In the late 1870s miners descended on the upper Arkansas River valley of Colorado in search of carbonate ores rich in lead and silver. The feverish mining activity in what would become the Leadville district attracted the attention of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, each already having tracks in the Arkansas valley. The Santa Fe was at Pueblo and the D&RGW near Canon City, Colorado, some 35 miles west. Leadville was over 100 miles away. For two railroads to occupy a river valley ordinarily was not a problem, however, west of Canon City the Arkansas River cuts through a high plateau of igneous rocks forming a spectacular steep-walled gorge over a thousand feet deep. At its narrowest point sheer walls on both sides plunge into the river, creating an impassible barrier. Sharing is not an option along this route.
On April 19, 1878, a hastily assembled construction crew from the Santa Fe began grading for a railroad line just west of Canon City in the mouth of the gorge. The D&RGW, whose track ended only ¾ of a mile from Canon City, raced crews to the same area, but they were blocked by the Santa Fe graders in the narrow canyon. By a few hours they had lost the first round in what became a two-year struggle between the two railroads that would be known as the Royal Gorge War.
The D&RG crews tried leapfrogging the Santa Fe grading crews, but were met with court injunctions from the Santa Fe in the contest for the right-of-way. The D&RG built several stone "forts" (such as Fort DeRemer at Texas Creek) upstream in an attempt to block the Santa Fe. Grading crews were harassed by rocks rolled down on them, tools thrown in the river and other acts of sabotage. Both sides hired armed guards for their crews. The railroads went to court, each trying to establish its primacy to the right of way. After a long legal battle that ended in the U.S. Supreme Court, on April 21, 1879, the D&RG was granted the primary right to build through the gorge that in places was wide enough for only one railroad at most. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
An interesting part of the Santa Fe construction through the gorge is the hanging bridge at a point where the gorge narrows to 30 feet. Here the railroad had to be suspended over the river along the north side of the gorge as sheer rock walls go right down into the river on both sides. C. Shallor Smith, a Kansas engineer, designed a 175-ft plate girder suspended on one side by "A" frame girders spanning the river and anchored to the rock walls. The bridge cost $11,759 in 1879, a princely sum in those days. Although it has been strengthened over the years, this unique structure has served on a main rail line for over 118 years. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
Coca-Cola was involved in the Second World War.Robert Woodruff made a point of supporting US troops so metal cans were introduced to meet their needs.In 1941, when the United States entered the war, Woodruff decided that Coca-Cola's place was near the front line.He sent an order to:"See that ever man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca Cola for 5 cents wherever he is and whatever the cost to the company".In 1939 Coca Cola only had 5 overseas bottling plants. By 1945, they had 64. What made it so popular? Because the water was disgusting. The army kept it clean by adding chlorine-so the water tasted like your local swimming pool, or worse.On the 29th June 1943 General Dwight D Eisenhower ordered three million bottles of Coca- Cola to be sent to the allies in North Africa.Plant and machinery for down town bottling plants were also sent so another three million bottles could be sent to the troops every six months.By the end of the hostilities five billion bottles or cans of Coca-Cola had been drunk.Coca-Cola had not only lifted the spirits of the US Armed Forces, it had also introduced itself to new markets. When the war ended the bottling plants and a little bit of America stayed too. (SOURCE: Digger History)
For God, Country and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It by Mark Pendergrast
Women in the Marine CorpsIn 1918, the Secretary of the Navy allowed women to enlist for clerical duty in the Marine Corps. Officially, Opha Mae Johnson is credited as the first woman Marine. Johnson enlisted for service on August 13, 1918; during that year some 300 women first entered the Marine Corps to take over stateside clerical duties from battle-ready Marines who were needed overseas.World War II ServiceThe Marine Corps Women's Reserve was established in February 1943. The first director of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve was Mrs. Ruth Cheney Streeter from Morristown, New Jersey. By the end of World War II, 85% of the enlisted personnel assigned to Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps were women.The first group of women officers was given direct commissions based on ability and civilian expertise. These women were given no formal indoctrination or schooling, but went on active duty immediately. Women Marines were assigned to over 200 different jobs, among them radio operator, photographer, parachute rigger, driver, aerial gunnery instructor, cook, baker, quartermaster, control tower operator, motion picture operator, auto mechanic, telegraph operator, cryptographer, laundry operator, post exchange manager, stenographer, and agriculturist.After the war; Retention for active dutyOn June 7, 1946, Commandant of the Marine Corps General Alexander A. Vandegrift approved the retention of a small number of women on active duty. They would serve as a trained nucleus for possible mobilization emergencies. The demobilization of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve, 17,640 enlisted and 820 officers, was to be completed by September 1, 1946. Of the 20,000 women who joined the Marine Corps during World War II, only 1,000 remained in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve by July 1, 1946.June 12, 1948, the United States Congress passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act and made women a permanent part of the regular Marine Corps.In 1950, the Women Reserves were mobilized for the Korean War and 2,787 women were called to active duty. By the height of the Vietnam War, there were about 2,700 women Marines served both stateside and overseas. By 1975, the Corps approved the assignment of women to all occupational fields except infantry, artillery, armor and pilot/air crew. Over 1,000 women Marines were deployed in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
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