The Black Hawk War was essentially over and Peter
Christensen turned his focus to caring for his growing family. The year was 1868 and the Peter and Anna
Marie Christensen family consisted of the growing George Armstrong, age 14, his
tag along little brother, Peter James, age 10, sisters , Nellie, age 8, Mary
Malvina, age 6, and little Parley P., age 4. (Familysearch.org) A few miles to the west, down Salt Creek
Canyon, the growing community of Nephi offered opportunities for Peter beyond
that found in Moroni. Gathering his
family and his meager belongings; he headed over the summit and down the
canyon.
Around the time of the move, the transcontinental railroad –
coming from the east and from the west –was nearing completion in Utah. Some 6 years earlier, in July of 1862, the
United States Congress had signed an act directing the construction of a single line railroad
with accompanying telegraph from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. On March 7, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln
signed the directive that began construction of this line at the western edge
of the Union Pacific in Omaha, Nebraska.(1) Talked about and discussed for
decades this was to be a project of tremendous importance, not only for the
United States as a whole, but in particular for Utah.
From his earliest days in the Utah Territory, President
Brigham Young had been a great proponent of a railway connecting Utah Territory
with the rest of the country. Years
before the construction began, he had stated that if the government wouldn’t build
the railroad, Utah would, if given statehood. (2) While the events leading up
to and resulting in the “Utah War” and Johnston’s Army coming to Utah
eliminated any hopes of Utah becoming a state, Brigham Young was no less
enthusiastic or supportive as the project got under way. Construction of the railroad would not only
dramatically improve transportation and communication to the isolated Mormon
outpost in the West, but would also provide much needed jobs and cash to the
economically struggling Saints.
 |
| Brigham Young |
The Central Pacific Railroad Company coming from the west,
and the Union Pacific coming from the east were highly motivated
employers. The government was
compensating in both money and land grants for every mile of railroad built. The race was on as each tried to cover as
many miles as they could before the two railroads met. Hundreds of miles from populations centers in
California or the East, Brigham Young and the Utah settlements found themselves
in the enviable situation of being the sole source of supplies and laborers in
a high demand market.
As the race between Central Pacific and Union Pacific picked
up tempo, key officials of the two companies began to woo Brigham Young as
fervently as if he were Cleopatra in the desert. At times from June of 1868 to
March of 1869 he could hardly sit down to breakfast but what either Leland
Stanford of Central Pacific or someone from Union Pacific was there. Sometimes
he would manage to slip away and leave them to glare at each other. Brigham
Young was twenty years older than Leland Stanford, but there was a remarkable
physical resemblance in the two men, and they each took pleasure in being on a
first-name basis in their acquaintance. (3)
 |
| Leland Stanford |
While each company would like to have persuaded Brigham
Young to help it exclusively, the Mormon leader felt it advantageous to work
with both, to get the railroad completed faster and get additional work for his
people. The Mormons, he insisted, would work for both roads. And they did.
This, of course, was not entirely pleasing to either company, for it tended to
nullify their objective to a great extent, that of gaining an advantage over
the competing company. But of course neither company could afford to withdraw
its request for Mormon assistance, lest it thus give the advantage to the
competition. (4)
Brigham Young signed a contract for work on the Union
Pacific in May of 1868, and later that year in September, signed a contract
with the Central Pacific. The contract
with the Union Pacific was to construct the railroad from the Wyoming border to
the northern edge of the Great Salt Lake.
The contract included building through Echo and Weber Canyons; the most
difficult sections of railroad construction the Union Pacific faced. Thousands of Mormon workers labored building
tunnels, blasting, carving, grading. The
contract with Central Pacific was less ominous, but did include lying track
across the barren, dry west desert from the Nevada state line to Weber
Canyon. Thousands of Latter-Day Saint
workers joined the work crews – crews made up almost exclusively of Mormons.
(5)
The following is a summary of an organized Union Pacific
railroad work crew. While this
description is of a work crew operating in Texas in the 1880’s, it gives a good
idea of the labor demands associated with building the railroad:
For handling the
sleepers, thirteen men and one water boy are required.
