Editing First transcontinental railroad (section)

===Crédit Mobilier===
[[File:Oakes Ames - Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|upright|Oakes Ames]]
{{Main|Crédit Mobilier scandal}}

Despite the transcontinental success and millions in government subsidies, the Union Pacific faced bankruptcy less than three years after the Last Spike as details surfaced about overcharges that Crédit Mobilier had billed Union Pacific for the formal building of the railroad. The scandal hit epic proportions in the [[1872 United States presidential election]], which saw the re-election of [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and became the biggest scandal of the [[Gilded Age]]. It would not be resolved until the death of the congressman who was supposed to have reined in its excesses but instead wound up profiting from it.

Durant had initially come up with the scheme to have Crédit Mobilier subcontract to do the actual track work. Durant gained control of the company after buying out employee Herbert Hoxie for $10,000. Under Durant's guidance, Crédit Mobilier was charging Union Pacific often twice or more the customary cost for track work. The process mired down Union Pacific work.

Lincoln asked Massachusetts Congressman [[Oakes Ames]], who was on the railroad committee, to clean things up and get the railroad moving. Ames got his brother [[Oliver Ames Jr.]] named president of the Union Pacific, while he became president of Crédit Mobilier.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/tcrr/peopleevents/p_ames.html|title=People & Events: Oakes Ames (1804–1873) – American Experience Transcontinental Railroad|website=[[PBS]]}}</ref>

Ames then in turn gave stock options to other politicians while at the same time continuing the lucrative overcharges. The scandal was to implicate Vice President [[Schuyler Colfax]] (who was cleared) and future President [[James Garfield]] among others.

The scandal broke in 1872 when the ''[[The New York Sun (historical)|New York Sun]]'' published correspondence detailing the scheme between Henry S. McComb and Ames. In the ensuing Congressional investigation, it was recommended that Ames be expelled from Congress, but this was reduced to a censure and Ames died within three months.

Durant later left the Union Pacific and a new rail baron, [[Jay Gould]], became the dominant stockholder. As a result of the [[Panic of 1873]], Gould was able to pick up bargains, among them the control of the Union Pacific Railroad and [[Western Union]].<ref>''Panic on Wall Street: A History of America's Financial Disasters'', p. 193, [[Robert Sobel]], Beard Books, 1999, {{ISBN|978-1893122468}}.</ref>