Alfred W. McCune

Alfred William McCune (June 11, 1849 – March 28, 1927) was an American railroad builder, mine operator, and politician from the state of Utah. Owner of several retail and construction businesses, he helped build the Montana Central Railway and a portion of the Utah Southern Railroad, founded the Utah and Pacific Railroad, and built railways in Peru, among other projects. He also owned many profitable mines in Canada, Montana, Peru, and Utah, including the Payne Mine—which paid the most dividends in the history of British Columbia. Late in life, he co-founded the Cerro de Pasco Investment Company, which became the largest copper investor in South America and the largest American investor in Peru until it was nationalized in 1974. He was one of Utah's first millionaires.

He nearly became a U.S. Senator in 1899, but after being unable to receive a majority after numerous ballots and accusations of bribery, the state legislature adjourned without electing anyone to the seat. The Senate seat remained vacant for two years, and in 1901 another man was elected to the position.

As of the early 21st century, his Salt Lake City mansion, the Alfred McCune Home, was still considered one of the grandest homes ever built in the American West. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

McCune was born at Fort William in Calcutta, India, on June 11, 1849, to Matthew and Sarah (Scott) McCune. His father was born in 1811 on the Isle of Man, the son of Robert McCune and Agnes Jelly. Raised from infancy in Scotland, Matthew McCune traveled to London in 1835, joined the British Army, and married Sarah Elizabeth Caroline Scott. (He rose to the rank of captain in the artillery.) Alfred's mother, Sarah, had been born in London, where her family had resided for generations. Matthew McCune was assigned to Ft. William and the couple moved there the same year they were married. The McCunes had seven sons and one daughter, Alfred William McCune being the second-to-last to be born. All the children were born at Fort William, and three of the boys and the daughter all died there. The McCunes were members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian church. In 1851, after a church meeting in the McCune home, two sailors who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) converted the McCunes to Mormonism.

In 1854, Matthew McCune was sent to Rangoon, Burma, where he became a Mormon missionary in his spare time. Young Alfred was educated at home by Mormon missionaries for the next two years. Matthew McCune resigned from the British Army in late 1856, and on either December 6 or December 10 (sources differ) they set sail from Calcutta for New York City, arriving on March 3, 1857. Alfred had never seen snow before; he thought it was salt falling from the sky. After three months in New York City, the family traveled by rail to Chicago, where they proceeded by wagon to Salt Lake City, arriving on September 21, 1857. The family stayed with one family and then another in Farmington, Utah, for a few months before moving to Nephi, Utah in 1858.

Matthew McCune married Ann Midgley in 1859, and Isabella Chalmers in 1865. His second and third wives bore him another 15 children. Sarah McCune died in 1877. Matthew McCune died in Nephi in October 1889.

In his middle and late teens, Alfred McCune worked as a farmer and stock herder. When he was 19, he worked as a laborer on the Union Pacific Railroad (then pushing through Echo Canyon in Summit County, Utah), and then ranched cattle for a time with his brother Edward.

In 1871, the Utah Southern Railroad began construction across the lower portion of the state of Utah. With business partner Joel Grover, he began supplying the railroad workers with hay, grain, and provisions. In 1878, McCune added a third business partner, Walter P. Read, and they built the Utah Southern Railroad Extension from Milford to Frisco in 1880–1881. The three opened a general store in Milford, which proved highly profitable. In 1881, McCune joined Thomas Scofield in opening a 6,000-acre (2,400 ha) cattle and horse ranch in southern Utah.