History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/William W. Walker
WILLIAM W. WALKER, one of the pioneer railroad builders of Iowa, was born in Cooperstown, New York, in 1834, receiving the education of civil engineers. He came to Iowa in 1855 and was soon chosen chief engineer of the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad Company with charge of the location of the trunk line of what is now the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad from Clinton to Council Bluffs. After the completion of that line he was one of the leading promoters and chief engineer of the Sioux City & Pacific and Elkhorn Valley railroads. He was an active member of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad Company, and for many years its superintendent. He was afterwards engaged in building railroads in Missouri and Arizona. Mr. Walker was the first president of the First National Bank of Cedar Rapids and was for many years one of the proprietors of the Cedar Rapids Republican. His life was one of great usefulness and he will long be remembered as one of the pioneer railroad builders of the State. He died in Chicago on the 22d of September, 1893.