The Big Four House: where America’s greatest railroad thieves lived large

The Big Four’s $62 Million Railroad Empire

Four Sacramento shopkeepers changed America forever in 1861. They put up $15,000 each after engineer Theodore Judah sold them on his railroad dream.

The government then handed them a sweet deal – up to $48,000 per mile in bonds plus 6,400 acres of land for each mile of track.

When Judah died in 1863, the “Big Four” took full control. They hired 12,000 Chinese workers who built most of the line until its famous golden spike moment in 1869.

Meanwhile, these shop owners pocketed over $62 million and hid the records. The Big Four House in California shows how these ordinary merchants built an empire.

Four Shopkeepers Bet Big on a Railroad Dream

In June 1861, Theodore Judah walked into Sacramento shops with grand plans but little cash. He talked four local store owners into putting up $15,000 each for his crazy cross-country railroad idea.

Collis Huntington sold hardware with his partner Mark Hopkins, while Leland Stanford ran a grocery store and Charles Crocker sold dry goods.

These Gold Rush merchants started the Central Pacific Railroad Company on June 28, 1861. Their combined money of about $100,000 barely covered the down payment they needed.

Congress Gave Big Money to Railroad Builders

The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 changed everything for the Sacramento shopkeepers.

It offered government bonds worth $16,000 per mile in flat land and up to $48,000 per mile in mountains.

Companies also got 6,400 acres of public land for each mile of track they built. The government gave away more than 175 million acres nationwide.

The Central Pacific sold this land to settlers for extra money. Stanford worked as both company president and California governor.

The First Rail Went Down in Sacramento

Workers started building on January 8, 1863, at the foot of K Street in Sacramento. Crews laid the first rail on October 26, 1863, though work moved very slowly at first.

Each partner took specific jobs: Hopkins watched the money, Huntington bought supplies and talked to politicians back East, and Crocker managed the workers.

Stanford used his governor job to get state and local money worth $1. 5 million. The company struggled to find enough workers during its early months.

The Man With the Plan Never Saw His Dream Built

Theodore Judah fought with his partners in fall 1863.

He hated their plan to claim mountain-level payments for tracks laid in the easy foothills far from the Sierra Nevada.

Judah sailed to New York in October 1863 to find new investors to buy out the Sacramento merchants. He caught yellow fever while crossing Panama and died on November 2, 1863, at just 37 years old.

The four partners took complete control of the Central Pacific after his death. They never named any railroad crossing after Judah.

Chinese Workers Saved the Struggling Railroad

Worker shortages forced Charles Crocker to hire 50 Chinese workers in February 1865 as a test. His construction boss James Strobridge didn’t want them, but Crocker insisted.

The Chinese proved so good that the company began mass hiring from California’s Chinese communities and directly from Canton, China.

By 1868, Chinese workers made up 80% of the Central Pacific workforce, with 12,000 men on the job. They earned $31 monthly but paid for their own food and housing.

Blasting Through Granite Nearly Stopped the Project

Chinese crews tackled 15 tunnels through solid Sierra Nevada granite starting in fall 1865.

The Summit Tunnel at Donner Pass took 15 months to finish as workers bored through 1,659 feet of rock. Men used black powder and dangerous nitroglycerin to blast through mountains in freezing weather.

They dug a vertical shaft from the mountaintop to speed up tunnel construction. About one in ten Chinese workers died from avalanches, explosions, and rockslides.

Workers Walked Off the Job but Lost Their Fight

On June 25, 1867, about 5,000 Chinese workers went on strike in the largest labor protest in American history at that time.

They wanted the same pay as white workers, eight-hour workdays instead of ten, and safer conditions.

The strike lasted eight days until Central Pacific bosses cut off food to the remote work camps and threatened violence against strike leaders.

The Chinese returned to work without winning any of their demands, facing the choice between unfair work or hunger.

The Mountain Barrier Finally Fell

Workers finished the Summit Tunnel on August 28, 1867, finally conquering the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The Central Pacific opened service to the Summit at mile 105 on December 1, 1867.

The first passenger train crossed the mountains to Lake’s Crossing (now Reno) on June 18, 1868. Construction speed jumped once crews moved past the mountains into the Nevada desert.

Chinese workers now faced new challenges: 120-degree heat and water shortages as they laid track across the barren landscape.

A Ten-Mile Race Set Records

Central Pacific crews laid a record 10 miles of track in just one day on April 28, 1869.

Competition with the Union Pacific Railroad heated up as the two companies raced toward each other in Utah.

Neither wanted to stop building because they got $32,000 in government money for each mile of track. Mobile construction camps with up to 5,000 workers moved frequently across Nevada.

President Grant finally stepped in, threatening to cut off funding unless the companies agreed on where to meet.

A Golden Spike Connected America

The two railroads met at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869. Telegraph operators sent the news to both coasts at the same moment.

Stanford hammered in a ceremonial golden spike at 12:47 PM, completing the transcontinental railroad.

The Central Pacific had built 690 miles from Sacramento, while the Union Pacific laid 1,086 miles from Omaha. The new railroad cut coast-to-coast travel time from months by sea to just eight days by train.

Four Shopkeepers Became Railroad Tycoons

Federal investigators later found the Big Four made about $62.6 million profit from construction through their side company, Contract and Finance.

They burned accounting records to hide where taxpayer money went. The partners used their railroad wealth to build fancy mansions on San Francisco’s Nob Hill.

They bought the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1868, creating a massive Western transportation monopoly.

From their $100,000 initial investment, the four Sacramento merchants built a combined fortune of roughly $200 million.

Visiting Big Four House, California

The Big Four House at 115 I Street in Old Sacramento State Historic Park housed Central Pacific Railroad headquarters from 1862-1873.

You can visit the first floor hardware store exhibit during California State Railroad Museum hours, and the second floor Railroad Museum Library runs Tuesday-Saturday 1-5pm.

The building sits within the National Historic District’s 50+ historic buildings, walking distance from the State Railroad Museum and Central Pacific Passenger Station. Park admission is free.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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