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The Union Pacific
The UP's construction boss was General Jack Casement and his brother Dan. Both were short of five feet, however, treated their crews like war battalions. Jack Casement conceived an "army on wheels", which was literally a town made out of 22 train cars. The train had everything that you could have in a town on cars. Stocked with guns and ammunition, hundreds of workers lived inside, on top, and outside these cars. The Casement's "army" was anything but unstructured and out of control. Dodge said of them "the best organized, best equipped and best disciplined work force I have ever seen."
Following the UP construction crews were gamblers, shopkeepers, drifters, and outlaws that intended to entertain and rake in the worker's well-earned money. These people set up tents and elaborate buildings that allowed easy and quick take down when the crews moved their sites, always following them. Because these mobile towns moved with the crews, they became "Hells on Wheels." In these shanty towns, saloons, gambling houses, and bars were the only entertainment these people were expected to have during the building process. But there were many fights and murders, usually killing many people during one week. After the construction crews let the site, so did the town, sometimes leaving what was last night a noisy settlement a barren graveyard, complete with gravestones. See video clip of Cheyenne, Wyoming: "Hell on Wheels" |
When
the Union Pacific was created with the establishment of the Pacific
Railroad Act of 1862, it was decided that Major General John Dix
to be the company's president. But the man with the real power was
Dr. Thomas Durant. Like the Big Four, Durant was a shrewd moneymaker.
With an idea from a friend, he started Credit Mobilier, which was
very similar to the Big Four's Crocker Contracting Company. Because
of this was the UP able to start construction. The UP's original
chief engineer, like Judah, was an honest man. When he heard that
Durant wanted to make the line go longer than it had to just to
gain more government money, he resigned. Durant didn't care about
the resignation, but instead hired General Grenville Dodge. Dodge
was the perfect man for the job; he had surveyed other railroad
routes, knew all about railroad construction, and could fight the
Plains Indians.
The
UP's main problem was Indians. Congress was slowly dissolving land
treaties with the Indians. With the UP's acquirement of land parcels
of Indian Territory, the Native Americans had nothing to do except
attack to protect them. The derailed many cars, assaulted construction
crews, and pulled up tracks. While Dodge believed that the Plains
Indians were the only obstacle that the government could get rid of,
Casement's workers were prepared for it. After US military forces
were sent out, Indian attacks decreased in number, although their
onslaughts still continued.