By the latter part of the nineteenth century, the railroad was king. Railroad lines crisscrossed the North American continent, allowing for the long-distance transportation of oil, coal, lumbar, gold, and other valuables. Despite high operating costs and fierce competition, the search for better and more profitable routes was constant. David Moffat, a banker and railroad executive, dreamed of a direct route across the Rocky Mountains, a route that would allow him to tap into Colorado's vast mineral wealth. There was, however, one major obstacle standing in his way-the 13,660-foot Continental Divide. The Moffat Line tells the story of David Moffat and the impossible dream that led to the 1927 completion of the Moffat Tunnel. The story is also about the men who drove the trains and built and operated the railroad under incredible weather and equipment challenges-day and night. Together, Moffat's vision and the exploits of the railroad workers combine to produce a fascinating chapter in the history of the American West.

THE MOFFAT LINE

David Moffat's Railroad over and under the Continental DivideBy John A. Sells

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 John A. Sells
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-2654-8

Contents

Preface.............................................................................IXChapter 1: Moffat Background........................................................1Chapter 2: The Rio Grande Railroad..................................................11Chapter 3: Crossroads...............................................................20Chapter 4: Friend And Foe...........................................................22Chapter 5: Getting Started..........................................................35Chapter 6: The Rollins Pass Trail And John Quincy Adams Rollins.....................45Chapter 7: Dangerous Trial And Error................................................67Chapter 8: It Is Never Routine......................................................80Chapter 9: Gore Canyon..............................................................85Chapter 10: Day By Day..............................................................88Chapter 11: Near Disaster...........................................................91Chapter 12: Railroading.............................................................95Chapter 13: Moffat Legacy...........................................................103Chapter 14: Honorable Mention: Gandy Dancers........................................104Chapter 15: The Moffat Tunnel.......................................................112End Notes...........................................................................119Bibliography........................................................................123Index...............................................................................127

Chapter One

Moffat Background

This is a story about a man with a vision of a railroad going through a tunnel under the Continental Divide, but first David Moffat and his few loyal investors had to cross over the spine of the American continent. The Moffat family (spelled in a variety of ways) has two theories of origin. The simplest is directly to and from Scotland. The more detailed history finds the name progressing north from Italy, through France into Normandy, and then following William the Conqueror across the channel into England. From there, the thread leads to Scotland and, for some, over to Ireland. Today the representation is international.

The first Moffat to settle in the New World—Samuel and his wife Anne Gregg—sometime in the 1720s, located a spot on the upper Hudson River near present-day Newburgh, New York. Samuel and Anne had twelve children and all lived to at least adulthood, which was unusual for the time. Moreover, the Moffat progeny reportedly supported the Revolution during a divisive period and thereafter played a progressive part in business and local politics. The early genealogy is set down in limited form in the McLaughlin book and in manuscript detail. It is more than need be repeated here. Basically, the Moffat family—as it rapidly grew—was from all accounts a close-knit and productive group for over two hundred years, and there still remains a scattered linkage about the world. The centers of the American roots are Blooming Grove and Washingtonville, New York. The Washingtonville name was in deference to George Washington. The two towns and a museum and library exist today as one within the other. To the east is Newburgh, with State Road 208 serving as the artery, as it did in the early days as a rural road.

Patriarchs

David Halliday Moffat Sr., one of the twelve children born to Samuel and Anne Gregg, lived from March 1780 until October 1863. Some of the historical background suggests that he could barely support his large family of eight children. Besides farming, he owned a feed mill, which was twice destroyed by fire. Later, he reportedly was into premium butter production with another Moffat, and they marketed to New York City. As an aside, the oldest operating winery in the country, according to Moffat Library manuscripts, can be traced back to 1839 and John Jacques, a Moffat relation.

David H. Moffat Jr., one of eight children, was born July 23, 1839, and his childhood was spent among a growing Moffat family in Washingtonville. At the early age of eleven, he may have left home for New York City to work as a messenger for the New York Exchange Bank (now Irving Exchange bank). By age sixteen, he reportedly was an assistant to the bank teller. Although the real extent of his duties is not clear, it was not that uncommon for young people at the time to bear some significant responsibilities.

