Remembering: The Transcontinental Railroad

April 10, 1869 at Promontory, Utah Governor Leland Stanford of California takes a golden spike, and pounds it into the rail line, uniting a rail line from sea to shining sea.

In the 1840s the United States Congress began looking into how to support the creation of an intercontinental railroad. Agreements on location always hung it up. Northern and Southern politicians argued over where it should be located

Then in 1861, the debate ended as the Civil War began. The North was quick to approve a route from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California. And to help it further, Congress passed acts that rewarded companies for building the rails.

In response the Central Pacific railway began building east from Sacramento, and the Union Pacific started west out of Omaha. The Union Pacific had the easier job, with most of their route across the plains, they were able to do up to a mile a day. Building rails through the Sierra Nevada Mountains proved a much tougher job for the Central Pacific.

Strive and succeed both sides did, and in March 1869 the two sides were almost linked. They slowed down to give time for politicians to arrive, and when all was set on April 10 they were officially linked. A journey that had used to take three months, could now take a week.

Westward expansion only grew, as now millions poured across the country. America had survived the Civil War, and now was linked by easy travel. Only politics could ever divide her again.