William J. Palmer went from dreaming about trains to building famous railroads. How did all this happen?

He was born William Jackson Palmer in Kent County, Delaware on September 17, 1836. He moved with his family to Philadelphia when he was five. In the Civil War he became a general.

After the Civil War he went to work for the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Then he went to Colorado to start the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. He wanted to extend the main route of the D&RG from Denver to Mexico. But the D&RG never made it because the Santa Fe Railroad was already there. So Palmer decided to build railroads going into the mountains through the Royal Gorge. When his men got there the Santa Fe Railroad was already there. This time Palmer didn't leave he decided to fight. For two years the D&RG fought agenst the Santa Fe railroad.Finaly the judge said the D&RG could finish and the Santa Fe had to leave.

But the water closed up on the rocky walls of the Royal Gorge. There was no place to lay the track.  So Palmer invented the famous Hanging Bridge. Its V shaped structure was able to hold thousands of pounds.

Once the railroads were built they carried cows and supplies into the mountains and brought gold, silver and lumber back to Denver.

Another big accomplishment was that he started Colorado Springs. You can visit his statue there.

Palmer died quietly at his home in Colorado Springs on March 13, 1908.

We got our information from
The Colorado Chronicles, Volume 1: Famous Colorado Men and
The American Civil War web site.

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