4 ms·

> Humans (especially pre-industrial, agricultural humans) like to settle near rivers. Apropos of nothing, back during the rush to build the transcontinental ra

> Humans (especially pre-industrial, agricultural humans) like to settle near rivers. Apropos of nothing, back during the rush to build the transcontinental railroad, the Union Pacific thought Cheyenne would become the new hub of the west and Denver would turn into a ghost town. But a quick look at a map shows the abundance of rivers and waterways flowing through Denver while Cheyenne has just a small river flowing through. Not even a railroad was enough to overcome the lack of resources around Cheyenne.

niftich 9y ago
The governor of Colorado and Denver businessmen, including David Moffat, were worried that their city would be eclipsed by Cheyenne, and their own neighbor, the City of Golden, so they raised money to build the 'Denver Pacific' railroad between Cheyenne and Denver. Around the same time, 'Kansas Pacific' built a railroad from Kansas City to Denver, and Denver became a railroad junction in August 1870. Union Pacific's bridge between Council Bluffs and Omaha wasn't completed until March 1872, requiring a ferry trip across the Missouri that was a widely-recognized annoyance [1]. This railroading victory revitalized Denver at a very opportune time. Moffat continued to dedicate his fortunes on continuing a railway directly west across the Rockies from Denver. He died in 1911 with his railroad companies largely bankrupt and incomplete, but in 1928 one of the successor companies opened the Moffat Tunnel, named in his memory, along the right-of-way he laid out. Now, the route from Denver west to Nevada is owned by Union Pacific, despite having been built by competitors to UP's (and CP's) route through Nevada-Ogden-Wyoming. [1] http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Reports/pictures/capture_00309.html http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Reports/pictures/capture_00309.ht...

4 ms·

> Humans (especially pre-industrial, agricultural humans) like to settle near rivers. Apropos of nothing, back during the rush to build the transcontinental ra

by seanalltogether 9y ago

niftich 9y ago
The governor of Colorado and Denver businessmen, including David Moffat, were worried that their city would be eclipsed by Cheyenne, and their own neighbor, the City of Golden, so they raised money to build the 'Denver Pacific' railroad between Cheyenne and Denver. Around the same time, 'Kansas Pacific' built a railroad from Kansas City to Denver, and Denver became a railroad junction in August 1870. Union Pacific's bridge between Council Bluffs and Omaha wasn't completed until March 1872, requiring a ferry trip across the Missouri that was a widely-recognized annoyance [1]. This railroading victory revitalized Denver at a very opportune time. Moffat continued to dedicate his fortunes on continuing a railway directly west across the Rockies from Denver. He died in 1911 with his railroad companies largely bankrupt and incomplete, but in 1928 one of the successor companies opened the Moffat Tunnel, named in his memory, along the right-of-way he laid out. Now, the route from Denver west to Nevada is owned by Union Pacific, despite having been built by competitors to UP's (and CP's) route through Nevada-Ogden-Wyoming. [1] http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Reports/pictures/capture_00309.html http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Reports/pictures/capture_00309.ht...