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Inventory of the General William Jackson Palmer Correspondence, 1875-1877Pikes Peak Library District, Special Collections in the 1905 Carnegie LibraryEmail: http://library.ppld.org/SpecialCollections/SpecialCollectionsContact.aspURL: http://library.ppld.org/SpecialCollections/default.asp ©2005 Pikes Peak Library District
BiographyGeneral William Jackson Palmer (1836-1909), the founder of Colorado Springs, is known for an impressive list of accomplishments including the creation of Cragmor Sanitorium, School for the Deaf and Blind, Union Printer's Home, Antlers Hotel, city parks, and of course his railroad career, which resulted in the founding of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad without government aid. General William Jackson Palmer's railroad career started at the age of seventeen when he worked in the engineering department of the Pennsylvania Railroad. By the age of twenty when he took the position of private secretary to President J. Edgar Thomson of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He quickly moved forward to the position of treasurer with the Union Pacific Railroad in 1865, which allowed him to make important contacts with bankers, financiers, and politicians. Within four years, Palmer became director of the company in 1869 as its name changed to the Kansas Pacific Railway Company. Once he oversaw the completition of the railroad to Denver, he severed ties with the Kansas Pacific. Ready to broaden his business ventures, Palmer met with Colorado Governor Alexander Hunt to discuss building a new railroad, which would stretch from Denver, Colorado to Mexico. On October 27, 1870 the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (1870-1880) was born. The connection from Colorado Springs to Pueblo was completed June 15, 1872. More connections followed suit including the connection to El Morro on April 20, 1876; the connection from Cucharas to Alamosa in May 1878; and the connection in Conejos in April 1880. When it came time to extend the railroad to the mining camp of Leadville, the Denver and Rio Grande Railraod faced bitter opposition from the Santa Fe Railroad, when they argued for possession of the right-of-way up the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River. After two years of litigation and stalls the railroad to Leadville was complete in July 1880. Overall, the railroad was a huge success as it transferred agriculture products, precious metals, and natural resources; allowed the travel of emigrants and tourists; and provided north-south central connections. Palmer's ownership of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad ended when J. Gould purchased the railroad in 1880. Four other individuals essential to the Denver and Rio Grand Railroad were Col. D. C. Dodge, W. S. Jackson and trustees of the bondholders Henry Lamborn and L. H. Meyer of New York. Col. D. C. Dodge, born in 1837, was Vice-President and general manager of the railroad. Dodge began working on the railroad in 1872. He was also Vice-President of the Mexican National Railroad and the Rio Grande Western Railroad. W. S. Jackson was secretary for the Union Contract Company, which constructed the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Other prominent railroad companies during this time included the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Co.; the Kansas Pacific Railway; and the Union Pacific Railway. Thomas Nickerson, president; Chas W. Pierce, treasurer; and Charles F. Morse, superintendent all worked for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Co. Adolphus Meier, trustee; Robert E. Carr, president; George D. Hall, iron merchant; and Thomas Fletcher Oakes, general freight agent worked for the Kansas Pacific Railway. Sidney Dillon from New York and Oliver Ames, president worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. Scope and ContentHandwritten correspondence documents the railroad business in Colorado through the discussion of financial dealings, agreements, and negotiations from 1865-1877, through the personalities of William Jackson Palmer, President of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad; Thomas Nickerson, President of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Co; D. C. Dodge, Vice-President of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad; and others in this 5 in. collection. Correspondence is separated by letters "received" from individuals to Palmer and correspondence "sent" by Palmer. Corrspondence is organized alphabetically by individual and further subdivided chronically. The bulk of the correspondence concerns Col. D. C. Dodge, William Palmer, and Thomas Nickerson discussions on the "Oakes-Dillon agreement," which would split northern and southern Colorado. The major railroad companies involved in the correspondence includes Kansas Pacific Railway, Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Co., and the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Envelopes, with handwritten notes, are included in the correspondence folders. When the materials were donated a paper titled, "General Palmer's Original 1876 Correspondence" was included, which provides details on the individuals and subject matter of the collection. Dodge's 1876 correspondence recounts conversations with Sidney Dillon of the Union Pacific Railroad, regarding shipments with Pueblo merchants, loading coal in box cars, and the construction and financing of