when was congress able to pass legislation that authorized a transcontinental railroad
July 1 , 1862
2399795
made to the states, for the benefit of corporations. The original Act's long title was "An Act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes". It was based largely on a proposed bill originally reported six years earlier on August 16, 1856, to the 34th Congress by the Select Committee on the Pacific Railroad and Telegraph. Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on July 1, 1862, the 1862 Act authorized extensive
Pacific Railroad Acts
5757265
both houses, apart from pro-union Democrats, and without vacant southern delegations, were able to enact their party platform. These included the Legal Tender Act, February 20, 1862, and increases in the tariff that amounted to protective tariffs. The Homestead Act, May 20, 1862, for government lands, and the Morrill Land Grant Act, July 2, 1862, for universities promoting practical arts in agriculture and mining, had no immediate war purpose. But they would have long range effects, as would the Pacific Railroad Act, July 1, 1862, for a transcontinental railroad. Treasury innovations were driven by Secretary Salmon P. Chase and necessity
37th United States Congress
2399793
Pacific Railroad Acts The Pacific Railroad Acts were a series of acts of Congress that promoted the construction of a "transcontinental railroad" (the Pacific Railroad) in the United States through authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of land to railroad companies. Although the War Department under then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was authorized by the Congress in 1853 to conduct surveys of five different potential transcontinental routes from the Mississippi ranging from north to south and submitted a massive twelve volume report to Congress with the results in early 1855, no route or bill could be
Pacific Railroad Acts
2399802
gauge choice allowed easy transfer of cars between different railroad companies and facilitates trackage rights between companies. Pacific Railroad Acts The Pacific Railroad Acts were a series of acts of Congress that promoted the construction of a "transcontinental railroad" (the Pacific Railroad) in the United States through authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of land to railroad companies. Although the War Department under then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was authorized by the Congress in 1853 to conduct surveys of five different potential transcontinental routes from the Mississippi ranging from north to south and submitted a massive
Pacific Railroad Acts
16142839
granted lands and construction privileges for the First Transcontinental Railroad project under the Pacific Railway Acts. Construction of this Overland Route was begun in 1863 and completed in 1869. The southern route did not become a reality until 1883, when the Southern Pacific Railroad linked New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico with Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean. The Memorial document is an attempt to persuade the U.S. Congress to authorize construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad via a southern route through New Mexico rather than the route that was eventually authorized by the Pacific Railway Acts of 1862
New Mexican Railway Company
3021268
the Northern Pacific Railroad was chartered to construct transcontinental railroad and telegraph lines between Lake Superior and Puget Sound and completing the connection required a Portland to Kalama route. In 1877, Oregon Senator John Mitchell sponsored legislation calling for the Northern Pacific to forfeit of land grants unless they completed a line to Kalama "as far as practicable along the Oregon side of the Columbia River". The bill didn't pass congress, but on September 8, 1883, the Last spike was driven at Gold Creek, Montana to close the gap in the Rocky Mountain Division section of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Goble, Oregon
5884377
Alameda Terminal Alameda Terminal was a railroad station located in Alameda, California on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. It was built in 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the First Transcontinental Railroad project and was designated the western terminus of the line. The Pacific Railroad Act passed by the United States Congress in 1862 authorized construction of a transcontinental railroad and telegraph line which was to connect the Central Pacific in the west with the Union Pacific Railroad in the east. The first construction activity took the line east from Sacramento. Subsequently the line was
Alameda Terminal
5884375
Alameda Terminal Alameda Terminal was a railroad station located in Alameda, California on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. It was built in 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the First Transcontinental Railroad project and was designated the western terminus of the line. The Pacific Railroad Act passed by the United States Congress in 1862 authorized construction of a transcontinental railroad and telegraph line which was to connect the Central Pacific in the west with the Union Pacific Railroad in the east. The first construction activity took the line east from Sacramento. Subsequently the line was
Alameda Terminal
470685
Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 into law on July 1. It authorized creation of two companies, the Central Pacific in the west and the Union Pacific in the mid-west, to build the railroad. The legislation called for building and operating a new railroad from the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, Iowa, west to Sacramento, California, and on to San Francisco Bay. A second law to supplement the first was passed in 1864. To finance the project, the act authorized the federal government to issue 30-year U.S. government bonds (at 6% interest). The railroad companies were paid $16,000/mile
First Transcontinental Railroad
8235216
begin the process of providing advanced education to America’s farmers. Johnathan Baldwin Turner’s Land Grant University, now known as the University of Illinois, directly led to the formation of the Illinois Farm Bureau. The monumental legislation behind Land Grants helped shape American agriculture during the largest political crisis in history, the Civil War. In May of 1862, the Homestead Act was signed into law and began creating new opportunities in agriculture for thousands of people. The transcontinental railroad was also authorized by Congress at this time, allowing for agriculture to become the biggest business in America. The Smith Lever Act
Illinois Farm Bureau
95200
Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail route between California and Utah built eastwards from the West Coast in the 1860s, to complete the western part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It later became part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental railroad failed because of the energy consumed by political disputes over slavery. With the secession of the South, the modernizers in the Republican Party controlled the US Congress. They passed legislation authorizing the railroad, with financing in the form of government railroad bonds. These
Central Pacific Railroad
95215
1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1876 1877 1883 1885 1888 1899 1959 Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail route between California and Utah built eastwards from the West Coast in the 1860s, to complete the western part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It later became part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental railroad failed because of the energy consumed by political disputes over slavery. With the secession of the South, the modernizers in the Republican Party controlled the US Congress. They passed legislation authorizing
Central Pacific Railroad
470679
the central route railroad was Asa Whitney. He envisioned a route from Chicago and the Great Lakes to northern California, paid for by the sale of land to settlers along the route. Whitney traveled widely to solicit support from businessmen and politicians, printed maps and pamphlets, and submitted several proposals to Congress, all at his own expense. In June 1845, he led a team along part of the proposed route to assess its feasibility. Legislation to begin construction of the "Pacific Railroad" (called the "Memorial of Asa Whitney") was first introduced to Congress by Representative Zadock Pratt. Congress did not
First Transcontinental Railroad
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by the Congress in 1860, which authorized the government to open bids for the construction of a telegraph line between Missouri and California and regulated the service to be provided. Eventually, the only bidder would be Sibley, because all competitors—Theodore Adams, Benjamin Ficklin and John Harmon—withdrew at the last minute. Later they joined Sibley in his effort. Similar to the First Transcontinental Railroad, elimination of the gap in the telegraph service between Fort Kearny in Nebraska and Fort Churchill in Nevada was planned to be divided between teams that would be advancing the construction in opposite directions. The Pacific Telegraph
First transcontinental telegraph
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new organization called the Union Pacific Railroad. It was authorized to build a single line west from an "initial point" at the 100-degree meridian (near present-day Lexington, Nebraska). While the legislation seemed to favor Omaha, in 1863 Lincoln issued an executive order designating the terminal at Council Bluffs. Thomas C. Durant, the first head of the Union Pacific, arbitrarily decided the railroad should start at Omaha. In 1863 ground was broken near Miller's Landing on the Missouri River for the First Transcontinental Railroad. Along with local financier Edward Creighton, George Francis Train was the promoter who was chiefly responsible for
Railroads in Omaha
3346124
States. Surveillance beyond the initial authorized period would require a FISA warrant or a presidential certification to Congress. On September 28, 2006, the House of Representatives passed Wilson's bill and it was referred to the Senate. On July 28, 2007, President Bush called on Congress to pass legislation to reform the FISA in order to ease restrictions on surveillance of terrorist suspects where one party (or both parties) to the communication are located overseas. He asked that Congress pass the legislation before its August 2007 recess. On August 3, 2007, the Senate passed a Republican-sponsored version of FISA (S. 1927)
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
