Jay Gould and the Missouri Pacific

Jay Gould and the Missouri Pacific. . , Ten years after the White Line scandal broke, the Missouri Pacific (it had been re-named as other "Pacific" railroads were constructed) was not faring much better than it had in the past. Despite the 1874 construction of the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi, which finally connected St. Louis railroads east, the line was in dire financial straits. In 1879, the Missouri Pacific was purchased and consolidated by the infamous "robber baron," Jay Gould. Many other small railroads met a similar fate in this period., Despite the speculation of his contemporaries, Gould claimed in an 1883 senatorial hearing not to be interested in getting richer through his purchase of the Missouri Pacific. "At that time, I did not care about the money made; it was a mere plaything to see what I could do. I had passed the point where I cared about the mere making of money. It was more to show that I could take a combination and make it a success. I took this road and began developing it.", To make his "plaything" a success, he added new tracks to the Missouri Pacific. The line became the center of an expanding railroad system. Additionally, he controlled the Wabash, Texas and Pacific and the Missouri-Kansas Texas (or KATY) railroads, amongs many others, connecting them to the Missouri Pacific. By 1887, Gould's "railroad empire" spanned a total of 9,547 miles. It became an alternative to systems that ran through Chicago, and turned St. Louis into a railroad hub. However, its financial arrangements were shaky and it rapidly fell apart, especially after Gould's death in 1892. His son George, who had taken over the enterprise, did not share his father's business acumen.