Samuel Moffat, the eldest child of David Moffat Jr., probably recalling the desperate times of his parents and his seven siblings, experienced the first call of the Western Frontier and moved to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1851 to take a bank cashier position. The community was founded in 1845 in a rich agricultural region. Samuel was soon writing letters encouraging any Moffat to pick up and relocate some 1,200 miles west to join him. Most seem to have passed on the invitation. However, his parents—along with his younger brother David Moffat Jr.—made the decision to go West, traveling in the comfort of the New York and Erie Railroad.

With Samuel's referral and David's New York Exchange Bank experience, the transition probably went well enough. Employees with money management skills on the frontier were in short supply. While at the New York Exchange Bank, David Moffat Jr. had become a close friend of Benjamin F. Allen. Aside from Samuel, it may have been the influence of Allen that sealed Moffat's decision to go along with his family to Des Moines. While there, he worked at the A. J. Stevens Bank.

On His Own

Benjamin Allen had bigger plans, however, and he soon moved 135 miles west to Omaha where he planned to establish a "financial center." Moffat soon followed Allen to Omaha and a job as cashier for the Bank of Nebraska. However, even with the tight family bonding, the raw frontier of Omaha was a world away from Des Moines and David Jr. left alone. Unknown to Moffat, he was at the right spot at the right time. In the later years, family members reportedly may have joined Moffat in Denver.

During his Omaha experience, Moffat found time away from banking to buy and sell real estate. His efforts paid off, because by 1859, at age twenty and with escalating land values, he was a paper millionaire. Despite the heady experience, he was still a minor and William Byers, who became a mentor and a lifelong friend, had to complete the paperwork until he left for Denver to begin his newspaper career as publisher of The Rocky Mountain News.

Moffat enjoyed Omaha and its frontier people. His charisma, initiative, and character brought him in contact with the right people. The earlier role models of a flock of aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, siblings, and grandparents had left their mark. He was soon in the social swirl and, although Omaha was a tiny town where it was easy enough to get shot, people living there or passing through had a better view of the Western potential. During his three years in Omaha, Moffat became close friends with George Kassler. Kassler would move on to Denver and an influential business career in water development. As mentioned, he also held a friendship with William Byers. Byers eventually left Omaha for Denver in April 1859 and endured six weeks of spring prairie storms and Indian attacks.

While in Omaha, Moffat established a friendship with the Woolworth brothers: C. C. Woolworth (probably Calvin Colton, 1833–1925) and C. D. Woolworth (probably Charles Dawson, 1837–?). Samuel Buel Woolworth (1800–1881) was their father. The brothers owned some book and stationery supply stores in various towns up and down the Missouri River. They were not the distant predecessors of Frank W. and Charles S. Woolworth, who formed the F. W. Woolworth retail chain in 1912. Furthermore, the 1860 St. Joseph, Missouri, city directory lists a C. C. and S. W. Woolworth. S. W. Woolworth may have been a son or another relative. The listing no longer existed after 1881. The 1860 and 1861 directory does list a C. C. and C. D. Woolworth and a business name of Woolworth and Colt (Benjamin F.) as booksellers and bookbinders. In 1871, the business was located at 83 Felix Street. The West often experienced boom and bust. In 1860, investment speculation fueled a bust that wiped out young Moffat's brief millionaire status. It was a sharp lesson and, after paying off his creditors, his character and bonds of friendship would hold up at a critical time as they would many times in the future.

The Woolworth brothers were interested in establishing a book and stationery supply store in Denver—and they favored Moffat with a position as manager. One source supports a partnership agreement: Woolworth and Moffat. In any event, three or four wagons loaded with books and stationery supplies and their drivers—along with Moffat—left Omaha on a cold February morning in 1860. The frigid trip took twenty-nine days, reaching Denver on March 17, 1860. The store was located across Cherry Creek at Auraria, now a three-college campus. The type of business was a good choice; the citizens were hungry for anything to read, and Moffat subscribed to some Eastern newspapers, which would arrive weekly by stage.

