ibid._, 1863, Ch. 314.

[51] _Ibid._, 1864, Ch. 320. Twenty years later the quarries were still undelivered.

[52] Constitution of the State of California, Arts. VIII, XI, Sec. 10.

[53] People v. Pacheco, 27 Cal., 176 (1865).

[54] Angel. “History of Placer County,” 1882, p. 280.

[55] “The Great Dutch Flat Swindle!--An address to the Board of Supervisors, Officers and People of San Francisco,” 1864.

[56] French v. Teschemaker, 24 Cal. 518 (1864).

[57] Laws of California, 1864, Ch. 344.

[58] California Supreme Court Records, Vol. 38, case of People v. Coon.

[59] California Supreme Court Records, Vol. 38, p. 98, _sup. cit._

[60] People v. Coon, 25 Cal. 635 (1864).

[61] People v. Supervisors, 27 Cal. 655 (1865).

[62] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 3610-11, testimony Leland Stanford.

[63] _Ibid._, p. 3464, testimony E. H. Miller.

[64] Angel, “History of Placer County,” pp. 158-65.

[65] Fankhauser, “Financial History of California,” p. 299 _ff._

[66] Report of the chief engineer upon recent surveys, progress of construction, and an approximate estimate of cost of first division of 50 miles of the Central Pacific Railroad of California, July 1, 1863.

[67] Letter of L. L. Robinson, chief engineer, to Chas. A. Sumner and Henry Epstein, Chairmen Committees on Railroads, Legislature of Nevada, Sacramento, February 3, 1865. Printed in a pamphlet entitled “Evidence concerning projected railways across the Sierra Nevada Mountains,” _sup. cit._

[68] Stanislaus, Merced, Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties. In Kern County the bond issue was limited to $480,000 and in Stanislaus to $180,000.

[69] Letters of Governor Haight, on the constitutional power of the legislature to authorize cities and counties to donate bonds to railroad corporations, Sacramento, 1870.

[70] Persons who desire details of the controversies in Congress prior to the outbreak of the Civil War may consult Haney, “Congressional History of Railways,” or Davis “History of the Union Pacific.”

[71] Laws of California, 1852, p. 276. See also resolutions passed May 17, 1853 (Laws of 1853, p. 315); May 13, 1854 (Laws of 1854, p. 224); February 25, 1854 (Laws of 1854, p. 227); March 19, 1857 (Laws of 1854, p. 370); April 1, 1859 (Laws of 1859, p. 390); April 15, 1859 (Laws of 1859, p. 394). In 1859 the legislature adopted a memorial to the same general effect (Laws of 1859, p. 395).

[72] The proceedings of the Pacific Railroad Convention of 1859 were published in the _San Francisco Alta_, September 21-26, 1859, and in a special supplement of the same paper. See also _The Pacific_, October 6, 1859, and other California papers. The convention was attended by delegates from Oregon and Washington. It thought that the Pacific Railroad should run from the city of San Francisco through the counties of San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Alameda, to the city of Stockton, thence over the Sierras by a central route. It favored also a branch to Puget Sound. Resolutions were adopted contemplating an issue of $15,000,000 in bonds by the state of California to cover the cost of railroads within that state, and an issue of an unspecified amount, presumably $5,000,000 by the state of Oregon. In February, 1860, an adjourned meeting of the same convention was held at Sacramento. Considerable opposition developed at this meeting to the proposal to bond the state for The vote taken at San Francisco was reconsidered, and a new resolution passed, recommending state aid to a transcontinental railroad to the extent of not more than $15,000,000, but proposing that security be taken for the advances made so that the sum should not become a state charge. In other words, this idea of a loan was substituted for that of a donation. (_Sacramento Union_, February 7-11, 1860.)

[73] Report of the chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, on his operations in the Atlantic states, Sacramento, 1862. It should be added that Huntington himself was in Washington while the Act of 1864 was being debated. Cornelius Cole, one time senator from California, says of Huntington’s activity at this time: “During the pendency of this legislation [Act of 1864], C. P. Huntington spent much of his time in Washington. Many of the amendments were suggested by him, and it gave me much satisfaction to forward his views. In former years in Sacramento we had been in close political fellowship, besides ... I had been associated with him and others in the organization of the Central Pacific Railroad Company....” (Cornelius Cole, Memoirs, pp. 179-80.)

[74] 12 United States Statutes 489 (1862).

[75] United States v. Southern Pacific Co., Record, pp. 1654-57.

