467:
245:, it tried and failed to join the transcontinental ranks. It was originally the "Union Pacific, Eastern Division", although it was completely independent. The Pennsylvania Railroad, working with Missouri financiers, designed it as a feeder line to the transcontinental system. The owners lobbied heavily in Washington for money to build a railroad from Kansas City to Colorado, and then to California. It failed to get funding to go west of Colorado. It operated many of the first long-distance lines in the state of
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439:. The Kansas Pacific and Denver Pacific lines intersected at the Denver "Jersey Junction", approximately three miles north of downtown. The Strasburg "joining of the rails" of the Kansas Pacific on August 15, 1870, actually marked the completion of a true coast-to-coast railway network in the United States. The
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The Kansas
Pacific main line shown on an 1869 map. The thickened portion along the line indicates the extent of the land grants available to settlers. At the time of the map, the line extended only as far as western Kansas (section in green). The extension to the Colorado Territory (section in red)
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gained effective control of the Kansas
Pacific. In 1880, the Kansas Pacific and the Denver Pacific were consolidated at Gould's direction into the Union Pacific. The company's intention to extend the old Kansas Pacific mainline through the Rockies was strengthened by renewed competition from its
491:. When the Burlington withdrew its plans for its own transcontinental line, however, the Union Pacific lost interest in extending a line west from Denver. It was not until 1934, with the completion of the Dotsero Cutoff, connecting the mainline of the
782:. McDowell was part owner of the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad Company and this collection documents the business of the railroad while he was associated with it. .44 cubic feet (processed). Finding aid compiled by Susan Wheatley.
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to the
Pacific, to compete with the Union Pacific main line. No funds were granted for the construction, however, a situation made more dire by the general collapse in railroad investments following the end of the
233:) was a historic railroad company that operated in the western United States in the late 19th century. It was a federally chartered railroad, backed with government land grants. At a time when the
330:. The construction of the line was motivated in part by the desire of the U.S. government to extend transportation routes into Kansas, which had been the scene of ongoing conflict between future
388:, eager to be connected to the national network, lobbied furiously to extend the Union Pacific lines to reach their city. In 1868, the U.S. Congress enacted a law that was signed by President
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With the backing of German investors, the Kansas
Pacific (KP) began construction on the Colorado extension in October 1869. By March 1870, the westward line had reached
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who would populate the lands near the railroad, forming new towns and providing the economic activity needed to support the railroad itself. During the construction,
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The company began construction on its main line westward from Kansas City in
September 1863. In 1864, the first 40 miles (64 km) of the line to
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314:. The name "Kansas Pacific" was not adopted until 1869. The original intent of the railroad was to build a line west from
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The Kansas
Pacific began in 1855 as the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad, and was later reorganized in 1863 as the
687:
Babbitt, James E. "From
Albuquerque to Tucson in 1867: The Kansas Pacific Railway Survey Photographs of William A. Bell."
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to the Kansas
Pacific. As in the case with the Union Pacific, the Pacific Railway Act authorized large land grants to the
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provided the last link in the coast-to-coast railway network in 1870. The railroad was consolidated with the
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Petrowski, William R. "Kansas City to Denver to
Cheyenne: Pacific Railroad Construction Costs and Profits."
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The arrival of the first trains to Denver in August was two months after the completion in June 1870 of the
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The struggle to build the railway against the backdrop of the
American Civil War was depicted in the 1953
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253:. Its main line furnished a principal transportation route that opened up settlement of the central
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Although the railroad had intended originally to build only as far west as Fort Riley, citizens in
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mainline, that the standard gauge rail network west from Denver would cross the Rockies and reach
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in 1880, and its mainline continues to be an integral part of the Union Pacific network today.
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in the 1870s, extending the national railway network westward across that state and into
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as a girl is shown riding with her parents on a Kansas Pacific passenger train through
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The Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division: or, Three thousand miles in a railway car
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was employed to shoot buffalo to provide meat for the track laying crews.
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the previous year had marked the linking of the Union Pacific with the
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Petrowski, William R. "The Kansas Pacific Railroad in the Southwest."
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William R. Petrowski, "The Kansas Pacific Railroad in the Southwest."
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A 1878 map shows principal cities and towns along the railroad.
