Utah Central Railroad Spur Pass, signed by John Sharp and addressed to Civil War General Montgomery Meigs

Utah, 1874. First printing. Ephemera. Very good condition. A rare complimentary pass for the Morman-built Utah Central Railroad, a company founded by Brigham Young to connect Salt Lake City to the First Transcontinental Railroad, 40 miles to the north, in Ogden. The building of the spur was the critical link connecting Salt Lake City to the national rail system and the outside world. The engraved pass permitted Gen'l Meigs & Son, dated January 8, 1874, and signed by John Sharp. It reads "to Ogden and return". On the verso are "Conditions under with this ticket is issued", describing the company's policy in case of injury or loss of baggage.

Union Pacific Railroad officials had declined to build the transcontinental line through Salt Lake City, a decision which displeased Brigham Young. He formed his own company, the Utah Central Railroad, which was incorporated in 1869. The spur was completed in January 1870. Brigham Young attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Utah Central, held in Ogden in 1869, digging the first shovel full of dirt. In 1870 he hammered in the final, commemorative spike, with the words "Holiness to the Lord" engraved on it. Four years later, when this complimentary pass was written out to the distinguished passenger General Montgomery Meigs, the general was still serving as Quartermaster General of the Army. Meigs is recognized for his exemplary role as supplier in chief for the North during the Civil War. In just one year following the First Battle of Bull Run (1861), with no effective system yet in place, Meigs set up the complete supply chain to feed and support the Union war effort. Meigs notably worked out the transportation for the shifting supply lines, via wagon and railroad.

The Utah Central appears to have operated primarily a commercial line in its early years. Newspaper accounts from the early 1870s (the Utah Mining Gazette) show the acquisition of railroad materials including locomotives, cars, and rail. This 1874 complimentary pass for General Meigs has a surprisingly low number -- it is numbered 130 -- for a railroad spur which had been completed four years earlier. The line perhaps carried few complimentary passengers as it worked to establish itself. In November 1872 the line acquired a new locomotive made by Hinkley & Williams of Boston, at a cost of $14,000 (Deseret Evening News, November 7, 1872). By 1878, Union Pacific gained control of Utah Central. Union Pacific combined the shares owned by its officers and directors with the shares it had previously purchased from Brigham Young (5,000 of Brigham Young's original 7,600 shares).

John Sharp (1820 - 1891) was Brigham Young's personal representative as well as representative of the LDS Church in transcontinental railroad construction negotiations with the Union Pacific Railroad. Sharp became an officer for the Utah Central Railroad and the Utah Southern Railroad, and a director for the Union Pacific Railroad, Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution, Deseret Telegraph Company, and Deseret National Bank.

Engraved decorative border, with the name of the railroad engraved in elaborate font. 4 3/4 x 3 1/4". Original folds, with the original ticket punch at the right side, small crease left corner, some toning at verso.