The idea of a transcontinental railroad attracted increasing public enthusiasm after the California gold rush of 1849. But sectional rivalries prevented any action until 1862, when Congress made lavish land grants to two railroad companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, to enable them respectively to build westward across the Great Plains from Omaha, and eastward over the Rockies from Sacramento. The Act was a tremendous spur to construction, but there were daunting logistical problems to be overcome. Everything required — ties, stone, rails, rolling-stock, machinery — had to be hauled over long distances. Equally serious was the shortage of labor. Union Pacific construction crews consisted chiefly of Irish immigrants, who sometimes had to exchange their picks for rifles in order to fight off Indian attacks. The Central Pacific relied mainly on imported Chinese laborers who had to blast tunnels through the High Sierras using recently developed nitro-glycerine, which killed many of them. Tracklaying in rugged terrain and extremes of weather averaged only 2-1/2 miles a day, but on May 10, 1869 the two lines met at Promontory Point, Utah, where a final symbolic golden spike was driven into place. Both tracks had soon to be extensively reconstructed, but the completion of the first transcontinental railroad was a remarkable feat, news of which triggered celebrations across the nation.

Tags: California, Central Pacific, Gold-rush, Irish immigrants, Railroad, Union Pacific