Wild West – June 2019

JUNE 2019 WILD WEST 41

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NIA Notions about a transcontinental railroad first surfaced in
1832, and the discovery of gold in California in 1848 heightened
interest and inspired Congress to take action. In 1849 the U.S.
Army Corps of Topographical Engineers sent its first expedition
across the Southwest to locate a possible route to the Pacific,
and from 1853 through 1855 the War Department directed five
surveys to determine viable coast-to-coast routes. Debate cen-
tered on whether to build a northern, central or southern route to
connect with the established Eastern and Midwestern rail lines.
A central route won out during the Civil War, to favor North-
ern interests, and on July 1, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln
signed into law the Pacific Railroad Act, which provided land

and financing to create the Central Pacific and Union Pacific.

The Central Pacific broke ground on Jan. 8, 1863, and the Union

Pacific in July 1865, immediately after the war. The new line used

the North’s standard gauge of 4 feet 8½ inches (much of the South

had adapted a 5-foot gauge), which meant passengers and freight

would be able to roll nonstop from Northern cities to California

without needing to unload and reload.

Immigrants and Civil War veterans (from the North and South)

laid most of the rails for the Union Pacific across Nebraska and

the region that became Wyoming Territory, while in Utah Terri-

tory members of the Mormon Church did most of the work. The

Central Pacific relied mostly on Chinese immigrants for labor

Engineering a Grand Feat

Clockwise from left: Central Pacific chief engineer Samuel Montague (center left) shakes hands with Union Pacific chief

engineer Grenville Dodge as West meets East; Civil War veteran Dodge had served with distinction as a Union general;

the Central Pacific’s Jupiter points east at Promontory Summit. Opposite: Montague held his position until his death in 1883.