Huntington, Collis P(otter) (1821–1900)

US railway builder. In 1863 he joined Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins to win the rights to build the western section of the transcontinental railway, and by 1869 their Central Pacific Railroad was linking with the Union Pacific in Utah. Known as ‘Huntington's group’, they launched more enterprises including the Southern Pacific Railway in 1884, of which Huntington succeeded Stanford as president in 1890.

He was born in Harwinton, Connecticut. Starting as a peddler, he was a store owner in Oneonta, New York 1842–49. With the Gold Rush, he moved to Sacramento, California, where he opened a store; taking on Mark Hopkins, it soon prospered as a mercantile business, Huntington & Hopkins. Later, Huntington ruthlessly lobbied for his railway's interests, with little regard for his competitors, the government, or the public. He extended his own interest to eastern transportation projects including the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway and the steamship business, becoming ever more wealthy if disreputable.