Charles H. Sharman | |
|---|---|
 Sharman at UPRR Golden Spike ceremony | |
| Born | 1841 Ireland |
| Died | January 7, 1938 (aged 96) |
| Resting place | Fayetteville, Arkansas, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | civil engineering |
| Spouse | Anna Sharman (-1923) |
| Children | Florence S. Altizer (1876-1946) |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Civil |
| Institutions | Iowa central college |
| Employer(s) | Union Pacific railroad |
| Projects | First transcontinental railroad |
| Significant design | Grand Island and Dale creek bridges |
Charles H. Sharman (1841-1938) was a civil engineer who was part of the effort to build the Union Pacific railroad to Promontory Point, Utah in 1869. Sharman was present at the Golden spike ceremony on May 10, 1869, connecting the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory. Sharman was also in the Russell photograph of the same date [1]
After the Union Pacific was built to Promontory, Sharman worked with a number of midwest railroads and in 1920, retired to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Sharman's 1929 manuscript of his work on building the Union Pacific railroad provided the source material for Western fiction author Ernest Haycox to write a story called the "troubleshooter" in Collier's magazine in 1936.[1] "Trouble Shooter," told the story of Frank Peace, nominally a (civil) engineer working with (Samuel) Reed but mostly as (Grenville) Dodge's hired gun on the line. As such, Peace was frequently confined to those iniquitous siding towns, of which Sharman knew little. The novel first appeared in serial form in Collier's magazine in 1936 and was the basis of the Cecil B. DeMille motion picture epic Union Pacific, released in 1939.[1]