Building the Transcontinental RAILROAD.

It was the greatest engineering feat of the 19th century--and it transformed the U.S.

On May 10, 1869, a crowd gathered in dusty Promontory Point, Utah. All eyes were on Leland Stanford of the Central Pacific Railroad. He raised a silver-tipped hammer and drove a golden spike that completed the Transcontinental Railroad.

In an instant, a telegraph signal alerted people from New York to California of the news. Across the country, cannons blasted and celebrations began. The entire U.S., from coast to coast, was now united by rail.

A Radical Idea

Although California had become a state in 1850, it was isolated from most of the other states. To reach California, people in the East had three choices.

One, they could take a boat all the way around the southern tip of South America. Two, they could take a boat to Panama, cross Central America by land, then catch another boat up the Pacific coast to California. Or three, they could cross the U.S. by wagon train. Each alternative was costly, dangerous, and took months.

The solution? Build a railroad across the U.S. By 1850, there were already more than 9,000 miles of railroad track east of the Mississippi River. The rail- roads had transformed the U.S. economy in the East by allowing goods and people to move speedily from place to place. A train that crossed the continent could be revolutionary.

But first, a route had to be chosen. Southerners wanted the railroad to cross the South. But Northerners were opposed to any railroad that passed though slave states. They favored a route that began in Omaha, Nebraska, crossed what is now Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada, and ended up in Sacramento, California (see map).

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act. This act chose the northern route to Sacramento. And it named the two companies that would build the railroad. The Union Pacific (UP) would build tracks from Omaha, going west. The Central Pacific (CP) team would start in Sacramento, and head east.

To encourage construction, the U.S. government made low cost loans to the railroads. In addition, the railroads were given land grants--large parcels of free land along the railroad route. But not until 1865, when the Civil War ended, could construction begin in earnest.

Building the Railroad

Who were the workers who built the railroad? They were a true cross-section of Americans--Irish and Chinese immigrants, Civil War veterans from both sides, former slaves, and people from every corner of the country and world.

The CP hired most of the Chinese workers. Not many of California's white residents wanted a grueling, dangerous, and low-paying job like building a railroad.

But the Chinese suffered severe discrimination. They were forbidden to work at many jobs or to become U.S. citizens. The CP could pay Chinese workers lower wages than they paid whites.

The Chinese workers' skill, bravery, and discipline quickly impressed the CP management. Said one manager, "They are ready to begin work the moment they hear the signal, and labor steadily and honestly until admonished that the working hours are ended."

Their bravery was soon tested in crossing the Sierra Nevada. These massive mountains--whose peaks range from 6,000 to more than 14,000 feet in height--stood in the way of the route. The CP had to blast tunnels through hard granite.

The Chinese proved themselves expert at this task. They drilled small holes, added blasting powder or a new explosive called nitroglycerine, lit the fuse, and ran before it exploded. Some workers lost limbs or even their lives.

The Fading of the Indians

Meanwhile, the Union Pacific was heading west, into Indian territory. The railroad slowly destroyed the Indians' way of life. The raised train tracks separated vast buffalo herds. More and more whites began to settle on what was Indian land, pushing Native Americans into smaller and smaller spaces.

Some Native Americans tried to negotiate with the whites. But the message they got was clear. General William T. Sherman told them: "We will build iron roads, and you cannot stop the locomotive any more than you can stop the sun or the moon."

Indians fought as well as they could. But the Union Pacific armed their workers, and the U.S. government sent in soldiers. Finally, the Indians were overpowered by U.S. military might.

Chief Red Cloud later said: "The white people have surrounded me, and left me nothing but an island. When we first had this land we were strong. Now we are melting like snow on a hillside, while you are growing like spring grass." Like Red Cloud, most Native Americans would soon be forced onto reservations.

Race to the Finish

The two railroad companies were in a race to the finish. Each tried to lay more miles of track per day. First, the UP laid four miles of track in one day. Not to be outdone, CP workers put down six miles. Then the UP did eight miles. Finally, the CP workers did 10 miles in a single day!

The two railroad companies, eager for payment, kept building tracks right past each other. Congress learned what was happening and picked Promontory Point to be the spot where the railroads would officially meet.

The Transcontinental Railroad crossed 1,700 miles of plains and desert, spanned rivers, and tunneled through mountains. And it was finished ahead of schedule.

Now, people could reach the West Coast in 10 days instead of five months. Immigration to the West surged. California boomed as more people settled there, and its goods reached markets in the East. Because of the railroad, America became richer, more powerful, and more united than ever before.

Your Turn

Think About It

How did the Transcontinental Railroad bring the country together and change U.S. history?