school at the young age of 14 in 1835, Collis moved to New York City selling watches, which eventually led to enough money saved to open a general store with his brother in Oneonta in 1842. Being the young entrepreneur he was, Collis decided to open a store in Sacramento, CA after hearing about the discovery of gold in California. Like all of Collis' business ventures, this one proved to be just as successful. In California, Collis teamed up with Mark Hopkins selling mining supplies. Because the mining business was thriving from the gold rushes, Collis was on his way to becoming a wealthy man. One business project led to another slightly larger idea which eventually led to the idea of creating a railroad that would connect America, East to West. In 1861, The Big Four was born. Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford and Charles Crocker formed the Central Pacific Railroad company. Though this was no easy task, the four powerful men pulled together all their resources and connections to later successfully unveil the tracks of Central Pacific Railroad on May 10, 1869 in Promontory Utah. These tracks linked with Union Pacific to form America's first transcontinental railroad. After the success of CPR, The Big Four showed no sign of retiring from the railroad business. In 1865, they formed the Southern Pacific Railroad company and developed other railroads across America. The Southern Pacific company grew to more than 9,000 miles of track and by 1890, Collis was the president of this mammoth company. Starting with nothing, Collis Huntington is estimated to have been worth 35 million dollars. Passing away on August 13, 1900 at the age of 79, Collis Huntington left behind the achievements of a massive resource transportation system and successful business ventures that effect us every day.
By Andrea Phipps
References:
McCague, James. Moguls and Iron Men -- The Story of the First Transcontinental Railroad. New York: Harper & Row, 1964.
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhuntington.htm
www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0771946.html
www.huntington.tierranet.com/bios/collis.htm