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Eastern Kentucky University Special Collections and Archives
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was in operation. In the fall of 1866, the line had reached
396:, with the intention of continuing past Denver through the
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along its mainline. Such grants were to be distributed to
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In 1885, the railroad went before the Supreme Court in
306:, in order to create a second southerly branch of the
768:
Thomas Ewing Jr. and the origin of the Kansas Pacific
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to build a second-phase extension of the line to the
361:. In March 1869, the name was changed by Act of the
322:, then north to join the Union Pacific main line at
431:main line linking Denver with the Union Pacific at
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46:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
706:The Kansas Pacific: a study in railroad promotion
424:in honor of an engineer of the Kansas Pacific.
756:University of Kansas: Kansas Pacific Railroad
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338:sympathizers even prior to the start of the
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809:Predecessors of the Union Pacific Railroad
602:Railroad land grants in the United States
290:Roundhouse, Kansas Pacific Railway, 1873.
106:Learn how and when to remove this message
824:Railway companies disestablished in 1880
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142:Wyandotte, Kansas (part of present-day
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819:Railway companies established in 1869
298:The UP Eastern was authorized by the
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44:adding citations to reliable sources
773:John H. McDowell Papers, 1853-1884
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509:Kansas Pacific R. Co. v. Dunmeyer
814:Rail lines receiving land grants
609:, named after railroad president
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474:In 1874, Union Pacific investor
342:(1861–1865), in what was called
282:was completed the following year
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512:in a dispute over land titles.
296:Union Pacific Eastern Division.
235:first transcontinental railroad
31:needs additional citations for
481:Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
375:William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody
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834:1869 establishments in Kansas
497:Denver and Rio Grande Western
493:Denver and Salt Lake Railroad
237:was being constructed by the
673:. Handbook of Texas Online.
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829:Defunct Missouri railroads
799:Defunct Colorado railroads
689:Journal of Arizona History
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738:Leland, Charles Godfrey.
516:Representation in fiction
308:transcontinental railroad
118:Defunct American railroad
804:Defunct Kansas railroads
699:Union Pacific: 1862-1893
648:coloradoencyclopedia.org
449:Central Pacific Railroad
121:For the 1953 movie, see
55:"Kansas Pacific Railway"
723:Business History Review
701:(Vol. 1. 1987), passim.
414:Colorado Eastern Plains
725:48#2 (1974): 206–224.
704:Petrowski, William R.
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429:Denver Pacific Railway
363:United States Congress
300:United States Congress
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227:Kansas Pacific Railway
129:Kansas Pacific Railway
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123:Kansas Pacific (film)
713:Arizona and the West
628:Arizona and the West
542:Superman (1978 film)
453:Council Bluffs, Iowa
420:, which was renamed
410:Kit Carson, Colorado
257:, and its link from
40:improve this article
708:(Arno Press, 1981).
669:H. Allen Anderson.
650:. December 19, 2016
644:"Comanche Crossing"
318:, across Kansas to
316:Kansas City, Kansas
304:Pacific Railway Act
144:Kansas City, Kansas
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778:2017-03-29 at the
761:2006-06-28 at the
552:, boyhood home of
550:Smallville, Kansas
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403:American Civil War
386:Colorado Territory
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96:November 2023
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29:This article
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671:"Grey Beard"
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139:Headquarters
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38:Please help
33:verification
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529:, starring
336:Confederate
324:Fort Kearny
259:Kansas City
189:Track gauge
793:Categories
614:References
596:Grey Beard
554:Clark Kent
535:Eve Miller
320:Fort Riley
66:newspapers
546:Lois Lane
495:with the
476:Jay Gould
463:by boat.
443:event in
422:Strasburg
183:Technical
173:Successor
776:Archived
759:Archived
717:in JSTOR
693:in JSTOR
654:June 25,
560:See also
487:and the
433:Cheyenne
367:railroad
351:Lawrence
328:Nebraska
251:Colorado
241:and the
208: in
159:Colorado
134:Overview
742:(1867)
435:in the
384:in the
273:History
203:⁄
80:scholar
744:online
727:online
455:, and
382:Denver
359:Salina
263:Denver
247:Kansas
155:Kansas
151:Locale
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332:Union
87:JSTOR
73:books
656:2018
533:and
445:Utah
334:and
225:The
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59:news
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