The nation network of railroads laid from 1848 through the Civil War, and the steam powered locomotives that traversed them, supplied Chicago with vast new markets, resources, and people who quickly transformed it from a quiet Frontier village into a highly populated industrial powerhouse. The Chicago of 1830 was hardly a city at all. Fort Dearborn located near the fork of what is now the Chicago River was bogged down with mud and tormented by disease and Indian wars. By the 1833 when the city was incorporated, a warehouse, dry good's store, and hotel had all been built. William B. Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago was also the first to attempt to give Chicago a railroad. He chartered the Galena and Chicago Railroad in 1836, but it collapsed with the economic disaster of 1837 (Berger 3). Ogden tried again in 1846, and on October 22, 1848 Chicago's first locomotive, "Pioneer", was loaded onto the tracks (Casey, Douglas 59). In retrospect, "Pioneer" turned out to be a fitting name for......

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Title: Railroads Effect Chicago
Approximate Word Count: 2354
Approximate Pages: 10 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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