W. H. Wattis, left, and E. O. Wattis pose on stumps with surveyors for a Western Pacific line from Salt Lake City to Oroville, California, Circa 1905. Thomas Dee David Eccles Warren L. Wattis FOUNDERS The company's founders included Littlefield's railroad-building grandfather and great uncles - Edmund 0. Wattis, William H. Wattis, and Warren L. Wattis - who gained the backing and commercial influence of bankers David Eccles (Marriner's father) and Thomas Dee. The Utah Construction Company incorporated in Ogden, Utah on January 8,1900. As the century unfolded the company employed and supported not only the founders' descendants but also thousands of unrelated personnel. Through most of the 20th century, the company's projects reflected the nation's major preoccupations whether expansion, war, nuclear deterrence, or international trade. During their teens Ed and Will Wattis graded rail beds for their maternal uncles, who owned several construction firms with the name of Corey Brothers. When Utah Construction was organized, Will was named general manager at a salary of $25 per month. Conspicuous for a lively interest in politics, civic affairs, and golf, Will was dubbed "Mr. Outside." More reticent but expert at managing both logistics and personnel, Ed won the opposite soubriquet, "Mr. Inside." After building the Feather River line for Western Pacific over challenging terrain between Salt Lake City and Oroville, California, the company opened a San Francisco office in which Ed spent much of his time. Warren L. Wattis, much younger than his brothers, enjoyed the education Ed and Will lacked. After graduating from Cornell University, Warren served as UCC secretary and as a vice president and manager of the National Bank & Savings in Ogden. Active in local clubs and civic groups, he enjoyed writing stories, mountain climbing, and tennis. Like many capable men riding the crest of western settlement, Thomas Dee, the first UCC president, juggled diverse professional interests, including banking and law. He purchased the local waterworks for a silver dollar, but died of pneumonia after an accident in the Ogden River. Dee was succeeded as UCC president by his friend David Eccles, an entrepreneur who, by the early 1900s, was considered the richest man in Utah.