Moffat got on well in Denver just as he had in Omaha. The business grew, and he was able to secure enough capital to begin buying and shipping gold dust, later switching to more accurate bullion, which turned him a profit and more public exposure. Moffat was motivated by money. His personal ambition was to accumulate a personal fortune—$75,000 was one amount—and return home to New York. Of course, thousands of other visitors to the West held similar visions.

The mining wealth pouring out of the nearby mountains and the economic activity elsewhere in Colorado were easy enough to see. However, slow-moving freight wagons—and even the faithful stagecoach with a ten-day run from Leavenworth and later Atchison, Kansas—would soon be incapable of supporting the growth that was taking place. A railroad—more than one—was needed. The Union Pacific was laying track from Omaha and the Kansas Pacific, which would cross central Kansas, was still readying itself at the Missouri River. The bookstore at Auraria was a success and, after a year, Moffat relocated back across Cherry Creek in the Post Office building at present day 14th and Larimer Streets. Moffat, in the meantime, was being noticed. At the close of 1861, he was appointed postmaster and a Western Union agent in 1862.

There was a more pressing issue, however. Leaving the business in good hands, he took the overland stage east to the Missouri River and the train to his former home in Washingtonville, New York, to marry Mary Frances Buckout. Their first home was in Auraria at 12th and Larimer Streets; they lived in a small house among the Indians who occupied the area long before Denver became a city. Their only child, Marcia, was born there.

In 1864, Moffat was appointed to serve as adjutant general for Colorado Territory. As the year ended, Moffat and his family experienced the threat and turmoil from the fallout of the November 1864 Sand Creek Battle (most people eventually agreed it was a massacre) during the height of the Indian wars of 1864–1866. He planned to take a family trip back East, but may have delayed with second thoughts about the dangers of the overland trip and even the security of Denver.

The Sand Creek Massacre was a tragic incident of misunderstandings and a stain on Colorado's citizens. There had been a series of isolated attacks on homesteaders and small wagon trains by rogue Indians. The attacks were brutal, with killings, burnings, and mutilations beyond the customary bounds of engagement. The final straw might have been the Hungate family massacre of the parents and their two daughters on their employer's ranch, southeast of Denver. In November 1864, a militia was formed with Colonel Chivington in command and the renegade Indians were tracked to their suspected location and attacked. Instead, the guilty Indians had left the camp and mostly innocent families were slain, while Chief Black Kettle flew the American flag of peace that had been given to him earlier in Denver. The policing event became a tragic murder party. Nevertheless, Moffat and his family left for the East in late 1865, returning safely to Denver in March 1866.

Business Opportunities

Jerome B. Chaffee and Ebenezer Smith were early founders of the First National Bank of Denver, which was floundering. They approached Moffat to put the business on a sound footing. The failure of a bank just as Denver was finding its place on the map would be terrible. Moffat was appointed cashier on September 6, 1866.

The position was just what Moffat had dreamed about—and was an opportunity to satisfy his dream of accumulating a personal fortune and triumphantly return to the East.

As he grew into the cashier position, Moffat found that he had a platform on which to exercise some of his financial ideas. Most of them turned out to be good ideas, including the eventual Moffat railroad project, which prospers today with the Moffat Tunnel as the key to the operation, although he never saw it fulfilled. The massive undertaking was simply more than one man and a few loyal investors could handle.

As the 1860s slid away, local railroading in Colorado was really getting started. There were plans to enter the mountains to reach the gold and silver camps—and Moffat was right in the middle of this Western development. He had naively hoped that the Union Pacific would make Denver a major location and cross the Rockies to the West, but by 1866, the Union Pacific had elected to remain north at Cheyenne to reach its Western destiny.

An incident at about the same time probably cemented their decision. General Grenville Dodge, the Union Pacific chief engineer—in an effort to accommodate the city of Denver and his employer—ordered a survey party to try to locate a route over the mountains. Percy Brown was the on-site lead civil engineer and, with his party, they searched all summer and fall. Dodge decided to join the group and reached them in November—a risky time in the Colorado high country.

