Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 1916)
he Omaha Sunday Bee PART THREE ' EDITORIAL PAGES ONE TO SIX PART THREE MAGAZINE PAGES ONE TO SIX . ( f !ro VOL. XLV NO. HO. Military TIJE BUILDING of a Pacific Bteam road to connect the btrcams flowing into the At lantic and Pacific was advocated as early as 1819, before a mile of railroad wag built in any part of the world. It took practical form when Asa Whitney, in 1845, petitioning congress in behalf of a Pacific rail road, said: 'You will see that It will change the -whole world.' Senator Thomas II. Benton in 1849 I pleaded that the great line when built should 'be adorned with its crowning honor, the colossal iftatuo of the great Columbus, whose design It ac complishes, hewn from the granate mass of a j peak of the Rocky Mountains, overlooking the road, the mountain itself the pedestal, and the i etatue a part of the mountain, pointing with out jelretched arm to the westers horizon and saying : to the flying passenger, 'There is the east! There lis India?' Charles Summer in 1853 said: 'The railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific, traversing I' n whole Cohn&enf andTflndlng together two oceans, ' this mighty thoroughfare when completed will i mark an epoch of human progress second only to that of our Declaration of Independence. May the ; day soon come!' And it did come, and all the prophecies were fulfilled when the first transcon j tinental line was completed and the tracks joined ! at Promontory Point, Utah, on May 10, 1869, Just forty years ago. "This ceremeny wu one of peace and harmony . between the Union Pacific, coming from the east, and the Central Pacific, coming from the west. . For a year or more there had been great con tention and rivalry between the two companies, the t'nion Pacific endeavoring to reach Humboldt W elln, on the west boundary of Utah, and the Cen tral Pacific rushing to reach Ogden, Utah, to Klve them an outlet to Salt Lake City, and the two lines verc graded alongside of each other for 225 miles I between Ogden and Humboldt Wells. Climbing I Promontory mountain they were not a stone's i throw apart. "When both companies saw that neither could I reach it3 goal they came together, and we made an I agreement to join the tracks on the summit of Tromontory mountain, the Union Pacific selling to ! the Central Pacific fifty-six miles of its road back within five miles of Ogden, and leasing trackage . over that five miles to enable the Central Pacific to reacn ugaen. 'inese rive miles were not only a part of the Union Pacific, but used by their line north to Idaho. This agreement was ratified by congress. Each road built to the summit of Prom ontory, leaving a gap of 100 feet of rail to be laid I U'Yien thA la ct cnlln won ilvfin Arrival of the Official PnrtJea "On the morning of May 10, 1869, Hon. Leland j Stanford, governor of California and president of the Central Pacific, accompanied by Messrs. Hunt ( ington, Hopkins, Crocker, and trainloads of Call j fornia's distinguished citizens, arrived from the went. DurinK the forenoon Vice President T. C. Nyi i. jrfJurant and Directors John II. Duff and Sidney Dil- m"mm lrn orH Pnnonllln. I."' 1 ...... l- 1 1 a o . the Union Pacific, with other prominent men, including a delegation of Mormons from Salt lake City, came in on a train from the east. The na tional government was represented by a detach ment of "regulars" from Fort Douglas, Utah, ac lompanied by a band, and 600 others, including Chinese, Mexicans, Indians, half-breeds, negroes, and laborer suggesting an air of cosmopolitanism, all gatherea around the open space where the tracks were to be joined. The Chinese laid the rails from the west end, and the Irish laborers laid them from the east end, until they met and Joined. "Telegraph wires were so connected that each blow of the descending sledge could be reported in atantly to all parts of the United States. Corre sponding blows were struck on the bell of the city hall in San Francisco, and with the last blow of the sledge a cannon was fired at Fort Point. General Safford presented a spike of gold, silver and iron as the offering of the territory of Arizona. Got rnor Tuttle of Nevada presented a spike of silver from his state. The connecting tie was of Cali- lornia laurel, and California presented th Pike of gold in behalf of that state. A stiver led go had also been oresented for the ocranlm. A rrayer was offered; Governor Stanford of Cali fornia made a tew appropriate remarks cn behalf Of tneAjentral Pacific, and the chief engineer re sponded for the Union Pacific. Then the tele- 1 Funeral of Genl Grenville I 3D .