Memoirs of John Adams Dix; comp. by his son, Morgan Dix.

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MEMOIRS OF JOHN ADAMS DIX.

their combined influence and means, open a common avenue
to the Pacific, or more than one, if their western termini must
be fixed at different points. A large view of this subject
should extinguish all jealousy, which is always bred in narrowness of feeling, and is almost always blind to the very
interest it seeks to promote."
The work on the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad was
pushed with the rapidity and energy which characterize
American enterprises. It was commenced April 10, 1852,
and opened to Joliet, 40 miles, October 18 in the same year;
to Morris, 61 miles, January 5, 1853; to Ottowa, 83 miles,
February 14; to La Salle, 98 miles, March 10; to Peru, 99
miles, March 21; to Tiskilwa, 122 miles, September 12; to
Sheffield, 136 miles, October 12; to Geneseo, 158 miles, December 19. This was the first continuous line of railroad to
reach the Mississippi River from Lake Michigan. The western extension of the road was the Mississippi and Missouri
Railroad; and the bridge connecting the two sections of the
road was a good specimen of engineering skill. It is an
interesting fact in his life that General Dix should have
been connected with these great works, and with the grander
project for which they prepared the way. As was observed
in a letter to him from Davenport, June 20, 1854, by one
engaged in the same enterprise:
"Your earnest and devoted labors are worth to the company a very large amount; and not only so, but they place
your name high on the pinnacle of fame in a different line
entirely from any one in which you have thus far won a
great reputation."
Referring to the work then in progress, General Dix wrote
to Mr. Dean, member of Congress, as follows:
"New York, March 21, 1854.
"MY DEAR SIR,-If you have constitutional scruples in respect to
grants of lands to States for roads within their own limits, it will not be
worth your while to take the trouble to read this letter; but if you re