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THE PACIFIC
RAILROAD |
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May
29, 1869, pages 348, 341 & 342 (Illustrated Article) |
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The foremost of
the great projects for connecting by rail the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts was realized May 10. At ten minutes past 3 o’clock p.m., at
Promontory Point, Utah, the last rail was laid. The last spikes
driven were presented by Nevada and Arizona. That from Nevada was of
silver. "To the iron of the East and gold of the West,"
said the Hon. T. A. Tuttle, representing that State, "Nevada
adds her link of silver to span the continent and wed the
oceans." By a connection of the telegraph with the last spike
(a gold one, from California), the last blow given announced to the
world the completion of the grand enterprise. A prayer was said by
Rev. Dr. Todd, of Pittsfield; then the two last rails were laid
simultaneously, one opposite the other—one for the Union Pacific
Road, and one for the Central Pacific Railroad; the presentation of
spikes and the responses followed; then the last spikes were driven
by the two companies, and telegrams were sent to the President of
the United States and to the Associated Press. |
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This remarkable event was
celebrated with especial enthusiasm in Chicago and other Western
cities. But in New York city, already the metropolis of a continent,
but by this enterprise rendered the center of the world’s
commerce, the news was calmly received; and, as on the occasion of
the capture of Richmond, the event was celebrated by the singing of
anthems, and not by a loud uproar. A salute was fired in the City
Park; peals were rung from Trinity chimes, and a religious service
was held in Trinity Church. The remarks made by the Rev. Dr. Vinton
were so appropriate that we quote here apportion of his address:
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This is, indeed, a great event of
the world; it is one of the victories of peace—a victory grander
than those of war, which leave in their track desolation,
devastation, misery, and woe. It is a triumph of commerce—a
triumph indicating free trade as a future law of the nation…When
we contemplate this achievement we can hardly realize its magnitude.
Three thousand two hundred and eighty-five miles of continuous
railway within four degrees of latitude and fifty degrees of
longitude in the temperate zone. It begun when the nation was
agitated by war, and is finished now when we enjoy a reign of peace.
When the ocean route was discovered around the Cape of Good Hope, it
was very properly regarded as a blessing to mankind—hence the
designation by which it is known; but the completion of this mighty
work, which connects the two oceans, is a still greater blessing. In
the olden times, when camels—those ships of the desert—were the
means used for transportation, for the furtherance of commercial
traffic, it was found that wherever the caravans stopped there would
spring up cities, and there would be evidences of civilization. So
with this great work. It will populate our vast territory, and be
the great highway of the nations; their merchants will cross it to
trade with us. But there is another aspect in which we view it as a
blessing, and in connection with which we esteem it of still greater
importance. It will preserve the union of these States. Philosophers
tell us, and we know it is to be true, that where there are rivers
which diverge in their courses, and have separate and distinct
outlets (as in Europe), there the nations become diffused, and the
peoples are separated and disunited. But where, on the contrary, the
topography is such that the rivers all flow into one common central
basin, there is necessarily a concentration of interests and of
peoples, and that territory is marked out by God to be under one
Government. By the operation of this natural law we must regard it
as decreed that there shall ever be a unity of people and government
in all that territory which lies between the Alleghanies and the
Rocky Mountains. Beyond these lofty heights, however, we find the
rivers diverging, as in Europe, and, following the rule that obtains
in the Old World, there might be a diffusion of interests and a
separation of governments in that section of the country divided
from us by the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. But this
railway counteracts such natural tendency to disunion, has prevented
a separation, and binds the States of the Atlantic and Pacific into
one nation. Roman roads unified and consolidated the Roman Empire.
They were made by the ambition of Emperors for the necessities of
war and commerce; but, under Divine Providence, they were the
highways along which the Apostles and the missionaries of Christ
carried the good tidings of salvation to the tribes of the peoples.
So this Pacific Railway is a means, under Divine Providence, for
propagating the Church and the Gospel from this, the youngest
Christian nation, to the oldest land in the Orient, now sunk in
Paganism and idolatry, and so will revive the worship of the Triune
God—the God of our salvation—in the farther East, the
birth-place of Christianity. |
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Let us glance at the
history of this enterprise. It is closely connected with the
political developments of the last twenty years. At the close of the
Mexican war, in 1848, California, New Mexico (including Arizona),
and Texas were added to our territory, so that from the 32d to the
42d parallel of latitude there was no foreign domain between the
Mississippi and the Pacific coast. The very next year thousands of
miners from every quarter of the globe flocked to the gold-fields of
California; the greater number by sea, but very many through the
Eastern States and over the unexplored regions of the far West, by
what soon came to be known as the overland route. The necessity for
a trans-continental route then became evident. Hon. Thomas H.
