Page 249 - Cornelius Hedges Story

For This And Succeeding Generations Gardiner 236

resolution. Undeterred, in 1901, Clark ran for the office again. This
time, his bid was both legitimate and successful. He resumed his
copper mining, banking, and railroad interests it took him perhaps
10 years to build Montana’s largest fortune and not much longer to
build one of America’s largest business empires. Clark also owned
the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad and the Oregon
Short Line Railroad. What put Las Vegas on the map was an auction
on May 15, 1905. The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad
owned by William A. Clark who auctioned off 110 acres in the
present-day downtown area. That allowed a town to grow in the
area around the railroad station. At first, Las Vegas grew as a mine
staging and supply point. Las Vegas became incorporated as a city in
1911, located in Clark County in recognition of the rail line he owned
and built that extended through the Las Vegas Valley, and the 1905
land auction that is considered the birth of Las Vegas. Clarksdale,
Arizona was founded by William A. Clark, the owner of one of
Jerome, Arizona’s largest copper mines. Clarksdale was founded
in 1912 and was the first planned community
in the State of Arizona. Clarksdale was
owned by the United Verde Copper Company.

Clark had an annual income of $12 million
and owned homes in Los Angeles, Washington
DC and Butte Montana. At the age of 86
William A. Clark died in his bedroom on March
25, 1925, one of the 50 richest men in America
with a net worth of around $200 million dollars. Figure 69 . W. A. Clark.

Cornelius Hedges wrote the following of William A. Clark:

“In 1877, Bro. William A. Clark was elected 13th Grand Master
of Montana. He was not as well known then as now, since
he has become the wealthiest man in the country and United
States Senator. The Fourteenth Annual Conclave was held at
Virginia City, Grand Master William A. Clark presided. This
Brother is pretty well known now since he became famous for
his phenomenal wealth and his long, heated controversy with
Marcus Daly for a seat in the United States Senate. We have
known him well and sometimes intimately, almost from his
first coming to Montana. He was an active, exemplary Mason,
a sagacious, successful business man who made his money as
honestly as any man could. He was first a merchant and early
established himself in banking at Deer Lodge. He became
interested in the Butte mines by having advanced money to