the railroad to Trinidad, Colorado. An August 11, 1876 letter includes handwritten notes from Palmer. Dodge's 1877 correspondence urges Palmer to remain neutral and not accept an alliance with Atchison railroad. Dodge states, "Exclusive alliance with Atchison would sacrifice all tariff arrangement with K. P. and coal and coke trade." W. S. Jackson's letter stands out in the collection because it does not concern negotiations or business dealings. Jackson advises Palmer on the best size of spikes and the use of fish plates in construction. Henry Lamborn includes in his writing a list of constitutional provisions concerning consolidating stock. He lists nine reasons why the work of J. Gould and Sidney Dillon would be better than a tri-partite agreement. Lamborn addresses a few letters to Gould. L. H. Meyer's correspondence concerns a tripartite agreement and the actions of Adolphius Meier. Meyer reports that Meier has come to an understanding with Nickerson. He mentions appointing a joint arbitrator. The letter of July 12, 1875, includes Palmer's handwritten notes. Thomas Nickerson requests Palmer's guidance consistently throughout his letters. He tells Palmer what they should include in negotiations. In the 1876 correspondence Nickerson mentions that Meier has suggested a tripartite agreement in that all competing business should be pooled and "that an expert shall be mutually chosen." Nickerson states that Meier strongly wants the agreement to be for one year, while Nickerson wants five years. He discourages Palmer from the Dillon agreement. In Nickerson's 1877 correspondence he evaluates Palmer's proposal. There is also mention of what to do with Boston parties. The smallest portion of the collection is from Charles F. Morse, George D. Hall, J. F. Oakes, Robert E. Carr, and Chas W. Pierce as they request information. In a letter from Morse to Thomas Nickerson, Morse discusses securing arrangements with Denver merchants. Hall's letter requests advice from Palmer concerning the alliance. Oakes discusses Meier's proposition and rates with Palmer. Carr's correspondence includes three telegrams sent to Palmer from St. Louis in which he discusses needing direction conerning business dealings and identifying meeting locations. A letter from Pierce to General Palmer discusses the Windsor Hotel agreement as a fall back plan. Other papers referencing the Windsor Hotel are found in the assorted correspondence folder and General Palmer's correspondence folder. The papers from General Palmer are on letterpress copies. Due to the type of paper, some of the handwriting is difficult to decipher. A numeric filing system has been maintained. However, some of the letters are missing. Some letters are not addressed to an individual. These letters may only be drafts. In a twenty-three point outline of an agreement, Palmer discusses the terms of a tripartite contract, rates on coke, coal, and charcoal, division of rates based on north and south business, rates on freight business versus passenger business, and violations of a contract. In a letter addressed to L. H. Meyer, Palmer seeks negotiation advisement. In a letter addressed to Nickerson, Palmer contrasts the tripartite agreement with the Windsor Hotel agreement. There is a twelve-page document titled, "Considerations" from December 28th 1875 in which Palmer discusses the pros and cons of doing business with a variety of individuals under varying circumstances. The assorted correspondence folder contains letters in which the sender is unknown. There is one letter on telegraph tape regarding an agreement. There are also two telegraph letters, one mailed from Colorado Springs and the other from Denver. Additionally, there are three letters on standard stationary. The letterhead identifies the letters from the Kansas Pacific Railway, Denver and Rio Grande Railway, and the Central Colorado Improvement Company, which helped finance the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Other assorted documentation includes three agreements, which are drafts with notes. One document is labeled "points" of which there are fifteen. The second is identified as "Agreement A" and is also labeled as "Windsor House." The last agreement is labeled the "Oakes-Dillon" agreement and also shares the location, "Windsor House." The agreements have not been separated into a distinct series because they appear to be sent as correspondence. RestrictionsAccess RestrictionsThe collection is open for research. Copy RestrictionsThe researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection. Some materials may not be suitable for photocopying. Consult the archivist for photocopy use. Preferred CitationGeneral William Jackson Palmer Correspondence, 1875-1877. MSS 0265. Special Collections in the 1905 Carnegie Library, Pikes Peak Library District. Processing InformationThis collection was processed by Amy Ziegler in March 2007. Acquisition InformationThis collection was donated in January 2007 by Larry Green of Security, CO. Subject HeadingsAtchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Company Carr, Robert E. Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company Hall, George D. Jackson W. S. Kansas Pacific Railway Company Lamborn, Henry Meyer, L. H. Morse, Charles F. Nickerson, Thomas Oakes, J. F. Palmer, William Jackson Pierce, Chas W. Railroads--Colorado--History Railroads--West(U.S.)--History Box and Folder ListSeries I: Correspondence
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