The four individuals above, A.C. Fulton, Antoine LeClaire,
G.C.R. Mitchell and James Grant were instrumental in bringing
the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad and its connecting lines
to Iowa. They were also involved in building the Chicago &
Rock Island Railroad, the bridge spanning the Mississippi
River between Rock Island and Davenport and connecting the
west coast with the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad.
1850 Census

Ambrose C Fulton             Scott County, Iowa
My Present Past
A genealogical experience
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Mississippi & Missouri Railroad
In 1842 Ambrose C Fulton urged the building of a railroad from the Atlantic
to the Pacific ocean and bridging the Mississippi river between Rock Island,
Illinois  and Davenport, Iowa. In that same year he had made soundings and
measurements of the river at Davenport with this idea in view. In 1845 the
building of the Rock Island and LaSalle railroad was agitated and the Davenport
Gazette in its issue of December 18, 1845, valiantly encouraged those promoting
the scheme and argued its importance and the feasibility of connecting the
Illinois and Iowa shores by a bridge over the Mississippi river.

Source:
History of Davenport & Scott County Iowa
Henry E Downer     1910
The Mississippi and Missouri would be the railroad that connected
the cities of Davenport and Council Bluffs, Iowa and would also be
instrumental, along with the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad in
bridging the states of Iowa and Illinois at Rock Island.
Right:
1848 Notes on Iowa
George B Sargent   U.S. Deputy Surveyor
1850 Census
Antoine LeClaire
Scott County, Iowa
1850 Census
G C R Mitchell
Scott County, Iowa
1850 Census
James Grant
Scott County, Iowa
Ambrose C Fulton had such admiration and
respect for Antoine LeClaire, that he named
his first born son after him, LeClaire Fulton.
Above: 1850 map of the eastern border of Iowa
Background:
1852 Iowa Railroad Map
Mississippi & Missouri Railroad
Land Grant
April 02, 1852   H R 12
Page 01
Land Grant
April 02, 1852   H R 12
Page 02
Land Grant
April 02, 1852   H R 12
Page 03
Land Grant
April 02, 1852   H R 12
Page 04
Land Grant
April 02, 1852   H R 12
Page 05
The four individuals above, A.C. Fulton, Antoine LeClaire,
G.C.R. Mitchell and James Grant were instrumental in bringing
the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad and its connecting lines to
Iowa. They were also involved in building the Chicago & Rock
Island Railroad, the bridge spanning the Mississippi River
between Rock Island and Davenport and connecting the west
coast with the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad.
Without the assistance of the U.S. Government, railroad
construction between late 1840 and 1900 would have been
greatly curtailed. Building a railroad was very costly and
private banks, fearing the railroad companies would need a long
time to pay off their debts, were reluctant to loan money to
the companies. To remedy the situation, Congress provided
assistance to the railroad companies in the form of land grants.
With these land grants, railroads received
millions of acres of public land. In turn
they developed the land, built their
railroads and sold the remainder of the land
to finance their companies. This
contributed to a more rapid settlement of
the West. In the end, four out of the five
transcontinental railroads were built with
help from the federal government.
The land grant HR 12 for April 02, 1852 is
for the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad
from Davenport to Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The secondary part of the grant, the road
from Dubuque to Keokuk, Iowa would never
be attained through a direct route between
the cities.
1853 Chicago Commerce   Extract of pages 19-20
1852 Map of the Chicago & Rock Island, Peoria & Bureau Valley and
Mississippi & Missouri Railroads with their connections to New York
1854 Chicago Commerce Pg 10
1854 Chicago Commerce Pg 11
1854 Chicago Commerce Pg 12
The three pages to the left are from the 1854
book, Rail-Roads History & Commerce of Chicago by
the Daily Democratic Press of Chicago, Illinois.

There are three distinct roads of the
Mississippi & Missouri Railroad Company.

1st Division: Davenport via Iowa City and Ft. Des
Moines to Council Bluffs, Iowa. A distance of 300
miles. As of 1854 this road is not completed.

2nd Division: Davenport via Muscatine, Washington
and Oskaloosa, to the mouth of the Platte River.
Length of the route will be 300 miles. As of 1854
the road is under construction to Muscatine.

3rd Division: Muscatine road will run to Cedar
Rapids, a distance of 50 miles, with the intention
of extending this line into the Minnesota Territory.
1855 Map of Iowa