Item Detail
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14078
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3
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16
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English
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'That Canny Scotsman' : John Sharp and the Union Pacific Negotiations, 1869-1972
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Journal of Mormon History
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Fall 2001
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27
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no.2
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Salt Lake City, UT
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Mormon History Association
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197-214
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John Sharp, a Scottish coal miner, emmigrated to Utah in 1850 after he and his family joined the Church. After he came to Utah, he was involved in quarring stone from Red Butte, constructing a portion of the Deseret Telegraph line, and the Utah Produce Company. His business ability and pragmatism attracted Brigham Young's notice and he was soon given more assignments and responsiblities. Sharp and Joseph A. Young were subcontracted to build a portion of the Union Pacific rail line. When the Union Pacific Railroad failed to produce their contracted payment, Brigham Young assigned Sharp to collect the remaining one million dollars. During the three years Sharp spent persuing and negotiating with members of the Union Pacific board, he was successful in arranging for promissory notes, railroad equipment, rolling stock, and some cash to almost fully repay the debt. The equipment from this deal was used in the construction of the Utah Central Railroad. Brigham Young asked Sharp to negotiate with the Union Pacific Board once again for financing in extending Utah railroad interests. Because of the relationship Sharp had established in his previous negotiations, he was able to create a mutually beneficial relationship between the Union Pacific and Brigham Young during the construction of the Utah Southern Railroad, the Utah Southern Extension, and the Salt Lake and Los Angelos connection.
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'Be Kind to the Poor' : The Life Story of Robert Taylor Burton
Charles R. Savage, the Other Promontory Photographer
Daniel Hanmer Wells and Events of His Time
Desert Saints : The Mormon Frontier in Utah
Ensign to the Nations : A History of the Church from 1846 to the Present
From Quaker to Latter-day Saint : Bishop Edwin D. Woolley
From the City of Angels to the City of Saints : The Struggle to Build a Railroad from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City
'Good Guys' vs. 'Good Guys' : Rudger Clawson, John Sharp, and Civil Disobedience in Nineteenth-Century Utah
History of Utah
History of Utah. Vol. 4 : Biographical
John Sharp and T. B. H. Stenhouse : Two Scottish Converts who Chose Separate Paths
List of Persons Present, Promontory, Utah. May 10, 1869
Opening the Gates of Zion : Utah and the Coming of the Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad and the Mormon Church, 1868-1871 : An In-depth Study of the Financial Aspects of Brigham Young's Grading Contract and Its Ultimate Settlement
Utah Railroads
Wilford Woodruff's Journals