Wild West – June 2019

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JUNE 2019 WILD WEST

tions in communities with ties to the first transcontinental railroad. After the

completion of the grand project, so many Western towns—whether along the

tracks or not—were forever changed. On May 10, 2019, the UP and Utah will

celebrate the 1869 “wedding of the rails” at Promontory Summit—the culmina-

tion of planned sesquicentennial events across the state [spike150.org].

Remembering the Railroad

Clockwise from left: Utah’s Golden Spike National

Historic Site marks the spot of the groundbreaking

development; the Jupiter replica gets up a head of

steam during a past anniversary ceremony held at

the historic site; the No. 119 replica rolls on at yet

another anniversary event; photographer Russell

captured Chinese Laying the Last Rails; a 2018

“wedding of the rails” ceremony at Promontory Point

featured this re-creation of Russell’s most famous

image, widely known as the “Champagne Photo.”

Suggested for further reading: Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad, by David Haward Bain;

Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863–1869, by Stephen E. Ambrose;

The West the Railroads Made, by Carlos A. Schwantes and James P. Ronda; and Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and

the Making of Modern America, by Richard White.