For handling the
rails, eleven men and one water boy.
The front gang
consists of thirteen men and one water boy.
The sleeper
loaders-sixteen men in four gangs of four each, and one waterboy.
The backspikers-fifteen
men and one water boy.
The lining gang-five
men and one water boy.
The back
fillers-fifteen men and one water boy.
On the tool car there
is one man and a water boy to take care of and repair picks, shovels, mauls,
etc.
Making a total number
of eighty-nine men, eight water boys, seven foremen, besides eighteen teams
used as follows:-Sixteen for hauling sleepers; one for pulling the rail-car;
and one for hauling water to the train camp.
At the teamsters’ camp
there is a foreman, a blacksmith, and night watchman.
Men (common laborers)
$1.50 per day, Waterboy $1.25 per day
(“Report on observations on railways, and other subjects”,
Henry C. Mais, South Australia Railways, 1883. Reference located in University
of Wisconsin Engineering Library, No. 1884, as found on line on Google Books)
To meet the labor demands, men from throughout the territory
were invited to join with their fellow Saints in what was considered at the
time a God sent opportunity for employment and much needed cash. While adult men were in most demand, water
boys were also a major component of the work force. Having shouldered a man’s burden during the
Black Hawk War while his father was away, George was ready to do a man’s work –
or at least that was what was in the fourteen year olds heart. Following the lure of adventure and a regular paycheck, he
packed a bed role and some food, saddled his horse, kissed his mother, hugged
his dad, tipped his hat to his siblings and headed out.
Family tradition has it that George Armstrong Chappell
became a water boy on a railroad working crew.
While we do not have any other details, we can suppose that his
experience was similar to that of David King Udall, a fellow resident of Nephi,
just two years older than George A.
 |
| ilovehistory.utah.gov |
When I was sixteen
years old, father permitted me to work part of the winter on the Union Pacific
Railroad, which was then being built at Devil's Gate in Weber Canyon. We
thought it was the coldest spot on earth. I worked on the grade with a
wheelbarrow. With the money I earned I bought a yoke of steers and named them
Pat and Roy. They were the pride of my boyhood days. . (6)
The Union Pacific reached Ogden on March 8, 1869 and met the
Central Pacific at Promitory Point two months later. With most of their work completed in the days
leading up to the event and spring farm work impatiently awaiting them at home,
most of the Mormon workers returned to their homes prior to the ceremony. (7) Lacking
the same urgency to get home, the young George Armstrong remained in
northwestern Utah and joined the many dignitaries present at the nailing of the
golden spike at Promontory Point personally witnessing one of the most
important events in the history of the United States. (8)
 |
| Golden Spike, Promontory, Utah |
(Please see references for commentary on the importance of
the Mormons in the completion of the transcontinental railroad)
His railroading done, he packed his things, gathered his
earnings and headed south. If he moved
right along, he could be back in Nephi in less than a week. He could almost taste his mother’s cooking –
it would be good to be home again.
Once back in Nephi, the young George, while not yet 16, was
well on his way to being a grown man.
Carving out a living in the American west was a very labor intensive
proposition and there would have been plenty of work for a stout young man like
George. Maintaining canal systems,
fighting off grasshopper infestations, plowing, planting, watering,
harvesting…all required a strong back and a firm constitution – both qualities
found in abundance in the young son of Peter Christensen.
One of George’s grandsons later related the following:
“He was a good 6 feet,
big shoulders, and a good build. He
worked his body hard. A story he told me
illustrates this. Granddad and three
other guys took on the job of cutting all the grain in a valley by Nephi, with
a scythe. (A scythe is a long curved
blade with a sharp edge hooked on a long handle.) These men made a contract with each other
saying that if anyone quit before the job was finished he would lose his share
of the money. Grandpa got blisters from
cutting and tying the grain, but kept on working. By the time the job was finished one man had
dropped out and Grandpa wished he had of.
