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America at 250: First Transcontinental Railroad had immediate impact on nation that continues to be felt today.America at 250: First Transcontinental Railroad had immediate impact on nation that continues to be felt today But that’s exactly what happened to the United States of America on May 10, 1869, as the First Transcontinental Railroad was declared complete in a far flung corner of the Utah Territory.Trips that previously had been measured in months could now be completed in days.Goods that would be a rarity on one side of the country could now be consumed on either coast.People on one coast could now reliably communicate with the other.The new rail line gave people who had only dreamed of owning land an opportunity to do so while simultaneously leading to many being forced from the lands they had called home for centuries.Its construction would also go on to heavily influence railroad building across the country and around the world.And while the machines that have plied it, the railroads that made it up, the routing and technologies surrounding it have evolved in ways its builders never could’ve imagined, the First Transcontinental Railroad still serves the country as it celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence.Recently, the Standard-Examiner spoke with Union Pacific Railroad Museum curator Patricia LaBounty and explored the Golden Spike National Historic Park to learn a bit more about this achievement that continues to help bind a nation together.A Rebuilding Nation Construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad took place amidst the backdrop of the most tumultuous decade in the country’s existence.The Civil War had lasted from 1861-65 and would be immediately followed by a tense period of Reconstruction.Union Pacific Railroad Museum curator Patricia LaBounty noted that the project’s origins came right in the middle of the war.“The Civil War divided families,” she said.“It certainly divided neighbors and it was a huge economic and social impact to the nation as a whole.While that was going on, right, you had the Homestead Act (1862) signed the same year that the Pacific Railway Act was signed.And in many ways, those two pieces of legislation are intertwined.In the Pacific Railway Act, you have alternating one-mile sections of land that were provided to the railroad on either side of the track to sell, as part of the vehicle by which the railroads could pay for this endeavor.And the reason they were alternating is that the government retained the intervening miles.Those would then be eligible for homesteading.So at the same time, you have this conflict going on in the Civil War.You have people from around the world, especially from Northern Europe, Ireland, looking to find some opportunity, a better life, something that looked like it might be a positive future experience at the same time the Civil War was going on.” The Central Pacific Railroad broke ground at Sacramento in 1863 while the Union Pacific Railroad broke ground at Omaha, Nebraska Territory — just across the Missouri River from its terminus of Council Bluffs, Iowa — the same year.LaBounty said that as construction of the route ramped up post-war and closed in on completion, the nation saw it as a hopeful sign in the fragile peace that had set in.“By the time we get to 1868-69, Reconstruction had begun in the South,” she said.“It was rocky.Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.And I think that at that time in the national sort of public opinion area, this construction project, the feat of engineering, the reliance on immigrant labor, was a win for the country.It felt like a positive note in the midst of this very challenging decade that the United States was undergoing.” May 10, 1869 On July 3, 1776, John Adams penned a letter to his wife Abigail in the wake of the Continental Congress declaring independence from Great Britain the day before.“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America,” Adams declared.“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.” However, it would be the Continental Congress’ acceptance of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, that would go on to be the date celebrated as the great anniversary festival.It’s almost fitting that a hair under 93 years later, the completion of the country’s greatest industrial feat to date would be celebrated at Promontory Summit a full two days late.“May 10 wasn’t supposed to be the day,” she said.“It was supposed to be May 8.In fact, the original gold spike presented by California says ‘May 8th’ on it.As with any great project, there are last minute alterations to schedule.” LaBounty said, despite the delay, there was plenty of celebration to be had.“There was a program of some speeches,” she said.“There was a prayer.There was a last spike ceremony where Leland Stanford, president of Central Pacific and Thomas Durant, vice-president of Union Pacific, were to take turns hammering in the final spike.And of course, these people had never handled a spike maul in their lives.It didn’t go as well as imagined, and jokes were made on site.” During the ceremony, four ceremonial spikes were presented — a gold “Last Spike” from California, a silver spike presented by Nevada Territory, a second gold spike presented by the San Francisco News-Letter and an iron-silver-gold spike presented by the Arizona Territory.The Arizona Territory may seem like an odd addition, given the First Transcontinental Railroad doesn’t even come close to its borders.But LaBounty said it was presented to send a not-so-subtle message.“Basically, it’s, ‘Hey, come do us next — please build the southern route,'” she said.The Arizona Territory would eventually get its wish, being officially connected into the national rail network in 1881.A display at the Golden Spike National Historic Park notes that the “Last Spike” and Nevada Spike are in the possession of the Stanford University Museum, the Arizona Spike is currently in possession of the City of New York while the whereabouts of the second golden spike are unknown.LaBounty described the ceremony itself as a chaotic day.“There were hundreds of people there,” she said.“There was a unit of Buffalo Soldiers who were going through that area to somewhere else that happened to be there.There was a military band.There were hundreds of people who just wanted to check it out.Grenville Dodge had his 14-year-old daughter Lettie with him there.There were women and children present at this ceremony, and you can see them reflected in the photo archive of the day.There were three photographers present that day — Alfred Hart, who was photographing for Central Pacific, Andrew Russell, who was photographing for Union Pacific and Charles Savage, who was a Salt Lake photographer that came up for the day to take some photographs of what was going on.So it’s well documented, at least in photography.” She said that historians have debated the exact timing of photographs for years, with some being taken on May 9 and some being taken May 11.But one thing is certain about the photograph that didn’t survive.“The actual photograph that was supposed to show the two executives swinging the spike maul to hammer in that final spike, the negative broke on site,” she said.“And so that photograph was lost forever.” She said an unlikely, informal photograph emerged to celebrate the moment.“The East-West photograph with the two locomotives and the two gentlemen shaking hands — those were the chief engineers for the project.And they wanted to have a photo of the guys who did the work.So it’s the locomotive crews, it’s some of the foremen for construction and it’s the two chief engineers.And that becomes our iconic photograph, when it really was just supposed to be an informal one of the many of that day and the final spike ceremony was supposed to be the big moment.But that’s what happens when you photograph with glass plates.” At 12:47 p.m., a telegram went out to the natio