What happened in August 1883?

COLTON >> Colton, California once thrived because of railroads and hard work. As railroads were beginning to expand across the area, more and more people began to move in and build themselves homes and lives, creating what we know today as the industrious city of Colton. Colton is home to more than one single railway company: the Southern Pacific Railway and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF). It was in 1883 when Colton became the home of one of the largest Frog Wars in the nation’s history. Southern Pacific had already established their railroads in Colton, but it was when AT&SF wanted to build a crossing over it that the two privately-owned companies began to butt heads. Southern Pacific was extremely unhappy with a separate company wanting to build over their tracks, and it was because of this that they decided to play a bit dirty. When Fred T. Perris, the president of AT&SF at the time, ordered a Frog, a part that allows two tracks to join or cross safely, the Southern Pacific company hired the Sheriff to seize the part and keep it under 24-hour surveillance. On Aug. 11, 1883, Perris obtained a court order that would allow AT&SF to legally install the crossing with or without Southern Pacific’s approval. Once the court order had been sent in the mail to Southern Pacific, AT&SF went to wait by the side of Southern Pacific’s tracks, at the area where they would be building. They waited there until the Southern Pacific’s Overland Mail passed over the point of the crossing area before they began to make their move. According to History Net, before they were able to do anything though, a locomotive with a single gondola appeared, carrying the famous Tombstone lawman, Virgil Earp. Southern Pacific had hired Earp to defend the locomotive and the tracks, and all AT&SF was able to do was watch as the locomotive slowly moved back and forth on the tracks, keeping AT&SF from making any progress. Done with all the dramatics, Robert Waterman, the governor of California at the time, ordered San Bernardino J.B. Burkhart to enforce the court order. Ten dependable men were deputized and together, they all went to confront Southern Pacific and Earp. At the scene, there were two mobs, one made up from mainly Colton residents, and one made up mainly from San Bernardino residents. Colton residents were supporting Southern Pacific, the company where many of them had jobs and had helped build the railroad. San Bernardino residents, angry at being bypassed by Southern Pacific, were hoping for AT&SF to put them back on the map. Both mobs stood on opposing sides of the tracks when Waterman made his move. He placed himself between the Locomotive holding Earp and the San Bernardino mob before reading the court order and demanding that Southern Pacific and Earp stand down. Earp knew that if he were to make a stand with his six-shooter, he would be put into a bloodier battle than even his shootout in Tombstone, so he ordered the locomotive to move. AT&SF installed their piece and one of the busiest train crossings in America was born. Though it was a major accomplishment at its time, the crossing eventually became dangerous and taxing on time. Due to the tightness of the area that the crossing was in, it bottlenecked the trains. Only one of 110 trains per day was able to go through the area at a time while the other had to wait minutes, possibly hours for its turn. To fix this, in 2011 work began on a flyover bridge, and in 2013, both railways were separate once more. The Colton Crossing remained a crossing but the two railways no longer were connected, causing less congestion and saving time and money.