David Moffat was born in 1839.  He went to school in Washingtonville, New York.  Then he went to New York City and became a bank messenger.  When he was 17, he was sent to Omaha, Nebraska to become a cashier of the Bank of Nebraska.  He met a merchant who was looking for a man to open a book and stationery store in Denver, Colorado.

On March 17, 1860, when he was 21, he came to Colorado. It took him 29 days to get from Omaha to Denver. He brought books and stationery with him so he could start a stationery store. A few years later he was a cashier again in the First National Bank of Denver. He bought the Caribou silver mine and 100 other mines which made him very wealthy.

Moffat wanted the transcontinental railroad to go through Denver, but they put the railroad right through Wyoming. Moffat was very disappointed but he a railroad from Cheyenne to Denver. On June 15, 1868 the first railroad came to Denver. The first engine to come to Denver was named after David Moffat. He built many more railroads in Colorado. In 1887 Moffat became president of Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.

David Moffat's dream was to make a tunnel through the mountains.  So instead of going 175 miles around the mountain, you could go six miles straight through. He never saw the tunnel completed because he died in 1911.

In 1928, the first train went through the Moffat Tunnel.  In 1934, the first train for passengers went from Denver to Salt Lake City. The tunnel was named after him because it was his lifetime dream.

We got our information from
Colorado's Colorful Character by Gladys R. Bueler