In 1832, two years after the first American railroad, an Ann Arbor newspaper publisher imagined a line from New York to the Pacific. In 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, Americans began to build it. This episode follows the first transcontinental railroad from Asa Whitney's petition and Jefferson Davis's surveys to Lincoln's Pacific Railway Act, the Big Four, the Chinese and Irish crews who blasted through the Sierra, the tribes displaced along the way, and the golden spike at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869.

The line ran through country the nation had crossed on foot and by wagon since Lewis and Clark and the Oregon Trail; it carried the settlers of the Homestead Act and met the cattle coming up the Chisholm Trail; it was signed into law by the president whose rise is told in The Rise of Abraham Lincoln, surveyed by the man who would lead the Confederacy at Fort Sumter, and it displaced tribes as the Trail of Tears had a generation before. Sixty years later the automobile answered it with Route 66.

Key Takeaways

• Railroad travel in the United States began in 1830. In 1832 Samuel W. Dexter, publisher of the Ann Arbor newspaper The Emigrant, imagined a railway on which a traveler leaving New York could place himself in a port on the shores of the Pacific at ten miles an hour. It was built within three decades, and faster.

• No transcontinental railroad existed anywhere in the world. The Panama Railroad of 1855 ran 47 miles from sea to sea across the isthmus, then part of New Granada, but nothing covered a full coast-to-coast span.

• Asa Whitney, a New York China-trade merchant, petitioned Congress in January 1841 for a line from the Great Lakes to the Pacific, published Project for a Railroad to the Pacific in 1849, lectured, mapped a route, and walked part of it. In 1853 Secretary of War Jefferson Davis surveyed eight western routes, and Congress, divided over slavery, could not agree on one.

• Theodore Judah, chief engineer of the Sacramento Valley Railroad, wrote A Practical Plan for Building the Pacific Railroad and recruited the Big Four: Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins Jr., and Charles Crocker. Stanford became governor of California and headed the Central Pacific.

• President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act on July 1, 1862, chartering two companies. The Central Pacific built east from Sacramento through the Sierra Nevada; the Union Pacific built west from Omaha, across the Missouri from Lincoln's chosen terminus at Council Bluffs, so passengers at first took a ferry between trains.

• A transcontinental telegraph had been finished in 1861, and telegraph crews followed the track. Chief engineers Grenville M. Dodge, Samuel S. Montague, and Lewis M. Clement used the wire to coordinate surveys and supply trains and to watch the race between the two railroads.

• The labor force was immigrant and wartime. The Central Pacific relied on thousands of Chinese workers for blasting, tunneling, and track work in the Sierra; the Union Pacific on Irish immigrants, Civil War veterans, and Mormons from Utah. Conditions were harsh, and pay and treatment were unequal. Crews sang as they worked, the Chinese in segregated camps.

• The Sierra Nevada was the hardest problem: tunnels, snow sheds, and freight hauled over the mountains. The Union Pacific faced distance, scarce timber and water, and trestles like the 150-foot structure at Dale Creek, Wyoming. Thousands of Native Americans were displaced from open hunting territory to reservations in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Idaho.

• To hold the grade, the Central Pacific bored Summit Tunnel through granite just below Donner Pass, over 1,600 feet long and as much as 124 feet under the crest, at an elevation above 7,000 feet. Crews used gunpowder from 1866, then liquid nitroglycerin mixed on site by chemist James Howden from February 1867, gaining 1.8 to 4 feet a day.

• In April 1869 Congress and the two companies agreed to meet at Promontory Summit, Utah. The Central Pacific had built about 690 miles, the Union Pacific about 1,086. On April 28 Central Pacific crews laid ten miles of track in about twelve hours, partly on a bet. On May 10 the locomotives Jupiter and No. 119 met, a ceremonial gold spike marked the last rail, and the telegraph sent the word nationwide: DONE. Coast to coast fell from months by wagon to about a week by rail.
  

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Questions & Answers (FAQ)

Q1: Who first proposed a transcontinental railroad?

