The Trans-Continental Railroad

Long distances and slow transportation made things difficult for the Eastern and Western commercial centers. The United States Government, as well as entrepreneurs, wanted to create something to make and easier access between the two sections. For many years after 1850, Congress studied possible transcontinental routes, but arguments over sectionalism and slavery blocked all plans. Not until after the South seceded and the Civil War had begun could Congress pass an effective transcontinental plan. Then the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 was passed.

The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 needed for two railroad companies to complete the transcontinental line. The railroad would be a "land-grant railroad". This meant that the government would give each company 6,400 acres of land and up to $48,000 for every mile of the track they built. The money made this idea even more appealing. It would also bring more settlers to the West who would need the railroads to haul freight.

The thing that made the congress hesitant to fund the building of the railroads, was their fear that they would never be completed. Because of this fear, something called a caveat was written into the act. The caveat stated that the railroads must be completed by July 1,1876. If the railroads were not completed by this day, then the companies would forfeit their money, land, and all of the constructed track.

The Union Pacific Railroad was the company that built the eastern half of the railroad, which started in Nebraska. The Central Pacific Railroad was the company that built the Western half. The Central Pacific Railroad was owned by entrepreneurs in California.

"Preliminary work began, even as the nation still fought the Civil War. Surveyors and engineers had to scout and map workable routes. After the war, several army generals served as engineers on the project. They included Grenville Dodge, a favorite general of Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, who became the Union Pacific's chief engineer.Work progressed rapidly after the Civil War. The project attracted many former soldiers, both Union and Confederate, as well as Irish and Chinese immigrants. The Central Pacific quickly had to tackle the rugged Sierras in California. Rather than go over or around them, engineers chose to go through them. But such a plan required tons of dynamite and someone to set the charges. The Chinese were often willing to do the hazardous work for less pay than other Americans, and they became a backbone of the Central Pacific work crew. Men working on both lines braved the extremes of heat and cold, hostile Native Americans, and disease as they advanced." (source)

The two railroads reached northern Utah at about the same time. The work crews kept working and passed each other because the government had not yet decided where the rails would meet. Government then decided for their meeting point to be in Promontory Point, Utah. A ceremony was held, it included the driving of a symbolic golden railroad spike. Then the two lines linked on May 10,1869, seven years ahead of schedule.