Benton, of Missouri, introduced a bill into the Senate in 1850,
authorizing what may be called a stepping-stone railroad, consisting
of links of railroad interrupted occasionally by what were then
supposed to be insuperable natural obstacles. Three years later
Congress appropriated $150,00 for six surveys of proposed routes for
Pacific railroads, to be carried on by the War Department, of which
Jefferson Davis was then Secretary. Among those who had been
prominent in advocating the claims of this enterprise before the
people the foremost was Asa Whitney. Congress, in 1854, appropriated
$190,000 more, and three additional surveys were made. |
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The great problem of the
engineers was how to overleap the Rocky Mountains, running through
the center of the vast trans-Mississippi region, which contains
two-thirds of our entire territory. The Pacific surveys proved that
this great grizzly bear had a very broad back, that the slope up his
sides was very gradual, and that his spine did not extrude
unpleasantly in the center, but lay, on the contrary, rather sunk
between two row of muscles or mountains on either side. |
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But very soon the
Southern disunion sentiment cast a cloud over the political sky, and
in this connection the important question arose, How would the
Pacific States stand? Their isolated position was keenly felt, and
thus an additional motive offered for a railroad between the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The importance of California was
beginning to be understood. Her gold, her cereals, her grape
culture, her trade with Eastern Asia; all these facts commanded
attention. She stood the test of the Civil War, and proved herself
loyal. Her own growing importance led her not to isolate herself,
but, on the other hand, to seek a more rapid and convenient
communication with the East. It was discovered that there was a
practicable railroad route across the snow-clad Sierra through
Donner Pass, midway between San Francisco and Virginia City. Some of
the richest Californian merchants pledged their entire fortunes to
the realization of this project, the State Legislature gave its
support, and Congress was asked to grant a fitting subsidy. |
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It is needless here to
describe the conflict which then sprang up between Chicago and St.
Louis, each of which (the former backed by New York and the
Northwest, and the latter by Philadelphia and the Middle States)
sought to gain control of the eastern branch that was to meet and
unite with that already proceeding from San Francisco. This was in
1862, when the Government was spending daily $2,000,000 in gold for
the suppression of the Rebellion. It was in the midst of such a
contest as this that in July, 1862, President Lincoln signed the act
granting a charter to the proprietors of the Pacific Railroad
Companies. The Chicago capitalists had gained the victory, and Omaha
(on the Missouri River) was fixed upon as the eastern terminus of
the road to Sacramento, 1721 miles distant. But St. Louis was to be
provided for by a subsidized branch line, to connect with the main
line on or about the 100th meridian. This was called the
Eastern Division of the Union Pacific Railroad. The line from
Sacramento to meet the Union Pacific was called the Central Pacific
Railroad. These three companies were all chartered and stood on an
equal footing as regarded land-grants, loans, mortgages, etc.
Congress conferred upon the three companies the right of way, an
absolute grant of 12, 800 acres per mile of the public lands
traversed, and authorized a special issue of 6 per cent United
States bonds, proportioned to each company according to the length
and difficulty of the lines, to be delivered as the work progressed.
The bonds issued by the companies themselves were given the position
of a first mortgage. The two classes of bonds and the other capital
for the construction of the Union and Central Pacific roads amount
in round numbers to $150,000,000, about equally divided between the
two. |
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These two roads have been
completed and the through line regularly established. On the very
day of the opening an invoice of tea from Japan was shipped from San
Francisco for St. Louis. The next day a telegram was received at the
Post-office Department, Washington, from Promontory Point, stating
that the mails had been delivered at that place for San Francisco.
The cost of transmitting the mails by the Butterfield route was
$1100 per mile by the year; by the railroad it is only $200 per
mile. The transportation of Government supplies and troops is
diminished in the same ratio. |
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The advantages of the new route thus
opened are obvious. Communication between Calcutta, Hong-Kong, and
Liverpool will be measured by days instead of weeks. Facilities for
the interchange of merchandise will tend to the rapid development of
our national resources. Immigration will receive the aid of a most
powerful auxiliary. What will grow out of the close connection thus
established with Eastern Asia time alone can reveal. We are not
disposed to be imaginative. Looking only to what is real and
tangible, it is certain that no work of this century can compare in
the grandeur both of the undertaking and of its probable results
with the Pacific Railroad.
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One of our illustrations
on page 348 shows the interior of one of Pullman’s Palace Hotel
Cars. These cars have all the accommodations of a first-class
steamer—state-rooms with spring-beds, and meals served to
passengers upon tables completely furnished. The passenger from
Chicago to San Francisco will take a state-room, go to bed at night,
and have breakfast, dinner, and supper on board the train while
flying across the continent. |
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The other illustration
on the same page shows the workmen—a medley of Irishmen and
Chinamen—engaged in constructing the last line of the railroad.
Thus the very laborers upon the road typify its significant result,
bringing Europe and Asia face to face, grasping hands across the
American Continent.
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May 29, 1869,
pages 348, 341 & 342 (Illustrated Article) |
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