Who was Thomas Durant?

Who was Thomas Durant?

No discussion of the building of the transcontinental railroad should omit the mention of Thomas Durant and his contribution to getting that monumental project completed. Not without controversy, he stirred up both friends and foes along the way while pursuing his dream of joining both coasts by rail. 

Born in 1820 to a wealthy family in Massachusetts, he entered medical school at 20 where he graduated magna cum laude and became a surgeon. He went on to work for his uncle in the grain business where he first became acquainted with railroads as a means to improve the transport of grain. His love for the railroad propelled him into forming the Mississippi and Missouri railroad. The chief achievement of the new company was the building of the first bridge over the Mississippi River. This accomplishment came with its own problems. After a riverboat hit the bridge, Durant's company was sued to tear down the structure. Durant hired no other than one Abraham Lincoln to represent him in the legal proceedings which turned in his favor. This new relationship had other benefits when in 1862 then President Lincoln selected Durant's Union Pacific company to begin the construction of the transcontinental railroad in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Durant was on his way.

A savvy businessman, he was very creative in raising capital for the transcontinental railroad through various stock schemes, Congressional funding, and many other questionable dealings. Despite or perhaps in spite of his financial machinations, he managed the Union Pacific's part of the transcontinental railroad from its beginnings in Iowa through to Promontory Point, Utah where it met the Central Pacific and the historic golden spike. 

His later years were not so kind to Thomas Durant. He lost vast sums of money in the Great Panic of 1873 and spent his last years until his death in 1885 fighting lawsuits from disgruntled investors.