The Transcontinental Railroad

On May 10, 1869, the Central Pacific Railroad met the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, officially connecting the nation by rail. The driving of the golden spike marked the completion of what was undoubtedly one of the most important events in United States history. By bridging the 2,000 miles from the Missouri River to the West Coast, the nation was now joined by 3,500 miles of transcontinental railroad from New York to California. A journey that had once taken four to six months by the overland pioneers had been reduced to six days, and the dangers and hardships facing westward travelers had been diminished greatly. Each year, the celebration of the completion of the nation's first transcontinental railroad is re-enacted on May 10th at the Golden Spike National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service.

Background

A transcontinental railroad had been suggested and discussed as far back as the 1830's, but it wasn't until 1853 that Congress charged Jefferson Davis (Secretary of War) to conduct feasibility surveys for a transcontinental railroad route. Years of debate over the best route followed. Among the options discussed included a northern route from St. Louis and a southern route from New Orleans to Southern California. The secession of the South from the Union opened the door for the northern route and in July of 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act, which granted a charter to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies, authorizing them to build a railway and a telegraph line between Omaha and California Territory. The Act gave the railroads loans for each mile of track laid, as well generous amounts of public land along the way. The Union Pacific was commissioned to build west from Omaha, Nebraska, across the Great Plains, and the Central Pacific to build east from Sacramento, through the Sierra Nevada.

The Adventure Begins

In 1863, the Central Pacific Railroad, under the management of the "Big Four" -- Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins -- began laying track east from Sacramento in 1863. During the same year, ground was broken at Omaha for the Union Pacific. Because of the Civil War and a shortage of funds, the project got off to a slow start at both ends, and it wasn't until 1866 that things really started moving forward. That year, the Union Pacific Railroad, using mainly Irish immigrants, laid 260 miles of track, followed by 260 miles in 1867, and close to 500 miles in 1868. The Central Pacific using 25,000-30,000 Chinese immigrants, (called "coolies" from the Chinese words for rent and muscle) worked their way east through the rugged terrain of the Sierra Nevada Mountains reaching Nevada in June of 1868.