New-York tribune., 1869-05-08

steady course of immigration was accomplishing.
The Mormon hegira from Illinois to Utah. the Mex
lean war; the California gold discoveries, the
Kansas troubles and the rush to Pixies Peak, had all
carried settlements westward from the Mississippi
and across Missouri and Iowa railroads were follow
ing.
Simultaneously, too civilization began to push
eastward from the Pacific In the Washoe country
now Nevada, enterprising prospecters found apun-
dant quartz rock. rich and sparkling with silver a
rush to WashOe followed, and great S'ale was
founded. The travel and traffic grew SO enoiinou'
that tnrnnike was soon built from Placervie, Cal
ifornia, over the seemingly lnsurmouh'"oi0
The freight passng over it in single year paid Tolls
to the omount of $8OOOOO gold and the cost of trans
norting il from California to WashOe was estimated
at st9 90ooOOO-probably twice its value in San Fran
cisco.
Tho absolute need of some cheaper and easier con-
evance revived the idea of a continental railway,
always popular in California. But could the Sierras
be crossed by the lOcOmOtivei And who would FUR
nish S2j OOO 900 to build road over themf Theodore
ID. Judah, a sanguine engineer of Sacramento, in
sisted that the project practicable, both tOpO-
graphically and pecuniaTy. NeighbOrs laughed at
him. but earnestness is always contagious Through
many long winter evening he talked upon his IA
vorite theme with a group who freQuented the hard
ware store of Huntington d Hopkins, flrm of
wealthy but cautious and frugal merchants One
partner, with his family, lived in their store building
separated from their goods by board partition made
from boxes carried around Cape Horn, all the way
from Boston. In q country where everybody specu-
lated they had never invested dollar in mining, but
had adhered specially to their legitimate business.
Huntington was the first convert. Soon, Hopkins,
Crocker, a leading lawyer and two or three of their
Isn aYnn III he
of 1860 these gentlemen subscribed $50 apiece TO ena
BILE Judah to devote the Summer to careful mount
ain survey. Other Califonians had advocated a Pa
cifc Railway; legislatures and public meetings had
endorsed it but this was the first money pald-the
business germ of the Igeates enterprise the worid
has ever seen. In the Autumn Judah and his
corps returned to Sacramento ragged, jaded.
and hungry; but with report so favorable that
1880 more was promptly raised to support them
through the next season. second Summer was
spent IN surveying, with equally encouraging results
Then Judah was dispatched to San Francisco, to
secure subscriptions for incorporating the Company;
but, after month OF faithful canvassng, returned
home without having obtained dollar. poor
engineer had started the paper two plain hardware
merchants had put 1T in business shape; and now,
not rich San Francisco, but unpretendng little
Sacramento, was to make it a success Even after
the Central Pacific Company chartered by the
California Legislature, only two San Franciscans
subscribed for shares, and one of them was
woman
The Company sent Judah to Washington, where he
hung up his charts in the Committee Rooms, ex-
planned that California was ready to take hold in
earnest, and though the civil war was raging. in
vokcd the aid of the nation few railway enthu-
siasts from New-YOrk and Massachusetts, were
already pressing the request. At last the hour
was propitous Neither Congress nor the Eastern
public comprehended that commerce and travel
demanded such road. Public opinion was not yet
ripe for il as business enterprise. But the conflict
for the Union had already accustomed the North to
snch lavish outay that the expense seemed less
frghtful than of yore 1t had also shown that in
case of foreign war the isolated Pacific Coast would
be our weak point and now some mutterings
were heard about q Pacific Republic In
the language of the hour, a continental
railway was Military Necessity; and as
guch in July, 1862 one was chartered from the Mis-
souri to the Pacific with endowment of unpar-
allelcd richness Thomas G. Durant and few other
live spirits of the Union Pacific the east end of the
line were full of faith in the enterprise but old and
"safe New-York capitalists REGARDED il as chimeri-
cal. and the franchise as practically worthless The
charter could not have been sold in Wall-st. for
a 100000. But the Union Pacific, after many strug-
oles at last made beginning and built: