Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Jefferson Ia [1]Sep 19 [2] My Dear Beck
Mr Holdrege [3] told me that work would have been commenced on our rail road before now but that it was impossible to get men & teams But that they had a large force on the branch up North Platte and hoped to be able to put them on that line yet this fall— if not early in the Spring. Now George this means business for our neck of the woods Cody next summer should be a red hot town and for good ness sake hurry the State Land board up— I am try my best to find out the indebtedness of our co— Alger says he cant hear from you— do hurry this up.
CodyNote 1: Jefferson, Iowa: Buffalo Bill's Wild West performed in Jefferson, Iowa, on September 19, 1899. [back]
Note 2: The year is not inscribed by Cody but is 1899. [back]
Note 3: George Ward Holdrege (1847-1926) was born in New York City in 1847. His father, Henry Holdrege, Jr., was a merchant in New York. After attending Harvard, Holdrege moved to Plattsmouth, Nebraska, as a clerk for the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad about 1869. Due to corporate mergers, this railroad would be known as the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy at the turn of the twentieth century. It is now part of BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) Railway. Holdrege rose steadily through the company's ranks, holding a series of increasingly responsible posts in Iowa and Nebraska. By 1882 he was general manager of the company's Omaha office. Until his retirement in 1920, Holdrege played a key role in managing the railroad's operations west of the Mississippi. He died in Omaha in 1926. [back]