[76] Report of chief engineer, Central Pacific Railroad of California, on his operations in the Atlantic states, 1862.

[77] 13 United States Statutes 356 (1864).

[78] For a full digest of the Acts of 1862 and 1864, and for an account of the Congressional history involved, the reader is referred to Haney, “A Congressional History of Railways.” Senator A. A. Sargent asserted in 1878 that he, Sargent, wrote the acts himself. (45th Congress, 2d Session, Congressional Record, Vol. 7. p. 2024.)

[79] Huntington manuscript, pp. 78-79. The act referred to appears in 14 United States Statutes 78-79.

[80] Report of the chief engineer on the preliminary survey of the Central Pacific Railroad, etc., October 22, 1862.

[81] United States v. Union Pacific, 91 U. S. 72 (1875).

[82] 12 United States Statutes 489 (1862), Sec. 6.

[83] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 2562, testimony W. H. Mills.

[84] The Western Pacific had received in addition two patents conveying 27,505.93 acres, but these lands were assigned by the Central Pacific to outside parties.

[85] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 3569-70.

[86] United States v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co., 146 U. S. 570, 593 (1892).

[87] Newhall v. Sanger, 92 U. S. 761 (1875).

[88] Kansas Pacific v. Dunmeyer, 113 U. S. 629 (1885).

[89] Hastings and D. R. Co. v. Whitney, 132 U. S. 357 (1889); Whitney v. Taylor, 158 U. S. 85, 92 (1895); Bardon v. Northern Pacific, 145 U. S. 535 (1892).

[90] Menotti v. Dillon. 167 U. S. 703 (1897).

[91] Central Pacific Railroad case, 3 L. D. 264.

[92] 9 United States Statutes 631 (1851).

[93] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 2412, testimony W. H. Mills.

[94] 1863 to 1913 “An Account of the Ceremonies Attending the Inauguration of the Work of Construction of the Central Pacific.” Interesting details of the course of construction of the Central and Union Pacific railroads are given in Carter, “When Railroads Were New,” and in Sabin, “Building the Pacific Railway.”

[95] Report of the chief engineer upon recent surveys of the Central Pacific Railroad of California, July, 1863.

[96] _Ibid._, December, 1865, and July, 1869.

[97] _Ibid._, October 8, 1864.

[98] _Ibid._, December, 1863.

[99] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 2581-82, testimony Arthur Brown, superintendent of bridges and buildings.

[100] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 2579, statement William Hood; pp. 2580-81, 3150, statement J. H. Strobridge; pp. 2576-77, statement L. M. Clement; p. 3055, testimony E. H. Miller; pp. 2581-82, statement Arthur Brown.

[101] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 2523, testimony Leland Stanford. On the other hand, there were abundant supplies of timber along the line, and the price of machinery declined after the war.

[102] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 3139-41, testimony J. H. Strobridge. The following table is prepared from Mr. Strobridge’s testimony:

NUMBER OF MEN EMPLOYED IN CENTRAL PACIFIC CONSTRUCTION, 1864-69, AND RATE OF PAY

Number of Number of
Year Chinamen Rate of pay White Men Rate of pay

1864 Very few 1,200 $30 a month
1865 7,000 $30 a month 2,500 35 ” ”
1866 11,000 35 ” ” 2,500-3,000 35 ” ”
1867 11,000 35 ” ” 2,500-3,000
1868 5,000-6,000 2,000-3,000
1869 5,000 1,500-1,600

[103] Huntington was always openly in favor of unrestricted Chinese immigration. He said that exclusion deprived the United States of tractable and cheap labor, which was needed to build up the desert places of the country. He believed the fanatical hostility to the Chinese was limited to California, where, he asserted, the Irish Catholics swung the balance of power. (_San Francisco Examiner_, January 4, 1889.)

[104] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 3642, testimony Charles Crocker. A letter from Mr. Judah to Dr. Strong, dated July 10, 1863, suggests that it was Judah’s influence which prevented Crocker from building sections 19 to 30. Judah wrote: “I have had a big row and fight on the contract question, and although I had to fight alone, carried my point and prevented a certain gentleman from becoming a further contractor on the Central Pacific Railroad at present.” (_Ibid._, p. 2966, testimony Strong.) This was probably only one of a number of differences of opinion between the Stanford-Huntington group and the original promoters of the Central Pacific, led by Judah. It was only after Judah’s death that the first-named interests were able to dominate the situation completely.

[105] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 3769, testimony Collis P. Huntington.