Samuel W. Dexter, publisher of the Ann Arbor newspaper The Emigrant, imagined a railway from New York to the Pacific in 1832, two years after railroad travel began in the United States. Asa Whitney, a New York China-trade merchant, turned the idea into a plan: he petitioned Congress in January 1841, published Project for a Railroad to the Pacific in 1849, mapped a route, and walked part of it.

Q2: Why did it take until 1862 to start?

In 1853 Secretary of War Jefferson Davis surveyed eight possible routes, and Congress, divided largely over slavery, could not agree on any one of them. Only after the South seceded did Lincoln sign the Pacific Railway Act, on July 1, 1862, chartering two companies to build from the Missouri River to the Pacific.

Q3: Who were the Big Four?

Sacramento's leading investors, recruited by engineer Theodore Judah: Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins Jr., and Charles Crocker. Stanford became governor of California, used his office to advance the railroad, and headed the Central Pacific as it was built. He later founded Stanford University.

Q4: Who built the transcontinental railroad?

The Central Pacific relied on thousands of Chinese workers for blasting, tunneling, and track work in the Sierra Nevada. The Union Pacific used Irish immigrants, Civil War veterans, Mormons from Utah, and other hired crews. Conditions were harsh, and pay and treatment were unequal; Chinese crews lived in segregated camps.

Q5: How did they get through the Sierra Nevada?

By boring Summit Tunnel through granite just below Donner Pass, over 1,600 feet long and as much as 124 feet under the crest, at an elevation above 7,000 feet. Crews blasted with gunpowder from 1866, then from February 1867 with liquid nitroglycerin mixed on site by chemist James Howden, gaining 1.8 to 4 feet a day.

Q6: What happened to Native American tribes along the route?

The railroad caused conflict with the tribes, and thousands of Native Americans were displaced from open hunting territory to reservations in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Idaho.

Q7: What happened at Promontory Summit?

On May 10, 1869, the locomotives Jupiter and No. 119 met at Promontory Summit, Utah, north of the Great Salt Lake. The Central Pacific had built about 690 miles of track and the Union Pacific about 1,086. A ceremonial gold spike marked the last rail, and telegraph operators sent one word nationwide: DONE. Twelve days earlier, Central Pacific crews had laid ten miles of track in about twelve hours.

Q8: How much did the railroad change travel?

Travel from the East Coast to the West Coast dropped from months by wagon to about a week by rail. In 1939 Cecil B. DeMille dramatized the race to Promontory in the film Union Pacific, and Stanford University loaned the original golden spike for the climax.

Dexter's Vision, 1832

Railroad travel in the United States began in 1830. Just two years later, in 1832, Samuel W. Dexter, publisher of the Ann Arbor, Michigan, newspaper The Emigrant, envisioned the following: “It is in our power to unite our Eastern and Western shores firmly together by a rail way by which the traveler leaving the City of New York shall, at the moderate rate of ten miles an hour, place himself in a port right on the shores of the Pacific.” In three decades that vision was made real, though at a faster pace than Dexter imagined. In 1863, amidst the Civil War that tore America apart, Americans began to build a transcontinental railroad, the first of its kind.

A World Without a Transcontinental Line

In 1855, the Panamanian isthmus was part of New Granada, present-day Colombia. An American company built the Panama Railroad that ran 47 miles from sea to sea. No railroad, however, covered the full 1,100-mile coast-to-coast Colombian span. No truly transcontinental railroad, in fact, had been built anywhere in the world.

Asa Whitney's Plan

Asa Whitney, a New York China-trade merchant, was the first to turn the dream into a concrete plan. In January 1841, he petitioned Congress for a charter for a line from the Great Lakes to the Pacific. In 1849 he published Project for a Railroad to the Pacific, lectured, mapped a route, and even walked part of it.

Jefferson Davis Surveys Eight Routes

In the spring of 1853, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, later president of the Confederate States, began surveying western routes to the Pacific Coast. Eight options were put forth. Largely due to the slavery issue, Congress could not agree on any one route.

