The Wattis Brothers was a 19th-century railway contracting firm operated by three brothers

Edmund Orson Wattis Jr. Edmund Orson Wattis Jr. (March 6, 1855 – February 3, 1934), was oldest of the brothers who founded Wattis Brothers and the Utah Construction Company. Early life Wattis was born on March 6, 1855, at a farm in Uintah, Utah, Uintah, Utah Territor ...

(1855–1934), Warren L. Wattis, and

William Henry Wattis William Henry Wattis, also known as W. H. Wattis (August 15, 1859 – September 13, 1931), was one of the three Wattis Brothers who founded Utah Construction Company in 1900. Early life William Henry Wattis was born on August 15, 1859, in Uinta ...

(1859–1931). It was founded in the early 1880s by William and Edmund to build railways for the Western expansion of the United States. In 1881, all three brothers operated the railway contracting firm and partnered with, or work for, the Corey Brothers in their first construction job, building the

Oregon Short Line Railroad The Oregon Short Line Railroad was a railroad in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Montana and Oregon in the United States. The line was organized as the Oregon Short Line Railway in 1881 as a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railway. The Union Pacific int ...

lines in Idaho. They then went to Canada to work on the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

, where their horses died of disease and they struggled to work through heavy snows. Wattis Brothers then joined with the Corey Brothers in the Corey Brothers & Company organization to meet the obligations for completing the railway line. Wattis Brothers prospered until the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

, a depression that affected the entire country. The company went broke after their bank failed. Wattis Brothers founded the

Utah Construction Company The Utah Construction Company was a construction company founded by Edmund Orson Wattis Jr., Warren L. Wattis and William. H. Wattis in 1900. History A short four years after its founding, the company was awarded the contract to build the Feat ...

in 1900, and Thomas Dee and David Eccles later became significant investors in the railroad construction organization.

References

{{reflist Companies established in the 1880s Railway infrastructure companies