[106] _Ibid._, pp. 2621-26, testimony Leland Stanford.

[107] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 3048, testimony E. H. Miller. For a general discussion of the relative advisability of construction by contract as opposed to construction by the Central Pacific itself, see an earlier report by Stanford, Hopkins, and Miller. (_Ibid._, pp. 3045-46.) This report made the point that the letting of contracts to a responsible contractor would raise the credit of the railroad.

[108] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 3436.

[109] _Ibid._, p. 3157, testimony J. H. Strobridge.

[110] The actual cost of the whole work to the Central Pacific depended upon Mr. Crocker’s reports upon the work which he did. There is no evidence that the company exercised any supervision over these reports, although it was to the advantage of the construction company to describe as much of the work as possible as heavy; but on the other hand, Mr. Crocker’s engineers testified that Crocker never attempted to influence them in their estimates. (United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 3207, testimony L. Clement.)

[111] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 3511, testimony Richard F. Stevens.

[112] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 2636, testimony Leland Stanford.

[113] _Ibid._, p. 3661, testimony Charles Crocker.

[114] Colton case, pp. 266-68, deposition of Collis P. Huntington.

[115] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 2640, testimony Leland Stanford.

[116] _Ibid._, p. 3661, testimony Charles Crocker; p. 2637, testimony Leland Stanford.

[117] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 3436-37.

[118] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 2897, testimony W. E. Brown; p. 3062, testimony E. H. Miller; pp. 3511-20, testimony R. F. Stevens.

[119] United States Railway Commission, pp. 2712-17, testimony D. Z. Yost.

[120] _Ibid._, pp. 2875-92, testimony John Miller; pp. 3028-33, testimony N. Greene Curtis.

[121] There is some evidence that $6,000,000 of this cash was not strictly cash, but took the form of notes of the Central Pacific Railroad which were ultimately settled in land-grant bonds at $86.50. (United States Pacific Railway Commission Report, p. 75.) Mr. Crocker says that the interest on a portion of these bonds paid his expenses on a trip to Europe. (_Ibid._, p. 3668, testimony Charles Crocker.)

[122] United States Pacific Railway Commission Report, pp. 74-75.

[123] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 2655-56, testimony Leland Stanford; p. 3668, testimony Charles Crocker. Mr. Huntington said in 1873 that he thought his dividend amounted to about $1,000,000, but in 1887 he admitted that he had earlier mistaken the facts. (_Ibid._, pp. 4026-28, testimony C. P. Huntington.)

[124] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 2977-88, testimony W. E. Brown.

[125] 1863-1913. An Account of the Ceremonies Attending the Inauguration of the Work of Constructing the Central Pacific. _Scribner’s Magazine_ for August, 1892, contains an article describing the completion of the Central Pacific and also a reproduction of the well-known painting, “The Joining of the Central and Union Pacific” (“The Last Spike”).

[126] The indenture making this assignment, dated October 31, 1864, is printed in full in the appendix to the journals of the Senate and Assembly of the 20th Session of the Legislature of the State of California, Vol. 6 (1874), No. 2. pp. 27-29. It covers not only the right to build and operate a railroad between Sacramento and San José, but also “all the rights, grants, donations, rights-of-way, loan of the credit of the Government of the United States, or the bonds thereof.”

[127] United States Pacific Railway Commission, p. 2785, testimony Leland Stanford.

[128] Laws of California, 1852, Ch. 107.

[129] City of Oakland v. Oakland Water Front Company, transcript of testimony, p. 649, deposition Horace W. Carpentier; p. 1755, testimony A. J. Moon.

[130] City of Oakland v. Oakland Water Front Company, transcript of testimony, pp. 704-5, deposition Horace W. Carpentier; Wood, “History of Alameda County”; _San Francisco Examiner_, June 26, 1892, July 3, 1892.

[131] Moon, one of the trustees who approved the grant, was afterwards taken into Carpentier’s employ. Adams, another trustee, secured the property now known as the “Adams Wharf” to the east of the narrow-gauge bridge.

[132] City of Oakland v. Carpentier, 13 Cal. 540 (1859); 21 Cal. 642 (1863). The Oakland ordinances were ratified and confirmed by act of the California legislature passed May 15, 1861. (Laws of California, 1861, Ch. 377.)

[133] City of Oakland v. Oakland Water Front Company, transcript on appeal, pp. 652-54, deposition Horace W. Carpentier.

[134] Laws of California, 1868, Ch. 230.

[135] City of Oakland v. Oakland Water Front Company, transcript of testimony, _sup. cit._ pp. 976-80.

