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Re: Railroads That were never Built
Author: JohnB
Date: 07-04-2008 - 18:03
In 1868 Byron Johns Pengra wrote to congress asking for bonds to build a railroad from Coburg, Oregon to Winnamucca, Nevada. This would cross the McKenzie River, (near Eugene) Hills Creek, (near Jasper) prairie, prairie, Summit Lake (south of Diamond Peak)............. He reported that the pass (present day Emigrant Pass) was 5000 feet. No snow. Passed through iron and coal mining areas. Fertile land east of the mountains. Would pay for itself by transporting military supplies to forts. The Pengra proposal can be read in the Wilson Reading Room at the Portland Multnomah Library.
Pengra had been appointed Surveyor General of Oregon by Lincoln. He surveyed the Oregon Central Military Road over the Cascades (south of Diamond Peak) with the idea that at a later date it could become a railroad.
In the late 1860s Astoria had thoughts about being the major seaport in the northwest. This might be possible if they were the western terminus of a railroad that connected with the newly completed transcontinental line in Nevada. Their idea was to build a railroad from Astoria to the Willamette Valley and then connect up with the line that Pengra was proposing over the Cascades that followed his Oregon Central Military Road to Winnemucca. This was the most direct route but there were no centers of population east of the Cascades. Pengra had the backing of somebody named Collis P. Huntington. (One of the "Big Four," Crocker, Stanford, Hopkins, and Huntington)
Portland interests were represented by Ben Holladay and the railroad he was promoting went down the east side of the Willamette Valley past Salem to Eugene. Holladay proposed going south from the Willamette Valley to California via the Rogue River. This was several hundred miles longer for transcontinental transportation but went through locations that had a few people, Roseburg and Medford.
Both proposals needed federal land grants and only one route would get the grants. Holladay was the 1870 version of Jack Abramoff and the grant was awarded to his interests through the efforts of Senator George H. Williams. (US Senator, Oregon, 1865-1871, US Attorney General under Grant, 1871-1875) In 1870 Huntington had more pressing issues elsewhere and with the land grant going to the southern route out of Oregon he withdrew his support for the Pengra plan.
JohnB
Pengra had been appointed Surveyor General of Oregon by Lincoln. He surveyed the Oregon Central Military Road over the Cascades (south of Diamond Peak) with the idea that at a later date it could become a railroad.
In the late 1860s Astoria had thoughts about being the major seaport in the northwest. This might be possible if they were the western terminus of a railroad that connected with the newly completed transcontinental line in Nevada. Their idea was to build a railroad from Astoria to the Willamette Valley and then connect up with the line that Pengra was proposing over the Cascades that followed his Oregon Central Military Road to Winnemucca. This was the most direct route but there were no centers of population east of the Cascades. Pengra had the backing of somebody named Collis P. Huntington. (One of the "Big Four," Crocker, Stanford, Hopkins, and Huntington)
Portland interests were represented by Ben Holladay and the railroad he was promoting went down the east side of the Willamette Valley past Salem to Eugene. Holladay proposed going south from the Willamette Valley to California via the Rogue River. This was several hundred miles longer for transcontinental transportation but went through locations that had a few people, Roseburg and Medford.
Both proposals needed federal land grants and only one route would get the grants. Holladay was the 1870 version of Jack Abramoff and the grant was awarded to his interests through the efforts of Senator George H. Williams. (US Senator, Oregon, 1865-1871, US Attorney General under Grant, 1871-1875) In 1870 Huntington had more pressing issues elsewhere and with the land grant going to the southern route out of Oregon he withdrew his support for the Pengra plan.
JohnB
