The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-12-28

by the Central Pacific from Sacrament
to. the final act in the conquest of the
great trans Mississippi region had
been accomplished The generation
then living regarded the event as one
OF vast Importance in the history OF
the nation For several years the
building Of the connecting link in a
transcOntinental route by steam had
been watched with eager Interest its
completion furnished a thrill to the
country that was equaled in the Cos
only by two other events-the firing
OF the first shot on Fort Sumter and
the surrender Of Lee to Grant. At this
time IL seems strange that so vast an
undertaking should have been COM
pleted within a third Of a century Of
the time IL was first thought Of The
dispatch with which the first hazy
idea was crystallized into a definite
plan and with which that plan was
executed successfully stands as
monument to American enterprise of
the nineteenth century
The first report presented to con-
gress on the construction of a railroad
to the Pacific was made in 1876 by
Sidney Breese, chairman of the COM
mittee on Pacific lands This was the
first result of the labors of Asa Whit
ney, a New York merchant who had
become an enthusiast on the subject
of a Pacific railroad. Between 1880
and 1885, while in China, Whitney read
of the experiments in railroad build
ing in England and began to reflect
at once upon the enormous possibili-
ties the new transportation method
made possible. He thought it would
be an easy matter to cross the Ameri-
can continent and connect Europe
with the orient by way of the Pacific
AS the dream grew upon him he began
to gather statistics concerning the
trade of China. Japan and India He
devoted a year or two to this work, re-
turning to America full of faith in his
great scheme.
Whitney proposed to build road
from Lake Superior to Puget Sound in |
consideration of grant of land from |
the government along the entire land |
In 1871 he began his first public work |
in America upon the project After |
four years of hard work and many dis
appointments, he secured a hearing |
before congress. Then he had to wait |
seven years before congress with con-
siderable reluctance made an appro-
priation for the first preliminary sur
vey
First Martyr to Cause.
For a score or more of years Whit
ney held to his ideas with a faith that
was almost fanatical He fretted the
best part of his life away trying to
overcome impossible obstacles. He
sacrificed his private fortune. He was
by men of affairs with pity.
20 lost was he in the pursuit of his
iream. His plan was not feasible, but
ie gave his enthusiasm, his fortune
possibly his life-to the work. finally
from the scene. the first
martyr to the great enterprise.
Others followed in Whitneys foot
teps. Scores of men wasted their
ortunes and worried themselves into a..
heir graves in a vain effort to secure
suitable franchise and the capital
necessary to build a Pacific railroad +,
It last in 1862, a charter was granted
y congress, but Il was too circum-
cribed in its provisions to permit any
hing more than the effecting of an or
anization.
But in 1864, convinced that. nothing h,
ould be done without more help from llf
ne government, and that a railroad to 81
le Pacific was a military necessity. Icl
Jngress amended the original charter lo
publed the land grant and added to Z,
lie inducements offered capitalists II
apital was extremely shy, but after "a
onths of hard work enough money Lei
as raised TO make a beginning and v
it'll drums rolling and trumpets BLAIR W
g ground was broken at Omaha to
ags fluttered above the tent villages IN
the construction crews that teaay
e cities at either end of the bridge ia
lanning the Missouri. There ex- til
tement ran wild as the rails crept va
It toward the west, but to the capit- m
lists of the nation there was only the he
cture OF the rough looking construc- 81
IN camps. with the boundless Am e
lean desert" beyond and they refus- co
TO sink their dollars in the enter 10
Use. W,
The Rails Creep Westward. on
AS a last resort construction COM M
ny was organized under the name dr.
the Credit Mobnier." whose meth st,
8 Of raising money and spending II W,
We been criticised by all historians, n
{ which regardless of the means
iployed, led to a successful end. n
IN the spring of 1865 work began in u
rnest but everything was done at o
'rifying cost No railroad reached to
; Missouri at Omaha at the time. All s
Lterials, machinery. locomotives. No
n and cars had to be brought up ID
m st. Louis by boat The wages tel
handed by the men-often in ad- ,ai
nee of the days work-were great CHI
- Is-s