Asa Whitney
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Asa Whitney (1797 - August 1872) was one of the first backers of an American Transcontinental Railway. It was as early as in the 1830 that Whitney first became bewitched with railroads and foresaw their future role in business and transport. He first stopped on a buying trip, he was a Merchant Trader, to ride the newly formed Liverpool and Manchester Railway. He made one of the first formal proposals to the US Government on building a Transcontinental Railroad. For years he was rejected and continued to write revised memorials and take expeditions through what was then known as Indian Territory to support his cause. After more than ten years of trying he at last gave up.
Later Whitney's dream was realized through the efforts of Theodore Judah, a young ambitious engineer who tirelessly worked to make the railroad possible.
External link
- Memorial of Asa Whitney Praying for a Grant of Land to Enable Him to Construct a Railroad from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean. 1848. (http://CPRR.org/Museum/index.html#Plans)