He knew that this was going to be a shortcut to Virginia City. It was quite a high dividend and the congressmen got wind of it. Within a week, there were people locating there. (Stanford went on to found Stanford University. Union Pacific Railroad Company, company that extended the American railway system to the Pacific Coast; it was incorporated by an act of the U.S. Congress on July 1, 1862. Three separate UP bridges collapsed under their own weight, before a locomotive had a chance to test them. Beyond that we don't know. Frank Chin:They especially recruited the Chinese. David Bain, Writer:They were being paid by the mile, so why not make the line longer? A trip between San Francisco and New York, which once might have occupied six grueling months, now takes a few days. But only one company would be paid for its work. And, Theodore Judah was uncomfortable with that. Looking back, historians say, the Chinese, who began arriving in the United States in significant numbers during the California Gold Rush of 1848-1855, were deemed too weak for the dangerous, strenuous job of building the railroad east from California. He managed -- illegally -- to get control of $2.2 million worth of shares in the Union Pacific, installed his own straw man as president, and took charge of the company. Helen R. Russell Deep ravines had to be bridged by wooden trestles or dirt fill. Matthew R. Isenburg Money was burning a hole in their pockets, and what were they going to do? Print length. The man who would fire America's first Transcontinental Railroad, Theodore Judah, was born in 1826 -- to a nation on the rise. But inside the man-made caves, work continued around the clock, in three eight-hour shifts, at four separate headings: one on the east side, one on the west. Grading crews from the companies had already gone past one another and were working side by side, leveling two separate lines, sometimes a hundred feet apart. It blasted more, it smoked less, it cleared out quicker. Kennan . Easton Historical Society Phil Roberts, Historian:It wasn't going to be like those other Hell on Wheels towns that were going to be there just as long as the tracklayers were coming in to buy their liquid refreshments, etc. I wish they would have done it when it made a difference.'. What two companies completed the Transcontinental Railroad? In 1864, in hopes of getting extra government aid, the Doctor distributed $435,000 in cash and a quarter million dollars in bonds among legislators, their proxies, friends, and relatives. They toiled through back-breaking labor during both frigid winters and blazing summers. And when these hungry Chinese looked out and they saw this mob of deputized whites and they realized that there was really nowhere to go, they went back to work and they went back to work for $35 a month. The strike ended without pay parity after Central Pacific cut off food, transportation and supplies to the Chinese living in camps, but, Chang says, the strike was not held in vain. At the tunnels near Donner Summit and across Nevada, hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Chinese workers died while building the line. Sean McCardell, Swing Utility Ames retired in disgrace and went back to Massachusetts, and he was dead within a matter of weeks. God bless you and keep you happy, Jack. When they got to Colorado City a delegation came and asked them about protection against the Indians. The Restarting Point (Chammont Point Book 1) Kindle Edition It meant change in the lives of Indian people, white settlers, even the game in the area. Q. Speed mattered more than ever now; big money was at stake -- and with the entire nation looking on, so were bragging rights. Collis P. Huntington was a hardware wholesaler known for his willingness to bury competition and for his shrewd business sense. months[11] = "A vast range of highly informative and dependable articles have been produced by the Siteseen network of entertaining and educational websites. 1862 By 1868, 51 CP locomotives were pulling freight trains and passenger cars on only one track. Their job duties included everything from unskilled labor to blacksmithing, tunneling and carpentry, according to the Project, with most work done with hand tools. The tunneling and grading work in Utah was contracted out to Brigham Young and his Mormon followers. Frank Chin:You send a train out. I mean you go up in the Sierras even today and you look at those retaining walls and those culverts that were built by hand by the Chinese, and they're still doing their job, and they're still objects of beauty. ", Few Americans bought into these dreamy projections. Oakland Museum of California, Gift of Anonymous Donor This little crew went on strike. Rose M. Compagine Carol Bowers, Historian:As the animals had difficulty they might have to lighten their loads. -- W.O. 1869 Narrator:In early May, 1869, the competing companies neared the north end of the Great Salt Lake and the day of completion. Collis Huntington and his partners were little help in the investigation. September 4: During a heated presidential campaign, the Crdit Mobilier scandal erupts in the press, smearing the name of many established government figures who purportedly sold their influence for Crdit Mobilier stock. Steve Young, Voices Charles Sweet April 9: Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant. The Union Pacific Transcontinental Railroad provided a railroad route connecting New York on the Atlantic coast with San Francisco, California on the Pacific Coast of the United States. The