SIOUX CITY AND PACIFIC RAIL ROAD

SIOUX CITY AND PACIFIC RAIL ROAD. Organized in Dubuque in 1864, the Sioux City and Pacific involved such famous Dubuque residents among the nine directors as Platt SMITH and William Boyd ALLISON. (1) Each of the directors received ten shares of stock on July 21, 1864 prior to the sale to the general public in November, 1866. In a suit, it was charged that prior to the November, 1866 date more than one hundred people had bought all the outstanding stock for $4,269,000. These people were assessed 40% of their individual purchases and all paid except four. In May, 1868 Charles Lambard filed suit claiming one-ninth of the capital stock and property of the railroad claiming he was one of the original directors. (2)

Both Smith and Allison were heavily criticized for their participation. Smith had ended his participation in the DUBUQUE AND SIOUX CITY RAILROAD and joined the Sioux City venture. It was charged by the Dubuque Herald that instead of simply admitting he had done it to make more money, he had allowed the feeling to develop that this had been done because he was a 'public benefactor.' Allison, it was charged, used his political influence for personal profit. (3) In 1867, however, he was listed as having bought $5,000 in stock and was listed as a director and vice-president of the railroad.

The construction became the subject of investigation for the U. S. House of Representatives in 1873. Among other issues, it was charged that government directors were provided to look after land given to the Union Pacific, but none had been assigned to the sale of lands made to the Sioux City and Pacific. (4) No record of the resolution of this case has been found.

Constructed along the eastern bank of the Missouri River from Sioux City to Missouri Valley Junction near Council Bluffs, the railroad was built as a connection from Sioux City to the Union Pacific Railroad at Fremont. It became part of the Chicago and North Western Railway system in the 1880s and later was a main line of the Union Pacific (UP). (5)

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Source:

1. Donovan, Frank P. Jr. Iowa Railroads. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2000, p. 111

2. "The Great Congressional Game of Grab," The Daily Herald, February 2, 1873, p. 1

3. "Platt Smith's Letter," The Herald, May 26, 1869, p. 3

4. "The Great Congressional..."

5. Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad, Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Trains/ICC_valuations/Dubuque_and_Sioux_City_Railroad