Thomas C. DurantThomas Clark Durant (February 6, 1820 – October 5, 1885) was an American physician, businessman, and financier who played a central role in the formation of the Union Pacific Railroad. He was vice-president of the Union Pacific in 1869 when it met with the Central Pacific Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory. He created the financial structure that led to the Crédit Mobilier scandal.
Pacific Railroad ActsThe Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 were a series of acts of Congress that promoted the construction of a "transcontinental railroad" (the Pacific Railroad) in the United States through authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of land to railroad companies.
Union Pacific RailroadClass I freight railroad in the United StatesThe Union Pacific Railroad Company (reporting marksUP, UPP, UPY) is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over 32,200 miles (51,800 km) routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second-largest railroad in the United States after BNSF.
Crédit MobilierThe Crédit Mobilier (French pronunciation: [kʁedi mɔbilje]; officially the Société Générale du Crédit Mobilier [sɔsjete ʒeneʁal dy kʁedi mɔbilje], lit. 'general company for movable [collateral-backed] credit') was a French banking company created in 1852 by the Pereire brothers, and one of the world’s most significant and influential financial institutions in the mid-19th century.
First transcontinental railroadFirst U.S. railroad connecting the Pacific coast and Eastern statesAmerica's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route") was a 1,911-mile (3,075 km) continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa, with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay.
Pacific coastPacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. GeographyAmericasNorth AmericaCountries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of the notable exceptions is Panama, where the Pacific coast is primarily on its southern border. The first Europeans to see the Pacific Ocean were able to do so by crossing the narrow Isthmus of Panama.
Land grantA land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants of land are also awarded to individuals and companies as incentives to develop unused land in relatively unpopulated countries; the process of awarding land grants are not limited to the countries named below.
Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877, and was the Commanding General of the Union Army. He led the army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865. Grant was born in Ohio and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1843. He served with distinction in the Mexican–American War, but returned to civilian life impoverished in 1854.
1872 United States presidential electionPresidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Grant/Wilson (Republican).
Utah TerritoryThe Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state.
Gilded AgeIn United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mark Twain's 1873 novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. It was a time of rapid economic and capital growth, especially in the North and West.Republican Party (United States)The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a right-wing populist and neo-nationalist political party in the United States, sitting on the right-wing to far-right of the political spectrum. Founded in 1854, it emerged as the main rival of the Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the two parties have dominated American politics since then.
Missouri RiverThe Missouri River is a river in the Central and Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Montana, then flows east and south for 2,341 mi (3,767 km) before entering the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.