This photo is from a newspaper photo spread in the Salt Lake Tribune today.
The Stanton Survey crew eats dinner in front of the Lee's Ferry fort on Christmas Day in 1889. The group was trying to find a route for a railroad line through southern Utah's red rock canyons. They didn't find a route. Photo courtesy Utah State Historical Society.
Have a good Christmas everyone. Hope you are home with the family!
That is a cool picture and story behind it.
Stanton's notes - RR down the Colorado River
I found some of Stanton's Journal of the expedition. I've always wondered how some of the railroad routes were surveyed. Those late 1800's railroaders thought they could go anywhere.
At the end you can read the menu for the Christmas dinner.
Stanton's notes - RR down the Colorado River
> I found some of Stanton's Journal of the expedition. I've always wondered how some of the railroad routes were surveyed. Those late 1800's railroaders thought they could go anywhere.
>
> At the end you can read the menu for the Christmas dinner.
>
> Stanton's Colorado river RR survey expedition journal
It might take a colonial surveyor type puke like me to fully appreciate such a journal, but that is one fascinating story! Reads like they spent more time in June just trying to stay alive than they did surveying.
Thanks for sharing this, LR.
Stanton's notes - RR down the Colorado River
Thanks LR, boy my wife is going to be mad at me tonight.
What have you been looking at on the computer all night, Christmas night?
I can already hear her now...
Stanton's notes - RR down the Colorado River
Some things never change:
Pictures and repeat pictures USGS
I found many of the pictures and also repeat pictures by USGS
It seems there a quite a few books. The latest:
My daughter is going to check a copy out of the University of Utah Library for me. If I like it maybe I'll buy a copy later. I think during that time period railroad engineering/surveying was a big deal for our type of folks. I'm sure the GLO surveys was big also, bet the RR guys made more money.
Seems they were also staking mining claims as they made the survey. Can you imagine being able to do the sort of things these guys did back then? If you wanted to build a railroad and could get the financing yu just went and did it. The US government actually helped and encouraged it. With all the modern day regulations it's almost impossible these days no matter how much money you have. I think I was born 100 years to late!
4 volumes of Stanton's Notes
Here are links to the four volumes of expedition notes at the New York Library:
Only the first volume was included in the original post.
Actually the caption from the newspaper is incorrect. Stanton did find a route for the railroad all the way to the Pacific. They we not able the get the line financed. Maybe it was too expensive and there was financial panic in the US at the time.
At the end of Stanton's notes it reveals that the Secretary of the railroad company had failed to get the proper documents to the GLO to secure the ROW. Wonder if they ever did get the ROW and could have constructed the line. Things would sure be different if this RR had been built.
Stanton's right hand man, John Hislop went on to be the surveyor/engineer for the Yukon RR in Alaska. Then in a freak accident was killed in Chicago by a train when he somehow fell off the platform at the train station.
