In the early part of the 1800s, some people felt that California and Oregon were too far from the East to become states. However the coming of the railroad changed people’s minds. Gradually railroads were improved. People began to dream of a railroad that would connect the East with the West. Soon, plans were made to build a railroad that would cross the continent from coast to coast, our country’s first transcontinental railroad.
Building The Railroad
A transcontinental railroad was a long, hard job. The track not only have to be laid across prairies and plains, but also around and up and down mountains. Two companies took on the tremendous job: Union Pacific Company and Central Pacific Company. Work started in 1862, during the Civil War.
The Union Pacific began work in Omaha, Nebraska. A railroad had already been built that far from the East. The Union Pacific workers built their tracks westward from Omaha. The Central Pacific began work in Sacramento, California and build their tracks toward the East.
Many years of hard work went into this job. There were no stores along the way to buy supplies for the 20,000 workers. Instead, trains would carry needed supplies to the workers as far as the new tracks were finished. Buffalos were sometimes shot for their fresh meat.
Day by day, the two sets of tracks came closer and closer to each other. The two companies raced each other to see which company would complete more miles of tracks. Finally on May 10, 1969, a Union Pacific locomotive met a Central Pacific locomotive traveling East. The place where the two railroads met was Promontory Point, Utah.
But the great railroad wasn’t finished yet. The last spike needed to be driven into the rails at their meeting place. An ordinary spike would not have done for an event like this. Amidst the sound of sledge hammers and loud cheering, a gold spike was driven into the last rail.
In conclusion, the Transcontinental Railroad was a major event in United States history because it marked a milestone in the modernization of the US.