The purpose of this paper is to recount how, under the entrepreneural guidance of John Willard Young, three narrow gauge, shortline railroads were established in and near Salt Lake City, Utah between 1884 and 1894. Once justification for these projects was ascertained, the problems created by local and national politics, construction, and financing were met in a satisfactory manner. The results were two operating railroads and roadbed established for a third line. Operations continued under the control of John W. Young until the depression of 1893 when these railroads went into receivership

Adkins, Marlowe C., Jr.

English

This is the story of three narrow gauge, short line railroads. Had fate been kinder, they might have become the hub of a major mountain west rail network. But this thesis will deal with facts, not possibilities, as it investigates the justification, construction, financing, and politics that surrounded these railroads and their location.
The locale was in and near Salt Lake City, Territory of Utah, during the decade between 1883-1894. Both location and time period have significance, for anti-Mormon feelings, within and without the the Territory, were very strong.
The visible cause of the anti-Mormon movement was polygamy.1 For, as an English-American writer was to state nearly a century later,  nothing bothers a man with one wife more than a man with many wives who doesn\u27t even feel guilty. 2 Many Americans sought to make the Mormons feel guilty. The weight of federal law was applied, both prior to and during the period covered herein, against the Mormons. In July, 1862, an Anti-Bigamy Act was signed into law. When it proved ineffective, it was strengthened by the Edmunds Act which became law in March, 1882. This act brought about prosecutions resulting in prison terms, fines, and other penalties. But the final move, the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887 sought nothing short of the economic and political destruction of the Mormon church.3 Because the railroads concerned were built in a predominantly Mormon area by Mormons, the temper of the times was a factor

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A History of John W. Young\u27s Utah Railroads, 1884-1894

https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4429&amp;context=etd

A History of John W. Young\u27s Utah Railroads, 1884-1894

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