12/13/2023 0 Comments Golden spike definition![]() ![]() By going west across the Great Salt Lake from Ogden, Utah, to Lucin, Utah, the new railroad line shortened the distance by 43 miles and avoided curves and grades. In 1904 a new railroad route called the Lucin Cutoff was built by-passing the Promontory location to the south. In the meantime, a coast-to-coast rail link was achieved in August 1870 in Strasburg, Colorado, by the completion of the Denver extension of the Kansas Pacific Railway. Passengers were required to cross the Missouri River between Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, by boat until the building of the Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge in 1872. The Mossdale Bridge, which was the final section across the San Joaquin River near Lathrop, California, was finally completed in September 1869 connecting Sacramento in California. ![]() ![]() Ĭelebration of completion of the Transcontinental RailroadĪlthough the Promontory event marked the completion of the transcontinental railroad line, it did not actually mark the completion of a seamless coast-to-coast rail network: neither Sacramento nor Omaha was a seaport, nor did they have rail connections until after they were designated as the termini. The last laurel tie was destroyed in the fires caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Īfter the ceremony, the Golden Spike was donated to the Stanford Museum (now Cantor Arts Center) in 1898. At exactly 12:47 pm, the last iron spike was driven, finally completing the line. Immediately afterwards, the golden spike and the laurel tie were removed, lest they be stolen, and replaced with a regular iron spike and normal tie. The locomotives were moved forward until their " cowcatchers" met, and photographs were taken. In the United States, the event has come to be considered one of the first nationwide media events. Stanford and Hewes missed the spike, but the single word "done" was nevertheless flashed by telegraph around the country. To drive the final spike, Stanford lifted a silver spike maul and drove the spike into the tie, completing the line. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Chinese participating were honored and cheered by the CPRR officials.) 539 shows the "Chinese at Laying Last Rail UPRR" (8 Chinese laid the last rail, and three of these men, Ging Cui, Wong Fook, and Lee Shao, lived long enough to also participate in the 50th anniversary parade. Contrary to the myth that the Central Pacific's Chinese laborers were specifically excluded from the festivities, A.J. With the locomotives drawn so near, the crowd pressed so closely around Stanford and the other railroad officials that the ceremony became somewhat disorganized, leading to varying accounts of the actual events. This second spike is now on permanent display, along with Thomas Hill's famous painting The Last Spike, at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. It was held, unknown to the public, by the Hewes family until 2005. ĭavid Hewes burial vault at Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, CA.Ī second golden spike, exactly like the one from the ceremony, was cast and engraved at the same time. May God continue the unity of our Country, as this Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world. ![]() The Pacific Railroad ground broken January 8, 1863, and completed May 8, 1869.The spike was engraved on all four sides: It was dropped into a pre-drilled hole in the laurel ceremonial last tie, and gently tapped into place with a silver ceremonial spike maul. The golden spike was made of 17.6- karat (73%) copper-alloyed gold, and weighed 14.03 troy ounces (436 g). (Source: Deseret Morning News, Salt Lake City, April 24, 2007) a blended iron, silver and gold spike, supplied by the Arizona Territory, engraved: Ribbed with iron clad in silver and crowned with gold Arizona presents her offering to the enterprise that has banded a continent and dictated a pathway to commerce.a silver spike, supplied by the State of Nevada forged, rather than cast, of 25 troy ounces (780 g) of unpolished silver.a second, lower-quality gold spike, supplied by the San Francisco News Letter was made of $200 worth of gold and inscribed: With this spike the San Francisco News Letter offers its homage to the great work which has joined the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.īefore the last spike was driven, three other commemorative spikes, presented on behalf of the other three members of the Central Pacific's Big Four who did not attend the ceremony, had been driven in the pre-bored laurel tie: It is unknown how many people attended the event estimates run from as low as 500 to as many as 3,000 government and railroad officials and track workers were present to witness the event. 60 (better known as the Jupiter) locomotives were drawn up face-to-face on Promontory Summit. On May 10, in anticipation of the ceremony, Union Pacific No. ![]()
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