Winds of Change

Late 1860’s. Clouds were rolling in across the Territories of the western landscape. These were the dark clouds of a turbulent change that was brewing. The territories of Colorado, New Mexico Wyoming were vying for statehood and In Colorado the economic hubs of the state, Golden and Denver were competing for title of the State Capital.The problem was that the two fledgling cities had little chance of being Capital of the new state and this was due to their lack of a transportation network. The Transcontinental Rail System had been run through the Territory of Wyoming instead of Colorado. This left both Golden and Denver stranded and fighting for their individual economic future. By the mid 1860s, many of the businesses in Denver had folded or sold out and moved northward to the new Dakota Territory communities of Laramie and Cheyenne which had sprung up along the new transcontinental railroad. Faced with the dwindling population of the town and its eclipse by the new towns to the north, the remaining citizens of Denver took some very drastic measures. The citizens of Denver had pooled their remaining capital and set out to build a railroad. The cost was going to be high but the price of failure was even higher. The first requirement was to obtain land. To accomplish this took capital from men who stood to profit and who had no problems with manipulating the rules of emanate domain. More than a few eyes averted as the ‘rule of law’ was twisted. Hands; once clean, were overtly held out and backs were turned when people cried in protest. The largest impediment however, stopped the project dead in its tracks.
The orders went out. Remove the blockage by any means necessary.