Customer Reviews

Always a Cowboy: Judge Wilson McCarthy and the Rescue of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad

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4 star:		(1)
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This review appeared in the "Salt Lake Tribune." The publisher no longer has anyone doing marketing, so I thought I'd post it myself. BTW, I gave the book give stars, not Tom. --The Author

Wilson McCarthy Sat on the Board Created to Bail Out the Great Depression.

By Tom Harvey

The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 February 2009

Wilson McCarthy was a nationally prominent Utah native whom most Utahns today probably never have heard of.

Now, however, Will Bagley has written a highly readable biography of the attorney, judge, top Depression-era federal official and longtime president of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.

Bagley is the author of 10 books and editor of several more, probably best known for Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. The subtitle of the writer's latest book tells the reader what Bagley sees as McCarthy's great accomplishment: Judge Wilson McCarthy and the Rescue of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad .

Indeed, McCarthy in 1935 took the helm of the venerable but teetering railroad based in Denver and over 20 years improved its tracks, trains, service and, most important, its bottom line.

But the book's focus is much broader than that. Bagley, in fact, traces the family of McCarthy's father back to Ireland, where black rot ruined the potato crop and sent the family packing for the United States in about 1847. Wilson's father, Charles, born in Ohio in 1850, made his way to Utah, where he drove a stagecoach and married Mary Mercer in 1876, converting to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

When Mary didn't conceive, Charles took her sister as a second wife (and later was sentenced to prison for practicing polygamy). But Mary was the one who then got pregnant, and soon gave birth to two sons in a row. The second, Warren Wilson McCarthy, was born on July 24, 1884.

Charles McCarthy bought ranch land in Alberta, Canada, where Wilson learned to be a cowboy as a teenager, wearing the boots as standard attire the rest of his life.

Wilson served a church mission in Ireland, then gave up ranch life. In 1910, he married Minerva Woolley and the couple moved to New York, where Wilson entered Columbia Law school and finished his legal education.

McCarthy became an attorney in Utah, showing talent for both the law and Democratic politics. He served two years as district attorney and then was appointed to a judgeship in 1919. He resigned after a little more than a year, restarted his career as a private attorney and entered the banking industry, where he made a fortune. In 1926, he was elected to the state Senate.

The stock market crash of 1929 began the Great Depression, and President Herbert Hoover responded by creating the Reconstruction Finance Corp. to make emergency loans to banks, industries and agriculture (sound familiar?). McCarthy was appointed to a Democratic seat on the board in 1932, serving until he resigned the next year.

McCarthy returned to law practice in San Francisco, and became a millionaire with another bank. But in 1934, McCarthy accepted a request from RFC Chairman Jess H. Jones to take control of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad when it defaulted on a $10 million loan.

McCarthy accepted, spending the next 20 years rebuilding the railroad and making it profitable. He also became involved in Denver and Salt Lake City civic activities, helping to bring the Geneva Steel plant to Utah County, heading the big stock show in Colorado and serving on the commission planning the 100th anniversary celebration of the arrival of Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley in 1947.

Bagley writes that, "Half a century has swept away many of the contributions Wilson made to the American West " but his "enduring legacy is more than the sum of his parts." When McCarthy died in 1956, his funeral at Temple Square's Assembly Hall was presided over by LDS President David O. McKay.

In Always a Cowboy, Bagley shows his knowledge and mastery of historical sources, weaving together a colorful story of an important state figure. Yet Bagley goes on for too long in passages meant to serve as historical background to various aspects of McCarthy's career. Sometimes we lose sight of the subject amidst the details.

In the end, though, Bagley has produced a well-researched, readable biography of a Utahn who rose to national prominence and had a great influence over the history of the West at the mid-20th century.

tharvey@sltrib.com

Always a Cowboy: Judge Wilson McCarthy and the Rescue of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad

I really enjoyed this book. Gave a great history of the judge's father, and the struggles he faced. Also enlightening on the depression era economics, and trys to cure it. I realized that Wilson McCarthy was very involved in the West, not only in railroading! A diplomatic democrate, with integrity.
A very readable bio.

Paul H. Liddiard

A great book on the man who saved the D&RGW at the time of the Great Depression. Also gives considerable insight on the banking and economic situation of the times. A good read on how various pieces fit into the railroad and economic pictures.

For anyone with an interest in business leadership, the social history of the American West in the first half of the 20th century, and family life among the members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), I strongly recommend this book. Written with great compassion, understanding, and objectivity, it amounts to an assessment not only of the man but also of his family and religious heritage. The latter is treated with compassion, sensitivity, understanding, and -- with respect to the lingering influence of polygamy -- a dose of respectful criticism. The book can indeed be read as an introduction to LDS social history and family life in the early 20th century. But it is equally the story of the making of an extraordinary business leader.

Despite the subtitle, the book breaks little new ground in retelling the story of the Judge's rescue of the Rio Grande (thus the four stars in my review). What it does accomplish, and on a five-star level, is to explain the personal qualities and leadership capabilities that enabled McCarthy to do what he did, which was nothing short of a miracle. At the beginning of his service as Trustee (1935-1946) and later as President (1946-1956), McCarthy took control of a wrecked railroad system that had been systematically looted by East Coast financiers. He transformed this wreckage into what is widely regarded not only as the single best railroad of the mid-twentieth century, but more broadly, as one of the best-managed and most innovative American businesses of its day. For those primarily interested in the railroad's history, I strongly recommend Athearn's Rebel of the Rockies.