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would increase the influx of non-Mormon settlers and non-Mormon economic concerns into the territory. However, the Utah Legislature (dominated by LDS officials) had repeatedly petitioned Congress for both a transcontinental railroad and telegraph lines to pass through the region. Indeed, when the railroad finally came to Utah, LDS leaders organized cadres of Mormon workers to build the railway, welcoming the income for the economically depressed community. Martha Gunnison, widow of Captain Gunnison, was one of those who maintained that the attack was planned and orchestrated by militant Mormons under the direction of Brigham Young. Gunnison's letters to his wife throughout
John Williams Gunnison
4724668
its mainline continues to be an integral part of the Union Pacific network today. The Kansas Pacific began in 1855 as the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad, and was later reorganized in 1863 as the Union Pacific Eastern Division. The UP Eastern was authorized by the United States Congress as part of the Pacific Railway Act, in order to create a second southerly branch of the transcontinental railroad, alongside the Union Pacific. The name "Kansas Pacific" was not adopted until 1869. The original intent of the railroad was to build a line west from Kansas City, Kansas across Kansas to
Kansas Pacific Railway
20990172
a rubber-yielding plant known as 'guayule'. In 1853 Congress authorized the Pacific Railroad Surveys to determine the best route for a transcontinental railroad. Whipple was directed to lead one of those surveys along the 35th parallel from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Los Angeles. Whipple again asked Bigelow to join the expedition as surgeon and botanist. Although the oldest member of the party, Bigelow was a favorite for his humor and enthusiasm; the only complaint against him was that he turned his mule, Billy, into "an absolute spoiled child." They reached Los Angeles on March 20, 1854. After the difficult journey
John Milton Bigelow
470675
1832 when Dr. Hartwell Carver published an article in the "New York Courier & Enquirer" advocating building a transcontinental railroad from Lake Michigan to Oregon. In 1847 he submitted to the U.S. Congress a "Proposal for a Charter to Build a Railroad from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean", seeking a congressional charter to support his idea. Congress agreed to support the idea. Under the direction of the Department of War, the Pacific Railroad Surveys were conducted from 1853 through 1855. These included an extensive series of expeditions of the American West seeking possible routes. A report on the explorations
First Transcontinental Railroad
9822629
United States Senate Committee on the Pacific Railroad The Senate Committee on the Pacific Railroad is a defunct committee of the United States Senate. It was first established as a select committee on July 7, 1861, to examine legislation to authorize construction of a transcontinental railroad. This legislation formed the basis of the Pacific Railway Acts enacted in 1862, which granted a charter to the Union Pacific Railroad Company to construct the first transcontinental railroad in the United States and to provide federal support in the form of land grants and bond subsidies. The committee was made a standing committee
United States Senate Committee on the Pacific Railroad
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treeless plains across Nebraska and Wyoming. Coal shipments by rail were also looked on as a potentially major source of income—this potential is still being realized. The Union Pacific reached the new railroad town of Cheyenne in December 1867, having laid about that year. They paused over the winter, preparing to push the track over Evans (Sherman's) pass. At , Evans/Sherman's pass is the highest point reached on the transcontinental railroad. About beyond Evans/Sherman's pass, the railroad had to build an extensive bridge over the Dale Creek canyon (41.103803, −105.454797, lat., long.). The Dale Creek Crossing was one of their
First Transcontinental Railroad
13198558
When the Central Pacific Railroad took over the SF&A, other locomotives were brought in and the three SF&A locomotives were sent elsewhere on the CP system. On November 14, 1869, the first major railroad accident in California occurred east of Simpson's. The morning eastbound transcontinental train left Oakland Pier, but was delayed. The morning inbound SF&A local left Hayward, but was delayed also. They were scheduled to pass at Simpson's, which was in a heavy fog area that morning. The transcontinental train arrived at Simpson's first and had a confused exchange with the switchman. Assuming that the local had already
San Francisco and Alameda Railroad
2901576
Asa Whitney Asa Whitney (1797-1874) was a highly successful dry-goods merchant and transcontinental railroad promoter. He was one of the first backers of an American transcontinental railway. A trip to China in 1842-44 impressed upon Whitney the need for a transcontinental railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific. When Whitney returned to the United States in 1844, he realized the benefits from such an undertaking, and spent a great deal of money trying to get the Congress to take up the project. In 1849, he published A Project for a Railroad to the Pacific. For years he continued to write
Asa Whitney
8661349