Theodore Judah and the Big Four

In the meantime, Theodore Judah, who had been chief engineer of California's Sacramento Valley Railroad, wrote A Practical Plan for Building the Pacific Railroad and recruited Sacramento's leading investors, the “Big Four”: Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins Jr., and Charles Crocker. Stanford later became governor and used his office to advance the cause of the railroad. As it was built, he headed the Central Pacific.

Lincoln Signs the Pacific Railway Act

President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act on July 1, 1862. The law chartered two companies to build from the Missouri River to the Pacific. The Central Pacific started at Sacramento and built east through the Sierra Nevada. Even though Lincoln had set Council Bluffs, Iowa, as the eastern terminus, the Union Pacific began westward from Omaha, Nebraska, on the opposite side of the Missouri River. In fact, initially, passengers would have to take a ferry between trains that connected the two towns. For the routes, see the HISTORY250 maps library.

The Telegraph Follows the Track

A transcontinental telegraph had already been completed in 1861. As the transcontinental railroad advanced, telegraph crews followed. The wire connected the moving end of the track with company headquarters in New York and Sacramento, and supply depots hundreds of miles away. Chief engineers Grenville M. Dodge, Samuel S. Montague, who replaced Theodore Judah, and Lewis M. Clement, who built the Summit Tunnel, used the telegraph to coordinate surveys, supply trains, and watch the race between the two railroads develop. Central Pacific spiked its first rails in Sacramento on January 8, 1863.

Chinese and Irish Crews

The labor force was immigrant and wartime. Central Pacific came to rely on thousands of Chinese workers for blasting, tunneling, and track work in the Sierra. Union Pacific used Irish immigrants, Civil War veterans, and other hired crews. Conditions were harsh; pay and treatment were unequal. Cattle along the way were slaughtered to feed the workers. Union Pacific laborers, including Mormons from Utah, and Irish and Civil War veterans, sang work songs and ballads while they drilled and laid track, and in their downtime. Chinese crews on the Central Pacific sang their own songs, bits of Chinese opera, and festival music in segregated camps.

The Sierra Nevada and Dale Creek

The Sierra Nevada posed the hardest engineering problem. Central Pacific had to cut tunnels, build snow sheds, and haul material over the mountains before the line could drop into Nevada. Union Pacific faced long distances, scarce timber and water, and towering trestles, like the 150-foot-high structure at Dale Creek in Wyoming.

Native Tribes Displaced

The new railroad caused conflict with Native American tribes. Thousands of Indians were displaced from open hunting territory to reservations in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Idaho, a generation after the Trail of Tears.

Summit Tunnel and Nitroglycerin

To keep the grade, that is, to keep the track's rise and fall to a reasonable slope, the Central Pacific bored Summit Tunnel through granite just below Donner Pass, site of the infamous Donner disaster in the winter of 1846 and 47. The tunnel was over 1,600 feet long, as much as 124 feet under the natural crest. Railroad elevation was over 7,000 feet. Continuous blasting began in 1866. At that point crews used gunpowder. In February 1867 they began using liquid nitroglycerin, mixed on site by chemist James Howden. With Howden's mix, the tunnel expanded by 1.8 to 4 feet per day through the granite.

Promontory Summit, May 10, 1869

In April 1869, Congress and the two railroad companies agreed on a juncture: Promontory Summit, Utah, north of the Great Salt Lake. Central Pacific had built some 690 miles of track, Union Pacific about 1,086. On April 28, 1869, Central Pacific crews laid 10 miles of track in about 12 hours, a feat staged partly as a bet and a publicity stunt as the finish neared. On May 10th, the locomotives Jupiter and No. 119 met. A ceremonial gold spike marked the last rail. Once the lines met, telegraph operators sent the word nationwide: “DONE.” Travel from the East Coast to the West Coast dropped from months by wagon to about a week by rail, on a route the Homestead Act was filling with farms.

Hollywood's Union Pacific, 1939

In 1939, Hollywood founding father Cecil B. DeMille made the epic Union Pacific, which dramatized the race to Promontory Summit. For the movie's climax, Stanford University, founded by Central Pacific's Leland Stanford, loaned the original golden spike which had united East and West seven decades earlier. For the rest of the West, see the full HISTORY250 series.