Most of the documents used in the following pages have been consulted in one or another of three large collections: that of the Bancroft Library of the University of California; that of the Hopkins’ Railway Library of Stanford University; and that of the State Library at Sacramento. Use has also been made of data in the office of the Secretary of State of California and of the State Railroad Commission. In certain cases the manuscript has been submitted to officials of the Southern Pacific Company for their comment, or to shippers or business men who were believed to be well-informed. The work has been more or less actively in progress over a period of eight years so that there has been more than usual opportunity for checking, comparison of views, and the testing of material. It is the author’s hope that he has at least examined all the significant classes of information on the particular subjects which he has discussed. With a subject so extensive it is rarely, if ever, possible to reach all the fugitive literature, or to consult all the living men from whom opinions or scraps of information might be obtained. The most that can be said is that there has been a diligent search, with good facilities, through a number of years. The conclusions which the writer has himself reached with respect to the political and business activities of the Southern Pacific in California, he has explained in the book at length and will not now repeat. There is claimed for them no more conclusiveness than the facts presented in each particular case may justify, although the conclusions are free from conscious bias, and the author’s own interests are engaged on neither side. Acknowledgment is hereby made of the courtesies extended by the libraries of Berkeley, Palo Alto, and Sacramento, and of the patient attention which individuals have given to particular portions of the book. STUART DAGGETT Berkeley, California, February 1, 1922. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I INCEPTION OF THE PROJECT 3 II RESOURCES FOR CONSTRUCTION—STATE AND LOCAL AID 21 III FEDERAL LAND GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES 45 IV PROGRESS OF CONSTRUCTION—CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES 65 V THE SEARCH FOR A TERMINAL 83 VI ACQUISITION OF THE CALIFORNIA PACIFIC 104 VII BUILDING OF THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC 119 VIII ORGANIZATION OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC-SOUTHERN PACIFIC SYSTEM FROM 1870 TO 1893 140 IX THE CASE OF DAVID D. COLTON 154 X FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES FROM 1870 TO 1879 169 XI THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF 1880 TO 1883 181 XII THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC AND POLITICS 199 XIII WATER COMPETITION 222