A sudden early winter blizzard struck with a severity so intense that the survey group, along with General Dodge, had to abandon their pack mules and survey equipment. Over a very long day-and-a-half march, they were barely able to make their way down into the Boulder Valley (present-day Boulder). Dodge's report to the Union Pacific board put an end to any speculation of a rail line over the Rockies.

Also, nearby Berthoud Pass from a prior survey would require an impossible three-and-a-half-mile tunnel, and it would be 2,000 feet higher than anything in Wyoming. Emotions were such that even the 104-mile connecting line to Cheyenne requested by Denver was denied until Denver investors funded the project.

Business Profile

The local papers carried the Union Pacific remarks. It said, "Build the U. P. to Denver? No, indeed. Denver is too dead to bury." Denver didn't take the rebuff sitting down. In May 1868, a group of business leaders subscribed to a $300,000 bond issue to build the Denver Pacific Railroad and Telegraph Company to connect with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne. Moffat served as treasurer and the organization had several presidents, including General Bela M. Hughes, an attorney and earlier stagecoach figure with Ben Holladay, and W. F. Johnson, who died one month after his appointment. Governor John Evans finally saw the project to completion. Track laying went without incident; communities and businesses used the presence of the railroad to develop. The first engine from Cheyenne rolled into a jubilant Denver on June 24, 1870, carrying a David H. Moffat banner. Union Pacific officials must have viewed the connection in a reserved light, and Denver interests reportedly picked up most of the costs.

Moffat observed Denver's leaders, especially Governor John Evans. Evans was also a physician from Illinois who established the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology. As the railroad work progressed north from Denver and south from Cheyenne, Moffat jumped into the real estate opportunities. He may have played a minor part in the founding of Greeley, Colorado. New York editor Horace Greeley's "Go West" suggestion had an impact on a lot of impressionable people.

During the same time, the Kansas Pacific line—with some renewed financial assistance from the Union Pacific—struggled across Indian country while enduring one attack after another. It finally reached Denver on August 15, 1870. At some point, Moffat would call Denver his home for the remainder of his life.

Moffat was well aware that freight rates set by Eastern railroads discriminated against Colorado manufacturers and businesses. However, greater local opportunities were at hand. Moffat, John Evans, and Walter Cheesman, a real estate developer, partnered to build a local rail line to the shallow underground coal beds just to the north of Denver. Present-day Erie was selected to provide a reliable supply of locomotive fuel. The area is honeycombed with abandoned coal mines.

Prosperity continued; the 1870 census for Denver was 4,759 citizens. By 1890, it would be over 106,000. In 1871, the Moffat family was living in a larger home at 14th and Curtis Streets. In 1872, Moffat, Cheesman, Evans, and James Archer organized the Denver Water company—and the succeeding Union Water Company in 1890. Clean water was at a premium in growing Denver, and in 1880 Cheesman, then a druggist at 15th and Blake Streets, struck on the idea of bottling, selling, and even delivering water from some of the local artesian wells. Eleven water companies were formed and failed over a several-year period, but the Denver Union Water company started by Moffat, Evans, and Cheesman was a success. The same men went on to build Cheesman Dam on the South Platte southwest of Denver. It still delivers clean water to this day. The dam was completed in 1905 and for a time was the world's highest.

In 1872, Evans and Moffat organized the Denver and South Park Railroad. The route entered the mountains southwest of Denver at Morrison and ran from Morrison, up the Platte canyon and through the present-day locales of Kassler, Strontia Springs, Foxton, Buffalo Creek, Bailey, Glenisle, Shawnee, Grant, and over Kenosha Pass below present-day US 285 into the vast two-mile-high South Park. The wagon and stage roads generally followed the railroad and are depicted in the Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey Historic Trail Map, 1x2 degree Quadrangle, Central Colorado, 1999 by Glenn R. Scott, retired.

(Continues...)

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