Above: the joining of the railroad tracks on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Summit in what is now northern Utah.
On July 1, 1862, the U.S. Government passed the Pacific Railway Act into law. This act, simply put, would be
helping two railroad companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroad companies, build the
Transcontinental Railroad. After all amendments to the act were made, it was decided that the Union Pacific
company would work from the existing railroad, which already went to Omaha, Nebraska, and work west, while the
Central Pacific would start from Sacramento, California, and work east.
"The long-looked-for moment has arrived. The construction of the Pacific
Railroad is un fait accompli. The
inhabitants of the Atlantic
seaboard and the dwellers on the Pacific slopes are henceforth
emphatically one
people. "
These words from May 21, 1869 edition of The New York Times depict the feeling felt by many Americans
when the railroad was finally completed on May 10, 1869. Despite the anticipated changes, no doubt many of
these changes were not expected by most Americans.