[136] City of Oakland v. Oakland Water Front Company, transcript of testimony, pp. 657-64, deposition Horace W. Carpentier.

[137] See the Ordinance of the City of Oakland, No. 302 (April 2, 1868). An excellent account of these transactions is given in an unpublished manuscript in the University of California Library, prepared by Stephen S. Barrows, one-time student in the University of California. It is of some interest to observe that among the direct beneficiaries of the agreements cited were Messrs. Carpentier, Felton, and Merritt, all three at one time or other mayors of Oakland. Mr. Merritt was mayor at the time ordinances Nos. 300, 301, and 302 were passed. The compromise described was effected under authority of an act of the California legislature dated March 21, 1868.

[138] By ordinance passed August 31, 1867, the Oakland City Council voted to pay Mr. Felton a fee equal to 15 per cent of all the property recovered by the city in the water-front litigation. (Transcript of testimony, _sup. cit._ p. 759.) Mr. Merritt was subsequently accused of having promoted the settlement between the city of Oakland and the Oakland Water Front Company in order to derive a pecuniary profit for himself. In 1869 the city council of Oakland authorized the appointment of a committee of three to ascertain by what title Mr. Merritt held certain water-front property near the foot of Broadway in Oakland. On report of the committee the council exonerated Mr. Merritt. (_Ibid._, pp. 1406-7, 1410-21.)

[139] City of Oakland v. Oakland Water Front Company, 118 Cal. 160 (1897).

[140] Western Pacific Railway Company v. Southern Pacific Company, 151 Fed. 376 (1907). The court also pointed out in the decision that although the low-tide line was projected across the mouth of the estuary for the purpose of determining the boundary of Oakland, this should not be done in ascertaining the limit of the railroad grant.

[141] The boundaries are set forth in the _San Francisco Times_ of March 7, 1868. As later amended and confined to the area north of Point Avisadero, they are described in the _Daily Alta_ of March 14, 1868.

[142] Appendix to journals of Senate and Assembly of the California Legislature, 17th Session, Vol. 3, 1868.

[143] _San Francisco Bulletin_, March 7, 1868.

[144] _Daily Alta California_, March 10, 1868.

[145] _San Francisco Times_, March 13, 1868.

[146] See resolutions of a meeting of San Francisco business men in March, 1868, recommending that the legislature grant 150 acres each to the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific; and the admission of the Southern Pacific that it could get along with 250 acres.

[147] Laws of California, 1867-68, Ch. 543.

[148] Laws of California, 1867-68, Ch. 386. A lively account of the circumstances attending the passage of the Goat Island bill through the legislature was published by an old newspaper man, Sam Leake by name, in the _San Francisco Bulletin_, March 17 and 19, 1917. There is, however, no way of verifying this story, and it cannot be accepted on Mr. Leake’s authority alone.

[149] Laws of California, 1869-70, Ch. 381.

[150] Mr. Stanford has asserted that the whole trouble was caused by six gentlemen, three of whom had interests near Ravenswood, where it was thought that the Central Pacific might cross, and three of whom had interests in Sausalito. He says he was informed by a member of Congress that he could have had necessary legislation in Congress for $10,000. This refers to the campaign of 1875-76. (United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 3170-71, testimony Leland Stanford.)

[151] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 3496-3500, testimony D. O. Mills.

[152] The California and Oregon Railroad Company was subsidized by Congress by Act of July 25, 1866, to build from a point on the Central Pacific Railroad to the Oregon boundary, where it was to meet a railroad coming south from Portland. Tracks reached Chico, July 2, 1870. In 1870, the California and Oregon was consolidated with the Central Pacific. In 1872 it reached Redding, and on October 5, 1887, the state line. The federal legislation relating to the California and Oregon Railroad is notable for the liberality of the land grant made.

[153] This branch was known as the San Joaquin Valley Railroad. The company bearing this name was incorporated in 1868. Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins, Charles, and E. B. Crocker were directors. In 1870 it was consolidated with the Central Pacific. Stanford declared in 1887 that the trunk lines up the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys were the most important factors in the Central Pacific’s local business.

[154] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 3628-29, testimony J. P. Jackson; p. 3613, testimony Leland Stanford.

[155] United States Pacific Railway Commission, pp. 3366-67, testimony J. C. Stubbs.

[156] _Ibid._, pp. 3628-29, testimony J. C. Jackson.

[157] _San Francisco Bulletin_, November 29, 1869.