lieutenant on April 24, 1851. By 1853 his survey work was complete and his reports had been written. In 1853 Congress authorized the Pacific Railroad Surveys to select the best route for a transcontinental railroad. Whipple was directed to lead one of those surveys along the 35th parallel from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Los Angeles. The Whipple expedition left Fort Smith on July 15, 1853 with a group of seventy men including soldiers, teamsters, and scientists. Among the scientists were John M. Bigelow, a medical doctor and botanist; Jules Marcou, a Swiss geologist; and Balduin Möllhausen, a German artist and
Amiel Weeks Whipple
17326133
association elected now-Admiral Charles D. Sigsbee as its president. Representative Sulzer renewed pressure to pass the "Maine" salvage bill on February 16, 1909. Three days later, the House Appropriations Committee approved an omnibus appropriations bill that authorized the President to call for proposals and provide an estimate for the salvage operation to Congress. But the 60th Congress came to an end without passage of the legislation. In the second session of the 61st Congress, Representative George A. Loud submitted legislation again calling for the raising of the wreck of the "Maine". This legislation won widespread support. President William Howard Taft
USS Maine Mast Memorial
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the end of war brought, new investment was once again possible. Denverites began to look toward the next step for growing their city, ensuring that the route of the transcontinental railroad would pass through Denver. With investment once again flowing into the Denver area transportation became a greater concern. Transporting goods to and from Denver was a large expense, an expense that railroads could alleviate. In 1862 the United States Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act and Coloradans were excited at the prospect of the railroad crossing the Rockies Mountains through Colorado despite the dismal surveys by John C. Frémont
History of Denver
629513
they also formed the backbones of cross-country passenger and freight transportation networks. A transcontinental railroad in the United States is any continuous rail line connecting a location on the U.S. Pacific coast with one or more of the railroads of the nation's eastern trunk line rail systems operating between the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers and the U.S. Atlantic coast. The first concrete plan for a transcontinental railroad in the United States was presented to Congress by Asa Whitney in 1845. A series of transcontinental railroads built over the last third of the 19th century created a nationwide transportation network that
Transcontinental railroad
566310
Desoto National Wildlife Refuge. The jobbing and wholesaling district brought new jobs, followed by the railroads and the stockyards. Groundbreaking for the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1863, provided an essential developmental boom for the city. The Union Pacific Railroad was authorized by the U.S. Congress to begin building westward railways in 1862; in January 1866 it commenced construction out of Omaha. Equally important in the city's development, the Union Stockyards were founded in 1883. Within twenty years of the founding of the Union Stockyards in South Omaha, four of the five major meatpacking companies in the United States were located
Omaha, Nebraska
470796
lucrative overcharges. The scandal was to implicate Vice President Schuyler Colfax (who was cleared) and future President James Garfield among others. The scandal broke in 1872 when the "New York Sun" published correspondence detailing the scheme between Henry S. McComb and Ames. In the ensuing Congressional investigation, it was recommended that Ames be expelled from Congress, but this was reduced to a censure and Ames died within three months. Durant later left the Union Pacific and a new rail baron, Jay Gould, became the dominant stockholder. As a result of the Panic of 1873, Gould was able to pick up
First Transcontinental Railroad
226805
a territorial infrastructure to allow settlement. Railroad interests were especially eager to start operations since they needed farmers as customers. Four previous attempts to pass legislation had failed. The solution was a bill proposed in January 1854 by Douglas — the Democratic Party leader in the US Senate, the chairman of the Committee on Territories, an avid promoter of railroads, an aspirant to the presidency, and a fervent believer in popular sovereignty — the policy of letting the voters of a territory decide whether or not slavery should exist in it. Since the 1840s, the topic of a transcontinental railroad
Kansas–Nebraska Act
6145249
Museum moved its collection from San Francisco to the NCRy in 2007 for storage and limited operations after their home at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was shut down for redevelopment. The Niles Canyon Railway operates along a portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad constructed in the 1860s. The rail line through Niles Canyon was amongst the earliest to be built in California and provided the first rail connection between San Francisco Bay and the rest of the nation. The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 authorized the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad to build the transcontinental railroad between
Niles Canyon Railway
428802