Transcontinental Railroad | American Experience | PBS document.documentElement.className += 'js'; Five hundred miles west, Charley Crocker's Central Pacific crews were working their way across Nevada's 40-mile desert, where they had to haul thousands of gallons of water a day by train to men and livestock. More than a few in the capital doubted the integrity of a company run by Thomas Durant. Shayne Palmer CENTRAL PACIFIC-UNION PACIFIC RACECENTRAL PACIFIC-UNION PACIFIC RACE, a construction contest between the two railroad companies bidding for government subsidies, land grants, and public favor. Narrator:Small parties of Union Pacific surveyors were harassed and shot at. What were the starting points and ending points of the transcontinental railroad? They finally had the money. The 1862 Railroad Act did not specify a starting point in the East. Thomas C. Durant had good instincts for self-preservation, and he understood it was now in his interest to startbuildinga railroad. They also had the most difficult and dangerous work, including tunneling and the use of explosives. Transcontinental Railroad Diagram Director of Photography eastern starting point was constructed by the Union Pacific RR from Omaha, Nebraska, and the western starting point was constructed by the Central Pacific in Sacramento, California. National Archives Thousands of towns materialized in the corridor created by the railway. It's not very efficient. Narrator:Hell On Wheels was a town made to carry; as the railroad workers moved down the prairie, the entire town could be packed onto flatbed cars or wagons and hauled to the next felicitous spot, re-constituted and renamed. Ronald Lew Harris The Congressmen that were active on behalf of specific geographical points to be starting points for the railroad were, for the most part, invested in those communities. Tracks of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines are joined together, The Pacific Railroad constituted one of the most significant and ambitious American technological feats of the 1800's following in the footsteps of the building of transportation systems such as the Construction of the Cumberland Road, the Erie Canal, the Oregon Trail. By 1880, the two railroad companies were hauling $50 million of freight every year -- much of it between Europe and Asia. Oakes Ames subsequently invests in Credit Mobilier and promotes the interests of the company in Washington, D.C. January 20, 1865: Charles Crocker starts to hire Chinese immigrants for Central Pacific, April 9, 1865: General Robert E. Lee surrenders and the Civil War ends releasing many soldiers to work on the railways, April 9, 1865: President Lincoln is assassinated, July 10, 1865: Union Pacific Lays the First Rail, July 1866 Doc Durant hired by General Jack Casement as the Union Pacific construction boss who aims to construct 60 miles of track per month, May 1867: Durant is forced to resign from the Union Pacific, Jun 25, 1867: Chinese workers Rail Strike for better hours and wages. (Enter your ZIP code for information on American Experience events and screening in your area.). And they've linked the two western shafts together. 1845 Asa Whitney presents a resolution in Congress endorsing the funding of a railroad to the Pacific. Railroads in the east were already generating enormous revenues for owners -- and prosperity for the towns and cities along the lines. Dodge named the town Cheyenne. Narrator:By the turn of 1866, the Central Pacific had 6,000 Chinese immigrants on the payroll, from ages 13 to 60. And supervise and coordinate all of the construction effort. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Narrator:On July 1, 1862, President Lincoln signed a bill that gave Judah's own Central Pacific the right to build from Sacramento east and chartered a second company -- the Union Pacific -- to build from the Missouri River west. Judah immediately recognizes the location as ideal for constructing a line through the Sierra Nevada. Building the Union Pacific Railroad | Wyoming History Day months[3] = "Check out the interesting and diverse websites produced and created by the international publisher in the Siteseen network. Three years and 680 miles into construction, and the UP was finally running into the sort of obstacles the CP had faced in the Sierras. But when the railroad got down in 1868 into Nevada, the real rush was on. Mark Zwonitzer But on the other side of this coin, is how this did bind the nation together and it signaled a new era. But he was surprised to see the Chinese gangs out-distance the Welsh crews week after week. In 1814 George Stephenson, considered the inventor of the first steam locomotive engine for railways, engineered the steam locomotive and developed the Rocket in 1829. May the coyote feast upon their stiff and festering carcasses Education and civilization will be satisfied when they cease to be.". Mariusz Glabinski, Photo Archives But President Abraham -- who had long championed a Pacific railroad -- was lobbying hard for the project. Crocker, and Leland Stanford, a wholesale grocer and would-be Governor. Hulton/Archive by Getty Images Rail fell overboard into the Sacramento River. Carolina Juarez Ames offered a point in the middle. The makers ofTranscontinental Railroadtraveled back and forth across the original route of the railroad, looking for locations, stories, and images. There is so much to do. Thomas C. Durant, as always, slipped the noose. Towns sprang up along the railroad. October 1864: The Union Pacific construction contract is signed over to