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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
56
'This
Western
Union,'
says
one
in
speaking
of
the
united
corporation,
'seems
to
me
very
like
collecting
all
the
paupers
in
the
State
and
arranging
them
into
a
union
so
as
to
make
rich
men
of
them.'
But
'Sibley's
crazy
scheme'
proved
the
salvation
of
the
competing
companies.
In
1857,
after
the
first
stage
coach
had
crossed
the
plains
to
California,
Mr.
Henry
O'Reilly
proposed
to
build
a
line
of
telegraph,
and
Mr.
Sibley
urged
the
Western
Union
to
undertake
it.
He
encountered
a
strong
opposition.
The
explorations
of
Fremont
were
still
fresh
in
the
public
mind,
and
the
country
was
regarded
as
a
howling
wilderness.
It
was
objected
that
no
poles
could
be
obtained
on
the
prairies,
that
the
Indians
or
the
buffaloes
would
destroy
the
line,
and
that
the
traffic
would
not
pay.
'Well,
gentlemen,'
said
Sibley,
'if
you
won't
join
hands
with
me
in
the
thing,
I'll
go
it
alone.'
He
procured
a
subsidy
from
the
Government,
who
realised
the
value
of
the
line
from
a
national
point
of
view,
the
money
was
raised
under
the
auspices
of
the
Western
Union,
and
the
route
by
Omaha,
Fort
Laramie,
and
Salt
Lake
City
to
San
Francisco
was
fixed
upon.
The
work
began
on
July
4,
1861,
and
though
it
was
expected
to
occupy
two
years,
it
was
completed
in
four
months
and
eleven
days.
The
traffic
soon
became
lucrative,
and
the
Indians,
except
in
time
of
war,
protected
the
line
out
of
friendship
for
Mr.
Sibley.
A
black-tailed
buck,
the
gift
of
White
Cloud,
spent
its
last
years
in
the
park
of
his
home
at
Rochester.
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