--.,IU 1 l--' jjj I ... , Ur-V,""A rH'FI This is the Fascinating Story of the Driving of ; the Golden Spike as Written for The Bee by Gen eral Dodge on Occasion of Fortieth Anniversary graphic inquiry from the Omaha office, from which the circuit was to be started, was answered: 'To everybody: Keep quiet. When the last spike Is driven at Promontory Point we will say "Done." Don't break the circuit, but watch for the signals of the blows of the hammer. The spike will soon be driven. . The signal will be three dots for the commencement of blows.' The 'magnet tapped one two then paused 'Done.' The spike was given its first blow by President Stanford, and Vice President Durant followed, neither of whom hit the spike the first time, but hit the rail, and were greeted by the lusty cheerB of the onlookers, accompanied by the screams of tho locomotives and the music of the military band. Many other spikes were driven on the last rail by some of the distinguished persons present, but it was sel dom that they first hit the spike. The original spike, after being tapped by the officials of the companies, was driven home by the chief engineers of the two roads. Then the two trains were run together, the two locomotives touching at the point of junction, and the engineers of the two locomo tives each broke a bottle of champagne on the ether's engine. Then it was declared that the con nection was made and the Atlantic and Pacific were Joined together never to be parted. Celebrate from Ocean to Ocean "At the eastern terminus in Omaha, the firing of a hundred guns on Capitol Hill, more bells and steam whistles and a grand procession of fire com panies, civic societies, citizens and visiting delega tions echoed the sentiments of the Caiifornians. In other large cities expressions of public gratification were hardly less hearty and demon strative. Bret Harte was inspired to write tho celebrated poem of 'What tho Engines Said." The first verse is: "What was it the engines said. Pilots touching, bead to head, Facing on the single track. Half a wor'.d behind each back? This is what .the engines said, Unreported and unread." "After the ceremony a sumptuous lunch was served in President Stanford's cars and appropriate speeches were made by Governor Stanford and others, and a general jollification was enjoyed. At night each train took its way to its own home, leaving at the junction point only the engineer! end the workmen to complete the work, ready for the through trains that followed in a day or two after. "The one thought that was in the minds of all was, 'What of the future? What could a rail read earn that ran almost its entire length from Nebraska to the California state line through a country uninhabited, and at ' that date, with no developed local business upon its whole line.' "My own views upon that question I expressed in my report upon the completion of the road in 1869, in which I said: " 'Its future is fraught with great good. It will develop a waste, will bind together the two ex tremes of the nation as one, will stimulate inter course and trade, and bring harmony, prosperity and wealth to the two coasts. A proper policy, systematically and persistently followed, will bring to'the road the trade of the two oceans and will give it alt the business it can accommodate; while the local trade will increase gradually until the mining, grazing and agricultural regions through which it passes will build up and create a business that will be a lasting and permanent fcupport to the company.' "It is p. great satisfaction to have lived and witnessed the dev lopir.tnt of our nation, from the lakes to the Pacific; ts n result cf the civil wur it has made a century's giowth in fifty years." OMAIIA, SUNT) AY MOIiNIXO, JANUAHV Clarke f-k- ..." ;- 1 ' " ' . - . '; , . ; ; V.: .,:(- . ' ' . X H h " i . y 'U A-': ...-' .-rrA- . li " : v t ' J i.,,.yy:..v,,,,mw.,m.,.. jX-4 , , ' . f-,- . vf.jr k '. .' .,',. ' ': ' . .1 l, HUG. Pioneer, Soldier, Master Railroad Builder and Financier 7 . T i s , i sixtJLK corv fivk ckxts. Dodge Itfayor Snycfei