Ames Monument
3 mi. NW of Sherman, Sherman, WYThe Ames Monument was erected under the authority of a resolution adopted by the stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad Company at a meeting held in Boston, Massachusetts on March 10, 1875. The resolution reads:
Resolved, that in memory of Oakes Ames, and in recognition of his services in the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad to which he devoted his means and his best energies with a courage, fidelity, and integrity unsurpassed in the history of railroad construction, the Directors (of this company) are requested to take measures in cooperation with such friends as may desire to contribute, for the erection at some point on the line of the road of a suitable and permanent monument.
The resolution obviously reflects the close relationship of Oakes Ames and the Union Pacific Railroad. It also reflects the public sentiment for Oakes Ames which arose following his censure by the United States House of Representatives in 1873 and his death in the same year. The significance of the Ames Monument cannot be properly discussed without a brief summary of the connection between the Ames Brothers and the Union Pacific Railroad including the former holding company of the Union Pacific, the infamous "Credit Mobilier of America". Because it is a monument to Oakes and Oliver Ames, and because the names of those brothers yet today are almost immediately associated with financial skullduggery, the Ames Monument has the capacity to keep alive the unsavory aspect of railroad-building in America. But the monument was not erected for the purpose of maintaining or preserving a history of corruption in American politics and American finance. The intention of those who were responsible for initiating the construction of the Ames Monument seems to be a vindication of the work of Oliver Ames, and especially that of his brother, Oakes Ames.
The Ames family has been an important one in American history since 1774. In that year Captain John Ames began pounding into shape the first American-made shovels in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Ames shovels were used to dig the trenches at Bunker Hill and were also used in the Civil War. The Ames Company supplied shovels for the excavation of the Panama Canal, for mining in the Pennsylvania coal fields and for digging the New York subway system. Local significance of the structure:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.