He was a man who aggressively elbowed his way to the public trough. He not only got aid for railroads, but he secured supply contracts and swindled Indians during the Grant Administration. He headed the Texas & Pacific lobby from late 1874 through most of 1875, and remained an active advisor to Scott into 1878.
Painter to Scott, April 20, 1871, Painter LBs, 1871-76, box 30, Painter Papers.
Franchot to CPH, Feb. 19, 1874, LB, 6:153, box 22, Hopkins Collection.
CPH to Colton, Nov. 1, 13, 1874, Huntington Letters, 4:216, 219.
Timothy Gilfoyle, A Pickpockets Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York (New York: Norton, 2006), xv.