File:Marvels of the new West - a vivid portrayal of the stupendous marvels in the vast wonderland west of the Missouri River - comprising marvels of nature, marvels of race, marvels of enterprise, marvels (14764900495).jpg

Identifier: marvelsofnewwest1889thay (find matches)
Title: Marvels of the new West : a vivid portrayal of the stupendous marvels in the vast wonderland west of the Missouri River : comprising marvels of nature, marvels of race, marvels of enterprise, marvels of mining, marvels of stock-raising, and marvels of agriculture, graphically and truthfully described
Year: 1887 (1880s)
Authors: Thayer, William Makepeace, 1820-1898
Subjects:
Publisher: Norwich, Conn. : Henry Bill Pub. Co.
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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Rebellion, in 1861, turned theattention of Congress to a railroad across the continent. Californiawas so widely separated from the other States of the Union, thatMexico, or some foreign power, might readily gain possession of it.It was well known to some of our public men that other powers werelooking wistfully to our wealth on the Pacific coast. Under the im-pulse of this new development. Congress, in 1862, adopted measuresfor the construction of the Union Pacific Railway, and made July i,1876 (the nations centennial year), the utmost limit of its completion.The first contract for the construction of the road was made inAugust, 1863, but months were consumed in harmonizing conflictinginterests connected with the location of the road, so that ground was MARVELS OF ENTERPRISE. 26-/ not broken until the fifth clay of November, 1865. The building ofthe road commenced at a point on the Missouri River, near Omaha,and at the close of January, 1866, forty miles of road had been con-structed.
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Some enthusiastic friends of the road predicted, at the ceremonyof breaking ground, Nov. 5, 1865, that the road would be completedin five years; and their prediction was recorded as the prophecy of 268 MARVELS OF THE NEW WEST. enthusiasts. The incredulous smiled, and opponents declared theprediction absurd. General Sherman was reported to have said, be-fore work on the road commenced : I should be unwilling to buy aticket over it for my grandchildren. Five years thereafter he himselfrode over it. The road was completed in three years, six mo7iths, and ten days.Two hundred and sixty-five miles were built in 1866; two hundredand eighty-five in 1867; and the remainder finished May 10, 1869.Work on the road was commenced at both ends, and the two build-ing parties met at Promontory Point, Utah Territory, on May 10,1869, one thousand and eighty-four miles from Omaha, and eighthundred and thirty miles from San Francisco. Promontory Point isfour thousand nine hundred and five feet above the

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