Utah and Northern Railway

This was by dictate of Brigham Young as he owned land in Soda Springs and believed that the Bear River Valley had potential for further Mormon settlement.

[4] The Mormons also believed they could break the monopoly that the anti-Mormon town of Corinne, Utah, had on the wagon freight business on the Montana Trail by extending the railroad into Idaho.

Investors had become hesitant after the panic of 1873 and the railroad was now moving into the northern half of the Cache Valley where there were fewer Mormon volunteers due to this area only recently having been relinquished by the Bannock and Shoshone.

Poor decisions by the planners and the lack of business from the frugal residents of the Cache Valley led to the bankruptcy and foreclosure sale of the Utah Northern only a few years later in 1878.

Union Pacific quickly resumed construction on the Utah & Northern Railway after purchase in April 1878.

After three and a half years of construction, before the close of 1881, they completed the additional 120 miles (190 km) of road to Butte, Montana.