authorized to adopt in this behalf is not general legislation upon the rights of the citizen, but corrective legislation". In other words, the amendment authorizes Congress to pass laws only to combat violations of the rights protected in other sections. In "Katzenbach v. Morgan" (1966), the Court upheld Section 4(e) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits certain forms of literacy requirements as a condition to vote, as a valid exercise of Congressional power under Section 5 to enforce the Equal Protection Clause. The Court ruled that Section 5 enabled Congress to act both remedially and prophylactically to
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
12614158
Oregon and Transcontinental Company The Oregon and Transcontinental Company was a 19th-century holding company in the United States, organized by Henry Villard in 1881 to control the Northern Pacific Railroad and Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. It was incorporated in Oregon. New Jersey passed legislation in 1889 to facilitate the control of other companies by another corporation with a goal of encouraging trusts to convert into holding companies and relocate to that state. Oregon and Transcontinental in 1890 re-incorporated as a holding company in New Jersey and became the North American Company so that it could take advantage of these
Oregon and Transcontinental Company
11228538
Southern and Western congressmen succeeded in retaining the low rates of the Tariff of 1857 until 1861. Many in Congress pushed for the construction of a transcontinental railroad, but its construction was prevented by a combination of Southern and New England congressmen. Among the pieces of legislation that Buchanan vetoed were the Homestead Act, which would have given 160 acres of public land to settlers who remained on settled land for five years, and the Morrill Act, which would have granted public lands to establish land-grant colleges. Buchanan argued that these acts were beyond the power of the federal government
Presidency of James Buchanan
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who controlled the Great Northern, then hired Rogers as a locating engineer on the latter, which built into Montana in 1887. Shortly after Rogers had located the pass in Montana that bears his name, his career ended when he was badly injured falling from his horse. Although Hill and the Great Northern eventually chose Marias Pass, 100 miles to the north, as the route over the Continental Divide for their transcontinental railroad, Hill saw to it that Rogers Pass in Montana was named after the surveyor. Rogers Pass is the location of the coldest temperature ever recorded in the United
Rogers Pass (Montana)
4741990
property in the absence of a formal declaration of war. Jackson's opinion took a similarly flexible approach to the issue, eschewing any fixed boundaries between Congress' and the President's power. Jackson divided Presidential authority vis-à-vis Congress into three categories (in descending order of legitimacy): Burton likewise held that Congress, not the President, possessed the power to act in emergencies because it had exclusive power to pass legislation. He relied on the language and legislative history of the Taft–Hartley Act to find that Congress had not authorized seizure of plants involved in a labor dispute without express legislative authorization. He hedged,
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
12614159
expanded corporate powers and invest in a wider range of businesses. Oregon and Transcontinental Company The Oregon and Transcontinental Company was a 19th-century holding company in the United States, organized by Henry Villard in 1881 to control the Northern Pacific Railroad and Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. It was incorporated in Oregon. New Jersey passed legislation in 1889 to facilitate the control of other companies by another corporation with a goal of encouraging trusts to convert into holding companies and relocate to that state. Oregon and Transcontinental in 1890 re-incorporated as a holding company in New Jersey and became the
Oregon and Transcontinental Company
847304
engine facilities. The tower and visitor center are open to the public year-round. North Platte was the western terminus of the Union Pacific Railway from the summer of 1867 until the next section to Laramie, Wyoming, was opened the following summer. Even though Congress had authorized the building of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1862, it was only extended as far as Nebraska City by the start of the summer of 1867. The 275-mile section from Nebraska City to North Platte was completed in less than six weeks. Lincoln County Historical Museum contains a display detailing the history of the North
North Platte, Nebraska
9202238
Sacramento, California. In 1861, soon after the completion of the First Transcontinental Telegraph, the Pony Express was discontinued as the Transcontinental Telegraph now could provide quicker and cheaper communication from the East to the West. Under pressure and subsidizes from the U.S. Congress to establish rapid east-west communication in 1860 Hiram Sibley, the president of the Western Union Company, formed a consortium between Western Union and the telegraph companies in California to construct the First Transcontinental Telegraph. The telegraph line was authorized and subsidized by the U.S. Congress and went from Omaha, Nebraska to Carson City, Nevada. The newly consolidated
Central Overland Route
1579681
