Who was William B Ogden?

Answer 1

the first mayor of Chicago

He is credited, by Alastair Cook, in his book "America" for being the man that "Opened up the West": He brought JOHN DEERe to Chicago, whose invention of the steel plow allowed tilling the stubborn sod of the Great Plains. He brought in the man (?Name) who invented the frame house, making it easier and faster to build residences. And he was instrumental in the construction of the transcontinental railroad. He promoted the construction of the "Ogden Canal" (The Illinois and Michigan Canal) that brought produce from the Midwest to the Great Lakes and hence to the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean.