Biography
In 1868 farmer, lawyer and first mayor of Topeka, Kansas, Cyrus K. Holliday obtained a charter and raised capital for a new railroad that began running in Kansas the following year; he dreamed of a railway to replace covered wagons along the Santa Fe Trail between Independence, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico; by 1890, 9000 miles of track had been laid; the railway became bankrupt in the Panic of 1893, but was bought by Edward Payson Ripley, who added 2000 miles of track; it became one of the largest privately-owned rail systems in the world, with passenger service from Chicago to San Francisco and Los Angeles, and with the bulk of its business in freight.
From the guide to the Charles K. Adams Santa Fe Railroad Collection, 1850-1951, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.)
