174:. Rumors began to spread in February of that year that Blaine had been involved in a transaction with the Union Pacific in which the railroad had paid Blaine $ 64,000 for some Little Rock and Fort Smith bonds, even though the railroad's financial state rendered the bonds almost worthless; in essence, the alleged transaction was a sham designed to bribe Blaine. Blaine denied the charges, as did the Union Pacific's directors. Blaine claimed he never had any dealings with the Little Rock and Fort Smith except to purchase bonds at market price, and that he had lost money on the transaction.
182:
clerk formerly employed by Blaine's brother-in-law, testified that the allegations were true, that he had arranged the transaction, and that he had letters to prove it. When the investigating committee recessed, Blaine met with
Mulligan in his hotel room; what transpired between the men is unknown,
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to replace the black laborers the railroad had already hired. Ironically, the variable flows of the
Arkansas River delayed construction further when the river was too low to transport heavy equipment, but by February 1870 the first 20 miles were nearly complete. By April 23, enough track was laid
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After the war, the state legislature passed a railroad aid bill in 1867, but Turner believed it would be inadequate to their needs, and sought aid from
Northern capitalists. Turner resigned in 1868, but the new president, Charles G. Scott, managed to secure some investors' interest the following
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began on
November 21, 1870, a distance of 50 miles. By 1871, the Little Rock and Fort Smith was once again in financial trouble and Robinson resigned as engineer. The company was re-organized again in 1872 and issued new bonds. The tracks extended as far as
121:
year. After replacing some directors to accommodate the investors' demands, the railroad prepared to, at last, begin construction. Construction had been so long delayed that the federal land grant was set to expire, but
Arkansas Congressman
199:. That line went on to build 65.86 miles of additional road, giving it 166.51 miles of single-track, standard gauge steam railroad line, all in Arkansas. It survived to April 13, 1906, when its assets were sold to its parent, the
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but Blaine left with the letters and refused to turn them over to the committee. Blaine emerged from the scandal tarnished, and was unable to secure the
Republican nomination in 1876. When he ran again in
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James G. Blaine to help him to pass a bill extending the deadline to April 28, 1870. The railroad was then re-incorporated and granted $ 1.5 million in state bonds to aid the construction efforts.
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in the House of
Representatives nevertheless demanded a Congressional investigation. The testimony appeared to favor Blaine's version of events until May 31, when James Mulligan, a
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and saw an opportunity to do so when they received a federal land grant in 1853. Although the road was, as the name suggests, initially intended to connect the cities of
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101:, Arkansas, the railroad's president, Jesse Turner, and chief engineer, J.H. Haney, hoped to one day use the road to build a network as far as the
141:-born civil engineer. Robinson effectively took over the construction process and reorganized the labor force, bringing in white laborers from
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The original shareholders of the Little Rock and Fort Smith wished to create a mode of transit not limited to the capricious nature of the
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The assets of the railroad were sold at foreclosure, and 100.65 miles of road were acquired by the Little Rock and Fort Smith
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Among the
Northern investors in the Little Rock and Fort Smith was James G. Blaine, and his alleged sale of the bonds to the
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to secure the land grant. By
September 29 of that year, thirty-seven miles of track were complete.
476:
Thompson, George H. (Spring 1980). "Asa P. Robinson and the Little Rock and Fort Smith
Railroad".
427:. Biographies in American Foreign Policy. Vol. 4. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources.
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meant that progress was delayed and by 1860 the railroad was out of money. The
69:, United States, between 1853 and 1875. It came to national prominence when its
401:. Interstate Commerce Commission Reports, Volume 40, May 1932-March 1933, p.615
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461:. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press.
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Rum, Romanism & Rebellion: The Making of a President, 1884
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in June 1873, but the railroad was bankrupt by November 1874.
187:, the scandal reemerged and harmed his campaign once more.
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advanced them $ 38,000 that year, but the outbreak of the
339:
Crapol, p. 44; Muzzey, pp. 83–84; Thompson, pp. 3, 19
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Muzzey, pp. 87–93; Crapol, p. 44; Summers, pp. 62–63
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446:James G. Blaine: A Political Idol of Other Days
117:effectively halted construction the next year.
450:. New York, New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company.
149:Regular passenger service from Little Rock to
201:St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway
65:was a railroad that operated in the state of
170:became the subject of a scandal when he was
525:Railway companies disestablished in 1875
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133:To facilitate construction, Haney hired
73:were the subject of a scandal involving
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105:. Financial conditions following the
520:Railway companies established in 1853
425:James G. Blaine: Architect of Empire
399:"Little Rock and Fort Smith Railway"
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478:The Arkansas Historical Quarterly
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162:Blaine and the Mulligan letters
442:Muzzey, David Saville (1934).
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172:running for President in 1876
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515:Defunct Arkansas railroads
423:Crapol, Edward P. (2000).
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111:Arkansas General Assembly
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77:presidential candidate
455:Summers, Mark (2000).
168:Union Pacific Railroad
327:Thompson, pp. 18–19
315:Thompson, pp. 14–15
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383:Summers, pp. 62–63
115:American Civil War
37:Dates of operation
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351:Muzzey, pp. 84–86
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123:Logan H. Roots
103:Atlantic Ocean
91:Arkansas River
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484:(1): 3–20.
156:Clarksville
139:Connecticut
95:Little Rock
48:–1875
509:Categories
125:convinced
99:Fort Smith
85:Operations
75:Republican
176:Democrats
151:Lewisburg
81:in 1876.
498:40023148
143:Illinois
67:Arkansas
31:Arkansas
22:Overview
417:Sources
197:Railway
127:Speaker
50: (
42: (
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180:Boston
27:Locale
494:JSTOR
207:Notes
71:bonds
463:ISBN
429:ISBN
407:2022
185:1884
137:, a
97:and
61:The
52:1875
44:1853
40:1853
486:doi
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