ABOVE: Photographer Eadweard Muybridge and tycoon Leland Stanford teamed up to find evidence for how horses run.
WIKIMEDIA, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION
Leland Stanford, founder of the university that bears his son's name, became obsessed with horses even as he helped make them obsolete. Stanford moved from Wisconsin to California in 1852, and made a fortune as a merchant in Sacramento during the California Gold Rush. In 1861, he was elected governor of California. One of the four cofounders of the Central Pacific Railroad, he used his political clout to secure land and funds for the railroad, and after his term ended he became its president.
On May 10, 1869, Stanford personally completed the transcontinental railroad with a golden spike.
Less than a year later, Stanford began buying racehorses. He developed a harness racing training method with Charles Marvin, called the Palo Alto System, which emphasized beginning speed ...
