Editing William B. Ogden (section)

===Railroad career===
Ogden was a leading promoter and investor in the [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]], then switched his loyalty to railroads. Throughout his later life, Ogden was heavily involved in the building of several [[Rail transport|railroads]]. 
<blockquote>"In 1847, Ogden announced a plan to build a railway out of Chicago, but no capital was forthcoming. Eastern investors were wary of Chicago's reputation for irrational [[boosterism]], and Chicagoans did not want to divert traffic from their profitable canal works. So Ogden and his partner J. Young Scammon solicited subscriptions from the farmers and small businessmen whose land lay adjacent to the proposed rail. Farmer's wives used the money they earned from selling eggs to buy shares of stock on a monthly payment plan. By 1848, Ogden and Scammon had raised $350,000{{efn|{{inflation|US|350000|1848|fmt=eq}}{{inflation/fn|US}}}}—enough to begin laying track. The [[Galena and Chicago Union Railroad]] was profitable from the start and eventually extended out to Wisconsin, bringing grain from the Great Plains into the city. As president of [[Union Pacific]], Ogden extended the reach of Chicago's rail lines to the West coast."<ref>{{cite web | title = William Butler Ogden | work = American Experience | publisher = PBS | year = 2003 | url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/chicago/peopleevents/p_ogden.html | access-date = 2009-01-07}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1853, the Chicago Land Company, of which Ogden was a trustee, purchased land at a bend in the [[Chicago River]] and began to cut a channel, formally known as North Branch Canal, but also referred to as Ogden's Canal.<ref name=hill>{{cite book | last = Hill | first = Libby | title = The Chicago River: A Natural and Unnatural History | publisher = Lake Claremont Press | year = 2000 | location = Chicago | pages = [https://archive.org/details/chicagorivernatu0000hill/page/85 85–86] | isbn = 1-893121-02-X | url = https://archive.org/details/chicagorivernatu0000hill/page/85 }}</ref> The resulting island is now known as [[Goose Island (Chicago)|Goose Island]].

In 1857, Ogden created the [[Chicago Dock and Canal Company]].<ref name="ClassicChicago1"/> Ogden designed the first [[swing bridge]] in Chicago{{sfn|Merriner|2004|p=20}} and donated the land for Rush Medical Center. Ogden was also a founder of the [[Chicago Board of Trade]].<ref>Taylor, Charles Henry. ''History Of The Board Of Trade Of The City Of Chicago''. Chicago: R. O. Law, 1917.</ref>

Ogden served on the board of the [[Mississippi and Missouri Railroad]] and [[lobbying|lobbied]] with many others for congressional approval and funding of the [[First Transcontinental Railroad (North America)|transcontinental railroad]]. After the 1862 [[Pacific Railroad Act]], Ogden was named as the first president of the [[Union Pacific Railroad]]. Ogden was a good choice for the first president, but his railroad experience was most likely not the primary reason he was chosen; Ogden was a clever man who had many political connections. When Ogden came to lead the Union Pacific, the railroad was not fully funded and had not yet laid a single mile of track. The railroad existed largely on paper created by an act of Congress. As part of the 1862 [[Pacific Railroad Act]], [[United States Congress|Congress]] named several existing railroad companies to complete portions of the project. Several key areas needed to link the East (Chicago) to the West had none, and hence the Union Pacific was formed by Congress.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://chicagology.com/biographies/ogden/ | title=William B. Ogden }}</ref>

During the early days of railroading Ogden had begun building Northwestern railroads connecting Chicago with cities like Janesville, Fond du Lac and St. Paul/St. Anthony. In 1856 this was the Chicago, St. Anthony and Fond du Lac Railroad <ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesrail00homa/unitedstatesrail00homa/page/135/mode/2up | title=The United States railroad directory, for 1856 | date=1856 | publisher=New York, B. Homans }}</ref> but the financial panic beginning in 1857 caused the collapse of this project. Fortunately Ogden's long time personal reputation and character helped him get many supporters putting together resources to reorganize as the [[Chicago and North Western Transportation Company|Chicago & North Western Railway]] the following year of which he was president from 1859 to 1868.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://chicagology.com/biographies/ogden/ | title=William B. Ogden }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/ashcroftsrailway1862ashc | title=Ashcroft's railway directory for 1862 | date=1862 }}</ref>

While his failing health precluded as active a participation as in his earlier years, his Vice President, Perry Smith and Supt. [[George L. Dunlap|George L Dunlap]] carried over from the Fond du Lac era, kept things progressing until 1864 when a Grand Consolidation took place with the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/ashcroftsrailway1865ashc | title=Ashcroft's railway directory for 1865 | date=1862 }}</ref> This new C&NW was able to cross Iowa to the Missouri River at Council Bluffs and join with Ogden's other project, the Union Pacific Transcontinental railroad in Omaha. By 1867 he could see his beloved Chicago connected by rail with California.

Ogden was a fierce supporter of the transcontinental railroad at a time of great unrest for the country and was quoted as saying:

<blockquote>This project must be carried through by even-handed wise consideration and a patriotic course of policy which shall inspire capitalists of the country with confidence. Speculation is as fatal to it as [[secession]] is to the Union. Whoever speculates will damn this project.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}</blockquote>

As history now shows, eventually Ogden and many others got their wish.