He was glad when that job was done.” (9)
 |
| Men working a scythe |
In addition to
farming, ranching was another major industry in early Juab County. Large herds of both cattle and sheep were
being cared for in the area when the Peterson family arrived from Mount
Pleasant in 1868. In addition to the
large sheep herds foraging in the mountains to the east of Levan just a few
miles south of Nephi, large cattle operations were also nearby. To the north in Mona the Swasey family
managed large herds of cattle in the desert to the west. West of Nephi, in the Tintic and Leamington
area, the McIntyre family maintained a ranch of thousands of acres and just as
many cows. Bordering the McIntyre land
was the ranch of the former body guard of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the famous
western figure, Porter Rockwell - surely as notorious then as he is now. (10) While we don’t know if George A worked for
any of these operations, they were always in need of good, reliable help and
would have provided ready employment for a young man just getting started in
life.
 |
| Ranch Hands |
 |
| Orin Porter Rockwell |
Other work opportunities were abundant. Another railroad was working its way south
from the more populated areas of the Wasatch Front. His experience with railroading would have
made him a good candidate to join the crews laying track for the rail road
toward Juab County. A new flour mill
opened at the mouth of Salt Creek Canyon in 1877 and would have been another
opportunity for work.(11) The earliest settlers to the area had noted the salty
taste in the water in the stream coming out of the canyon to the east and salt
refining operations were employing many. (12)
Freighting was another common occupation for young men his
age and tradition has it that the young George Armstrong was a participant
hauling freight between Nephi and Pioche, Nevada. (13) John Udall, another
young man from Nephi that worked on the rail road, used his earnings to
purchase a wagon and a team of oxen and related his experiences as follows:
My first freighting
trip alone was to Eureka in Tintic Valley with a load of lumber handled by two
yoke of cattle. I made this trip before going to Weber Canyon, and I remember
how I wept silent tears after kissing Aunt Becky, little Joe and my sisters
goodbye. On this trip I lost my way; during the night there had been a heavy
fall of snow, which made the intercrossings of roads look alike. I had no idea
I was lost, and called out to some freighters as they jingled past me after
dark, "How far is it to Homansville?" A man answered, "My boy,
you are going the wrong way." I gave the snappy retort, "Thank you,
sir, I guess I know which way I am going."
I traveled a long distance before finding the man was right, and as I
retraced my way, I had plenty of time to let that lesson sink in.
In the '60's and the
early '70's, I made, four winter trips from Nephi to Pioche, Nevada, a distance
of two hundred fifty miles each way. I drove four or five yoke of oxen hitched
to two wagons, trailing one behind the other. Usually' two 'or three such
outfits made the trip together. We were loaded with flour and grain, about a
ton being allowed to each yoke of cattle.... By traveling from early dawn until
far into the night, it took approximately six weeks to make each trip, as the
winter roads were often heavy with snow or mud, and we could travel only an
average of ten miles a day. Watering places on this road were scarce, and it
was necessary for us to carry water in barrels on the sides of the wagons.
After walking all day the cattle took constant prodding and so we seldom rode;
it was no easy task to feed and water our animals. We fed the oxen with nose
bags and doled the water out to them from the barrels, a bucketful at a time.
During the night they grazed on grass, sagebrush and other scrub growth, often
wandering miles from camp, giving us a good jaunt after them before we could
continue on our way next morning. Between Fillmore and Pioche there were no
towns nor villages and many nights our only shelter was that of a cedar tree or
the wagon under which we slept. We wore jeans and overalls with no
underclothing, but by wrapping our feet and legs in gunny sacks and with the
exercise necessary in driving the cattle along, we managed to keep reasonably
warm. Trudgingalong beside our wagons we cracked long buckskin whips and called
out "Gee" and "Haw" with youthful joy--for we were happy in
the joy of achievement. "Old Pat and Roy" and the other oxen and I
traveled many a mile over that "long, long trail" of which boys
dream. . (14)
 |
| Using oxen to haul freight |
The years passed and the young teenager, now a fully grown
man, matured in stature physically and socially. Not having grown up in Nephi,
he may have felt a bit uneasy among the close knit families of the original
settlers. Prominent among these
families, the Sperrys and their cousins the Sidwells, had been in Nephi since
its earliest days and had been instrumental in building the town. (When the Nephi LDS Ward divided in 1877,
Charles Sperry, well known musician and prominent community member, was called
to be the North Ward bishop. (15) Regardless of George’s social situation in
the community, the daughter of one of these original settlers had caught his
eye. His relationship with the Sperry
family was about to change.