Union Pacific associate Herbert M. Hoxie who then signs the contract over to Durant's new company, Credit Mobilier of America. Where did the Transcontinental Railroad meet? Phil Roberts, Historian:Where initially there was fear on the part of a lot of people about the possible threats from Indians and from the Native population, as time passed, that fear became one of almost, almost hatred. Wendell Huffman, Historian:The 40 mile desert got its name during the overland immigration to California during the gold rush. Voice, reading letter from Mrs. Casement:My Dear Husband, I expect that you are bending all your energies to out-do everybody else and do the biggest thing that was ever heard of. The more visionary Cheyenne and Sioux leaders -- like Red Cloud -- concentrated their efforts north in the Powder River region, where the Bozeman trail threatened to destroy the only good buffalo hunting left to them. This assemblage and the others like it that follow the westward press of empire are named "Hell on Wheels" towns. He was fighting a costly and bloody civil war to put the union together. The Union Pacific Transcontinental Railroad provided a railroad route connecting New York on the Atlantic coast with San Francisco, California on the Pacific Coast of the United States. The Civil War ends. Buy new: $5.99. November: North Platte, Nebraska, sits at the end of the Union Pacific line, and soon features a potent combination of saloons, prostitutes, and criminals. 2003 WGBH Educational Foundation The anxious CP partners had already had track laid east of the tunnel, out along the Truckee River. On March 17, 1884, a new Southern Pacific Company was incorporated (under a special Kentucky charter) to act as a holding company for the several operating railroads; the Central Pacific was leased to it until 1959, when they merged. One of the important events during his presidency was the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on March 10, 1869. Donald Fixico, Historian:The buffalo is a great symbol and great being to the Plains people because it's really their staff of life and even more than that. Donald Fixico, Thomas Bowlus Distinguished Professor of American Indian History and Director of the Center for Indigenous Nations Studies at the University of Kansas, talks about the West before white settlement. They had scheduled peace talks for June. Point of beginning - Wikipedia Narrator:In the Kwangtung province of China, decades of flood, famine, war, and depression had left much of the population without a decent living. But the Doctor knew nobody was really watching; Congressional oversight was virtually nonexistent. And if you do this, it would be a great service to the country, and it would make you the most remembered man of the century. Hastily built, these settlements, known as "Hells on Wheels," flourished for a few weeks, then were deserted as the railroad moved on. var googletag = googletag || {}; All you want is the Army stationed here so it will make Colorado City prosperous.' When they drank, they didn't drink from ditches. And announced that it would one day rival Denver. Greg Shea, PROJECT ADMINISTRATION STARTING POINT: A map to help you along your spiritual journey Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum Chinese received 30-50 percent lower wages than whites for the same job and they had to pay for their own food stuffs, Chang says. They left Judah by the wayside. All that stood in the way of this new bounty was the road's completion. David Bain, Writer:He just did not trust Crocker. And they basically tell Judah either you buy us out or we'll buy you out. He stood for Congress and was elected from Massachusetts during the Civil War. You come up the American River, you go down the Truckee River. November 29: The Sand Creek Massacre. When Oakes sprinkled Credit Mobilier stock through Congress, he did it quietly. And as early as the 1830s, while Judah was still a schoolboy, pamphleteers began to champion one entirely new idea: a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific. And the tribal leaders were inclined to wait to see what the whites were going to bring to the peace table. And so the hooves for example are boiled to use as glue. The Southern politicians -- people like Jefferson Davis -- wanted it to start in Georgia and move across. Fred Gamst, Anthropologist:More and more white settlers came and coveted more and more of the land. California had a fairly strong secessionist movement. They cancelled contracts Judah had made with iron makers in the East, even questioned his lines of survey. Kevin Kennedy This was a zero sum game: every dollar gained by one company was a dollar lost to the other. The water often had Giardia in it; it caused dysentery. He just wanted to make as much money along the side as he could. Q. George Eastman House Frank Chin:A brakeman would start from the engine end, and a brakeman would start from the caboose and they'd be working their way down each car, tightening the brakes. They're paying themselves all this money and the Union Pacific has no money left. "We will beat the Union Pacific to Salt Lake. Government inspectors were rolling over for the companies. Colorado Historical Society Mrs. H.A. This act of the vigilantes served only to intensify the bitter feeling of the lawless element and these now threatened openly to burn the town. If you don't take hold of it, no one will, and it's not going to get done. Durant throws a grand "100th Meridian Excursion" for dignified guests, featuring a mock Pawnee ambush. In his personal diary of the summer of 1868, surveyor A.N. Dodge had been a commander for the Union Army in Tennessee and Georgia, and then on the Great Plains. wrote a Union Pacific surveyor who was there that day. What Hoxie did was hold the contract for a short period of time, sell it to Durant for $10,000 so the Credit Mobilier would build the road and then charge the Union Pacific. Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY; Vincent Mercaldo Collection But even that first rickety road had done its job. This was really a magnificent meal. Stanley Hirshson, Historian:Mrs. "; Narrator:Construction boss James Harvey Strobridge hired Welshmen from Nevada's hard-rock mines to further speed the work. Charlie Crocker suggested to their labor boss, James Harvey Strobridge, "Let's try some of the Chinese from down in the Valley and see if they work out." Wendell Huffman, Historian:When Theodore Judah returned with a franchise to build a Pacific Railroad, I think his partners -- and at that time they were all equal partners in this corporation -- I think they were a little bit surprised. Then, over time, it could be enlarged until they could get entire crews out to chisel away the cliff face. Voice, reading letter from Jack Casement:My dear wife, The river is beginning to rise. Vanessa Ruiz At the Central Pacific ceremony in Sacramento, toasts are raised to the pioneering visions of Asa Whitney and Theodore Judah. TheTom Thumbcarries passengers and goods along 13 miles of track between Baltimore and Ellicott's Mills, Maryland. Crocker and Strobridge cut off food, supplies, and communication to the Chinese camps. Narrator:By the summer of 1867, the Ames and their Boston counting-house friends had gained controlling interest from Durant and installed Oliver Ames as president; the Doctor had begun what would become a blizzard of lawsuits against the board, but remained as vice-president, director, and major stockholder. Mules died by the dozens, left to rot track-side as the crews moved on. The Milwaukee Road Mainline - Trains Magazine - Trains News Wire The Dale Creek Crossing . A. Stick a pin in there. Suddenly, he cared about nothing else. How glad I shall be when the last mile is laid -- Your wife, Frank. In his book, " Illinois Central Railroad ," author Tom Murray notes that after officials passed the Internal Improvement Act in 1837, $10 million was set aside to construct 1,300 miles across the state. The Union Pacific, especially, was desperate for cash. Wilson Wu, Researcher Following prayers and brief but grandiloquent speeches, the president of the Central Pacific, Leland Stanford, using a . But when a British chemist named James Howden told E. B. Crocker he could mix the compound on site at the tunnels, the CP partner shipped him straightaway to the summit. Despite Chinese workers' contributions to building Americas historic infrastructure project, Chang says their history is often forgotten. David Bain, Writer:Looking at a map was one thing. Jeremy Olsen 1880 Build. The Camera Stand It was as if the entire country was suddenly linked at this moment. We're talking about an animal that was almost literally erased from this earth. If it worked, Strong knew, it was the straightest line to the Comstock Lode, and his little town of Dutch Flat would prosper. In fact, Frances "Frank" Casement was in a fragile state. Susan Hormuth These wrecks crippled new locomotives, wasted materials, crushed and burned engineers and brakemen. Juan Rodriguez The Station was built in 1925 and owned by the Pennsylvania (50%), CB&Q (25%) A HiddenHill Productions film for American Experience. So what he did was he took a perfectly good railroad survey and he lengthened it with this tremendous ox-bow shaped route that went out in a different direction from Omaha and added about a half million dollars to Durant's pocket in the bargain. Nearly 2 million acres of land had been taken under the plow by immigrants coming west on the railroad. But usually it was along the side. Voice, reading letter from Jack Casement:My Dear Wife, I am first rate but impatient to have the ice go out of the river. He also owned area in Duluth. January 20, 1865: President Lincoln asks Massachusetts senator Oakes Ames to help to manage the Union Pacific. Even as he was testifying, he was buying up more than 700,000 acres of land in upstate New York, developing a new railroad. August 28: Central Pacific workers blast through the rock of the Summit Tunnel, completing the most arduous of their tasks in the mountains. But for CP construction boss Charley Crocker, eight years of work and worry were finally coming to an end. And suddenly there's silver just across the mountains. When Representatives and Senators wandered in, the 35-year-old engineer was always there to explain his plan: It would take just over $12 million to build the line across California, he'd tell his visitors. of Missouri, who wanted St. Louis to be the starting point of any transcontinental railroad. It doubles the land grant, cedes all natural resources on the line to the railroads, and removes limitations on individual stock ownership. There was just no way that they could come to any kind of decision. Christian Jensen As was telegraph repairman William Thompson, who had escaped alive but skinned. At first railroad companies were reluctant to hire Chinese workers, but the immigrants soon proved to be vital. Tim Isaacs They were threatened, we will fire you if you don't go back to work. Crocker takes a hard line and strikers return to work within a week, Apr 8, 1869: Location of meeting of the railways agreed by Grenville Dodge and Collis Huntington at Promontory Summit, Utah, May 10, 1869: Golden Spike ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah. On May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah, a boisterous crowd gathered to witness the completion of one of the greatest engineering feats of the 19th century: the building of the transcontinental railroad. Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum Boyd Gaines Harper's Weeklyreported on the progress of the transcontinental railroad throughout its construction. Stanford Ellsworth The First Transcontinental Railroad was originally known as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route". Officially, Judah was still carried as chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad, but Judah sailed east, for the East Coast in the fall of 1863. David Bain, Writer:They put out handbills all over northern California advertising they needed 5,000 workers immediately for good pay. It's a whole, in a sense, revolution. Winter: British chemist James Howden begins manufacturing nitroglycerinon-site in the mountains for the Central Pacific, eliminating the dangers of transporting the compound. But they wanted a piece for themselves, a piece for the families. -- W.O. Getting through the Sierra Nevada would require fortitude, technology and the sacrifice of many workers' lives. What were the starting points and ending points of the transcontinental railroad? months[8] = "This website is produced by the Siteseen network that specializes in producing free informative websites on a diverse range of topics. This was going to make money. California Historical Society When they called the Central Pacific's construction through Nevada "worthy of a great national work," Huntington wired Charley Crocker: "I think you must have slept with them." The legislation did not specify a meeting point for the two roads, but it did grant the railroad builders 6,400 acres of land for every mile of track laid, and as much as $48,000 in government bonds for each mile completed. Much needed spikes, rails, and rail-chairs sat under becalmed sails; a locomotive sank in the Hudson River, parts of another in San Francisco Bay. In November of 1863, two days before he gave the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln puzzled over the maps and financial affidavits provided him by the Union Pacific company. James E. Dunford The space between cars is roughly five or six feet. Leslie Allen Sweat Collection, Maine Women Writers Collection, University of New England, Portland, Maine January 8: Newly-elected California governor Leland Stanford shovels the first load of dirt at the Central Pacific groundbreaking ceremony in Sacramento. Fred Gamst, Anthropologist:Well, if you're a laborer there, there wasn't too much good news. And so there was a vigilante sweep through Laramie. But like Dodge, Jack Casement was a man in a hurry, convinced misfortune could be outrun, and fortune could be run down. The founders of the Central Pacific Railroad Company became fabulously wealthy. What are you doing wrong? And though Frank Casement got her husband home for a time, he soon left Ohio to chase fame and fortune building a new road. And a number of the more unruly members of the community took over -- Con Wagner, Asa Moore, Big Ed Wilson, and some of their cronies. The Pacific Railroad Act stipulated that the Central Pacific Railroad Company would start building in Sacramento and continue east across the Sierra Nevada, while a second company, the. Previous page. Stanley Hirshson, Historian:Dodge was probably as good a chief engineer -- that is surveyor locating routes -- he was as good as Peter Dey. John Allen They're too insubstantial. Wendell Huffman, Historian:In the summer of 1863, there's a showdown. As would the engaging but rapacious scoundrel, Thomas C. Durant. The United States was a young republic but already possessed of big ideas for itself. Owen:It was the consensus of opinion that something had to be done. Railroad Communication with the Pacific, with an Account of the Central Pacific Railroad, 1867. And the end was not yet in sight. And remember that we're working with hand drills and black blasting powder. October 30, 1863: Thomas "Doc" Durant, uses the leverage of his controlling interest in the Union Pacific Railroad Company to get himself appointed the railroad's vice president and general manager. So in his earliest projections, Judah's railroad would skirt the range to the north. And, Charles Crocker said, "No, no, they can do it. Central Pacific No.63, named Leviathan, is a 4-4-0 American steam locomotive. Your wife, Frank. It takes a lot of human effort and a lot of money to pay for that blasting powder. It was a difficult, two-day ride to the summit, but on top, when Judah looked east -- out along an immigrant trail largely abandoned after the Donner Party's ugly demise -- the engineer understood immediately what he saw. Architect of the Capitol Each company was granted financial support from government bonds and awarded sizable parcels of land along the entire length of their route as an added incentive. But with this new idea, if a company got into trouble, the investor would only lose his investment. From the collections of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, Union Pacific Collection. They would have imported foods from China that they were familiar with: oysters, dried meat. Fireworks went off. The game was becoming more difficult to find.