Big Four (Central Pacific Railroad)
The Big Four was the name popularly given to the chief entrepreneurs in the building of the Central Pacific Railroad, the western portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States.[1] However, the four of them preferred to be known as "The Associates".
- Leland Stanford - President
- Collis P. Huntington - Vice President
- Mark Hopkins - Treasurer
- Charles Crocker - Construction supervisor and president of Charles Crocker & Co., a CP subsidiary.
David Hewes, an enterprising businessman, was called the "maker of San Francisco" for his work in clearing land for development. He was invited to be a part of the Big Four (Central Pacific Railroad) but declined due to the financial risks. Over his lifetime he gained and lost several fortunes.[2]
In popular culture [edit]
Ambrose Bierce included characters based on the Big Four in his work Black Beetles in Amber as Sootymug (Hopkins), Happy Hunty (Huntington), Cowboy Charley (Crocker) and Leland, The Kid (Stanford).[3]
References [edit]
- Ambrose, Stephen E. (2000). Nothing Like It in the World; The men who built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84609-8.
- ^ Yenne, Bill (1985). The History of the Southern Pacific. Bison Books. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-517-46084-X.
- ^ Camron-Stanford House Preservation Association: David Hewes and family
- ^ Bierce, Ambrose. "Black Beetles in Amber". Archived from the original on 29 May 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
External links [edit]
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