Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1869-06-05
The Last Rail.

4 The Last Rail.
FIosa n No. fsIt sal
Ia one Of the Offices occupied by
the Union Pacific Railroad Company
lin Nassau street stand a pick aud
shovel bearing these lnserifnons'
sIisk,lhal struck he kssi tloE On abe
UAiOa IAsihs Aailfsai, OiasLA, Dec. :,
1864, PiekeTs, ihomss Aehss0n, Nielsen
l.. Williams, Gee ~ Francis frain, Peter
"shoysl used BY Gov Saunders % p9ss
the ffst earth in fs uaiuh Pacific Rail
rad omaha. Seh- Dee, :, lSis, Shovel
lsrs, AlyiA Saunders. Gsyernor % Assras-
kAi u, y u. RsnHsLy, Mayer Sf oIastf
J, NJ, PalmeF, Mayor of couHeil blupsi
Augustus Kouniie, Director v, i. r. r.,
At Promohtory Point, Monday,
eleven hundred niles west Of 0mat
hn, LsLASD SrasF6Rp, preilent ol
the Central Pacific, Il. @. DtaAsB
Vice President Of tho Union Paeillc,
and other officers Of the Companies
assisted in laying the last rail and
driving homo tho last spike upon
tho continental railway. From to-
day the Pacific Railroad Is an nc.
complished Iict, A moro stupen-
dous achievement has never been
chronicled In so short n sentence,
Upon tho first Of July, 1867, "An
Act TO aid in the constrnction OF a
Railroad and Telegraph limo from
tho Missouri River TO tho Pacific
Ocean" was signed by ADRArAa
LINCOLN, SOLOMON FooT, President
pro TEN. Of the Senate, and GALusHA
A. Grow, Spcakcr.of tho House Of
Representatives.. This net author
lied the formation of the Union
Pacific Railroad Company, and
among tho names of tho ipcorporc.
tors we noto those Of DEAN RIcu-
MoRp, Royal PHgips, AzARrAu
BooDY, BEN HoLLADAY, and SAMUEL
B. RUddLEs, Of New York @. S.
BUSHNELL, of Connecticut; George
W., CAss, of Pennsylvania; S. S,
L'ftoNMEpIEU, JoUY BRouGH, and
WILLIAM DENIsoN, of Ohio; WM. b.
OGDEN, of Illinois GEORGE w. Col
LAMEp, ofYcrmoht; TnoMAsSwAYY,
of Maryland and others likewise
distinguished in finance, in politics,
or trade. The Company was en-
powered to build a railroad and tel
ograph line .from tho initial point
in Nebraska TO othowestern boundary
of Nevada, and there connect with
the Central Pacific Railroad Of Cal
ifornia, State organization, char
tered by tho Legislature in 1861, to
build u railroad from Sacramento
toward and across the Sierra Ne
vada. The whole line, from tho
Missouri to the navigablo waters of
tho Sacramento river, was to be
completed by July /, 1876, and the
Company first reaching the bounda-
~ line above named might proceed
with the work until the other should
be met. The nature of the aid and
privileges granted by Congress to-
ward this work, and their amount
arc generally known. They wore
liboral beyond precedent, but the
national benefit to be attained by
the completion bf the road was also
unprecedented, l,a sff ID isls3
Spite Of Government helps mon
doubted and capitalists held back.
Tho project was declared wild ,and
Missionary Tho Ttocky, Mountains
were impossible by rail ;1no rail
road could be operated through the
Great Desert; ifa railroad shorld
BY any change bc built, it, would
never pay; tho 1hdianswould wage
successful war against tho locomo-
tive; in short, the leadcfsin the en-
terprisc were insane, ind THOSE who
riskcd money III ~ were fools. The
insane went to work, however, and
have built the road ~ ,,r 'e-1'.' .s
The first blow was strueklin 1863,
bit that was about all. Money was
hard to get iihd no contractor would
toudh the work until August, 1864.
Then, ono chilly day in The fill Of
that year, o few Of the State, city
and railroad officials, put some
boards across u dirt gar, spread but
talo robes upon them, and rode out
from Omaea to the crossing of the
Papillon river, aud drank q bottle
of champagne in honor Of tho open
ing of twelve miles Of the Pacific |
Railroad. In the nextyear-lS65E
twcnty-cight miles were built, max
ing forty miles IN year ana o hall.
1t was ono, thousand miles, to Salt
Lako Valley. At that rate, how |
long would it take to get thore2 7 It
was d sum in simple DIVISION with
an unpleasant quotient of thirty
seven years. That would meyer do4
Government might authorize them |
to issue bonds, but, who would buy |
che notes of o railroad fcebly, crawl, |
ing thirty miles year, into the
Wilderness (? Rapid work. was tho /
essential. The fast coach tages tho /