If you've ever wondered how people came to live in western Kansas... (I know I have)
In the 1860's, the A.T. & S.F Railroad company (Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe) sold farmland in western Kansas to help fund their railroad expansion across the west, where it was having trouble doing so due to the sparse population-- it was basically a no-man's land, much as we still joke about it being today.
The company promised discounted railway tickets to people coming to see the land, and then it would deduct the price if the visitor ended up purchasing land. People came, saw, bought the land, and finally the railroad was complete, all the way through the flat plains up to the Rocky Mountains.
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| some workers on the railroad, somewhere in Kansas |
Building a railroad across Kansas was not nearly as difficult as it was when it came time to build through the Rocky Mountains. The narrow valleys held limited space, and so disagreements began in the 1870's between railroad companies, namely the A.T. & S.F. and the smaller company Denver & Rio Grande. These disputes actually turned into what are now called the "Railroad Wars". The companies even hired local gunfighters to help them take over the land, and fighting took place in Denver, Pueblo and Colorado Springs over who would be able to build their railroad through Raton Pass, on the Colorado/New Mexico border, and the Royal Gorge.
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| beginnings of the railroad through the Royal Gorge, 1880s (www.loc.gov) |
Eventually, the Santa Fe Railroad won these wars despite some deaths, and went on to build a railroad all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
It's amazing what a story you will find, simply from wanting more information about a railroad lantern.
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