Charles Crocker

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Charles Crocker

Born	September 16, 1822 Troy, New York
Died	June 14, 1888 Monterey, California

Charles Crocker (September 16, 1822 – June 14, 1888) was born in Troy, New York to a modest family. When he was fourteen he moved to a farm in Iowa, Crocker soon became independent, working on several farms, a sawmill, and at an iron forge. In 1845 he founded a small, independent iron forge of his own. After hearing of the California Gold Rush, Crocker led a party of Forty-niners overland to the Pacific coast, and arrived in 1850. After 2 years of disappointed mining, he opened a profitable dry goods shop in Sacramento.

1 Early career
2 Running a railroad
3 Banking
4 References

[edit] Early career

When news of the fortunes to be made in California spread across the nation, Crocker led a party of Forty-niners overland to the Pacific coast, arriving in 1850. Two years in the mines convinced him that mining was no way to make a fortune, and so he opened a store in Sacramento. By 1854 he was one of the wealthiest men in town and had a strong business relationship with Mark Hopkins, Collis Huntington and Leland Stanford — who together with Crocker came to be known as "The Big Four" for their prominence in California's stunningly rapid economic development.

Political positions and further business opportunities accompanied Crocker's initial economic gains. In 1855 he was elected to Sacramento's city council, and in 1860 to California's state legislature.^{[citation needed]} In the early 1860s, the Big Four began to plan and manage the construction of the Central Pacific railroad, which was to cross the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains and meet with the Union Pacific headed west from Nebraska.

[edit] Running a railroad

In 1861, after hearing a very intriguing presentation by Theodore Judah, he was one of the four principal investors along with Mark Hopkins, Collis Huntington and Leland Stanford who formed the Central Pacific Railroad, which became the western portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in North America. His position with the company was that of construction supervisor and president of Charles Crocker & Co., a CP subsidiary founded expressly for the purpose of building the railroad. Crocker managed the actual construction of the railroad. He overcame shortages of manpower and money by hiring Chinese immigrants to do much of the back-breaking and dangerous labor. He drove the workers to the point of exhaustion, in the process setting records for laying track and finishing the project seven years ahead of the government's deadline.^{[citation needed]}

With this success, Crocker's business activities reached a new level. He became president of the Southern Pacific railroad, helped connect San Francisco to Portland by rail, became involved in banking and northern California industry, and made even more money as a real estate speculator. He was an early proponent of the massive irrigation projects which eventually transformed California into a fruit and vegetable growing center. In 1886 he was seriously injured in a New York City carriage accident. He never fully recovered, and died two years later. Crocker is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Banking

Charles Crocker also acquired controlling interest in Woolworth National Bank for his son William. It was later named Crocker National Bank.^{[citation needed]} The San Francisco, California based bank no longer exists and was purchased by Wells Fargo Bank in 1986.

[edit] References

Ambrose, Stephen E. (2000). Nothing Like It In The World; The men who built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84609-8.
Findagrave.com, Charles Crocker. Retrieved December 13, 2005.