Promontory Summit, Utah Territory marks the site where the First Transcontinental Railroad was officially completed, although a direct coast-to-coast rail journey on this route was not achieved until 1873. The Mossdale Bridge spanning the San Joaquin River near Lathrop, California was completed in September 1869, connecting Sacramento, California to the network. Passengers had to cross the Missouri River by boat between Council Bluffs, Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska until the Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge was built in 1873. In the meantime, the first uninterrupted coast-to-coast railroad was established in August 1870 at Strasburg, Colorado, with the completion of the Denver extension of the Kansas Pacific Railway. Later use Promontory was the site of Promontory City during and shortly after the construction of the transcontinental railroad. However, by December 1869, the shops, tents, and store fronts were being dismantled as the traders and merchants moved to other towns. In January 1870, the train crews from the CP and UP had been relocated to Ogden, Utah, where Union Station had effectively become the meeting point of the two railroads. Promontory Station had a CP station agent and telegraph operator, a Chinese section gang, and gravel train crew. By June 1870, the population at Promontory Summit had been reduced to about 120 people. Most were employees of the CP railroad. The only exceptions were a hotel/eatery owner, his family, and 80 miners of copper sulfate. Almost immediately CP began an extensive redevelopment of the rail infrastructure on and through Promontory Summit. The CP realigned about 10 miles of the original UP line east of Promontory Summit (on grade CP had surveyed) in 1870, replacing some of the UP’s steep grades and tight curves; in addition it got a roundhouse and turntable, a freight depot and locomotive yard. It also gained extensive support facilities for railroad workers, including an eating car, engine helper station, and quarters for the Chinese section crew. In the final decades of the 19th century, Promontory Station was used by large ranching firms, such as those of John W. Kerr, John L. Edwards, and Charles Crocker, to ship their cattle to the stockyards in San Francisco and Chicago. At the turn of the 20th century, wheat farmers had begun to change the landscape around Promontory with farms and families. Promontory had a one-room school, as well as a commercial store/post office; it had become the main crossroads stop for small