References:
1.
Executive Order of Abraham Lincoln, President of
the United States, Fixing the Point of Commencement of the Pacific Railroad at
Council Bluffs, Iowa. March 7, 1864. As found at: http://cprr.org/Museum/Lincoln_1864.html
2.
THE IRON TRAIL to the Golden Spike, By John J.
Stewart ,Copyright © DESERET BOOK COMPANY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, 1969. . Pp.
175-213,as found at web site: Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History
Museum,
http://cprr.org/Museum/Stewart-Iron_Trail.html
3.
THE IRON TRAIL to the Golden Spike, By John J.
Stewart ,Copyright © DESERET BOOK COMPANY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, 1969. . Pp.
175-213,as found at web site: Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History
Museum,
http://cprr.org/Museum/Stewart-Iron_Trail.html
4.
THE IRON TRAIL to the Golden Spike, By John J.
Stewart ,Copyright © DESERET BOOK COMPANY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, 1969. . Pp.
175-213,as found at web site: Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History
Museum,
http://cprr.org/Museum/Stewart-Iron_Trail.html
5.
THE IRON TRAIL to the Golden Spike, By John J.
Stewart ,Copyright © DESERET BOOK COMPANY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, 1969. . Pp.
175-213,as found at web site: Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History
Museum,
http://cprr.org/Museum/Stewart-Iron_Trail.html
7.
THE IRON TRAIL to the Golden Spike, By John J.
Stewart ,Copyright © DESERET BOOK COMPANY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, 1969. . Pp.
175-213,as found at web site: Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History
Museum,
http://cprr.org/Museum/Stewart-Iron_Trail.html
8.
Blue Book, History of George Armstrong and Aurilla
Sperry Chappell
9.
Blain Mansfield Chappell, recorded and published
by his daughter, Hildred Chappell Cobia
10.
Pearl D. Wilson, A History of Juab County, 1999,
pp. 64-66
11.
Wilson, A History of Juab County, p. 69
12.
Wilson, A History of Juab County, p. 68
13.
Blue Book, History of George Armstrong and
Aurilla Sperry Chappell, p. 12
14.
David King Udall, “Arizona Pioneer Mormon” His
Story and His Family. Tucson: Arizona Silhouettes Press, 1959, pp.10-11
15.
Wilson, A History of Juab County A History….p.87
Summarizing the contributions of Utah in the completion of
the transcontinental railroad, we have the following:
“The important
influence Utah had upon the Pacific Railroad was well stated by Samuel Bowles,
editor and publisher of the Springfield, Massachusetts, Republican, who was one
of the most respected and influential American journalists of the nineteenth
century. He was also one of the foremost promoters of the Pacific Railroad. In
1869, the year of its completion, he published a book, Our New West, in which
he observed that "but for the pioneership of the Mormons, discovering the
pathway, and feeding those who came out upon it, all this central region of our
great West would now be many years behind its present development, and the
railroad instead of being finished, would hardly be begun." (Bowles was
less discerning when he also ventured the opinion, then held by many, that the
railroad would result in the demise of the Mormon Church.). “ (THE IRON TRAIL to the Golden Spike, By John
J. Stewart ,Copyright © DESERET BOOK COMPANY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, 1969. Pp.
175-213,as found at web site: Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History
Museum, http://cprr.org/Museum/Stewart-Iron_Trail.html)