bill and with the sponsorship of Representative Clinton L. Merriam, he met with members of the House and illustrated his concern by showing them obscene materials, obtained via the gaps in the existing legislation. Comstock used a connection with Justice William Strong to pass the bill on to William Windom, a senator from Minnesota, with the request that he take the bill to the floor of the Senate. While the bill was being revised, a provision with similar effect of the bill was attached in a federal appropriations bill and was authorized by Congress. The legislation enabled a new special
Comstock laws
660397
had a troubled start because the law that created it failed to give it adequate enforcement powers. Following passage of the 1887 act, the ICC proceeded to set maximum shipping rates for railroads. However, in the late 1890s several railroads challenged the agency's ratemaking authority in litigation, and the courts severely limited the ICC's powers. Congress expanded the commission's powers through subsequent legislation. The 1893 Railroad Safety Appliance Act gave the ICC jurisdiction over railroad safety, removing this authority from the states, and this was followed with amendments in 1903 and 1910. The Hepburn Act of 1906 authorized the ICC
Interstate Commerce Commission
15343399
the transcontinental railroad. This included a military installation on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains in the Wyoming Territory, to protect Union Pacific workers from "hostile Indians". From these pioneer origins, the base evolved from a frontier infantry and cavalry post into the largest, most modern strategic missile facility in the U.S. Warren AFB is named in honor of Wyoming's first United States Senator, Francis Emroy Warren (1844–1929), who was awarded the Medal of Honor at age 19 during the American Civil War. When President Lincoln and Congress set plans for the transcontinental railroad, they recognized the need for
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base
9208775
mail and passenger service. Proposals for the subsidy of a telegraph line to California were made in Congress throughout the 1850s, and in 1860 the U.S. Post Office was authorized to spend $40,000 per year to build and maintain an overland line. The year before, the California State Legislature had authorized a similar subsidy of $6,000 per year. Construction of the first transcontinental telegraph was the work of Western Union, which Hiram Sibley and Ezra Cornell had established in 1856 by merging companies operating east of the Mississippi River. A second significant step was the passing of the Telegraph Act
First transcontinental telegraph
9021353
that the FELA would lead to increased safety on the railroad. Flood urged the U.S. House of Representatives to "follow the lead of those enlightened and progressive states." The FELA Act enacted in 1906 was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. The 1908 legislation passed by Congress, however, withstood tests. Congress passed FELA in response to the high number of railroad deaths in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Under FELA, railroad workers who are not covered by regular workers' compensation laws are able to sue companies over their injury claims. FELA allows monetary payouts for pain
Federal Employers Liability Act
12733091
jurisdiction have continued to be issues for the Omaha Indian Reservation. In the late nineteenth century, Congress authorized sales of land to non-Omaha in the western portion of the reservation, where European-American farmers had settled. Due to the sales and federal legislation subsequent to the treaty establishing the reservation, a Nebraska state court in 2000 ruled that the western boundary of the reservation ended at railroad tracks east of Pender, Nebraska. The Omaha Tribe contends that Pender is within tribal jurisdiction, as Congress did not change the boundaries of reservation, which includes most of Thurston County. The tribe says that
Omaha Reservation
17331722
or 1850 as an alternative to Donner Pass. In 1855 the road was officially surveyed by D.B. Scott when the California Legislature passed An Act to Construct a Wagon Road over the Sierra Nevada range, but a route through El Dorado County approximating the current path of U.S. Route 50 was ultimately chosen. The Henness Pass route was eclipsed by completion in 1868 of the First Transcontinental Railroad as far as Reno via Donner Pass. Henness Pass and its namesake road still provide the only crossing of any significance between Yuba Pass (State Route 49) to the north and Donner
Henness Pass
514585
Railroad and lobbied with many others for congressional approval and funding of the transcontinental railroad. After the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act, Ogden was named as the first president of the Union Pacific Railroad. Ogden was a good choice for the first president, but his railroad experience was most likely not the primary reason he was chosen; Ogden was a clever man who had many political connections. When Ogden came to lead the Union Pacific, the railroad wasn't fully funded and hadn't yet laid a single mile of track—the railroad existed largely on paper created by an act of Congress. As
William B. Ogden
14772416
1910 Rogers Pass avalanche The 1910 Rogers Pass Avalanche killed 62 men clearing a railroad line near the summit of Rogers Pass through the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia on March 4, 1910. It is Canada's worst avalanche disaster. The Canadian Pacific Railway's line through Rogers Pass completed its transcontinental railroad through to Canada's west coast, and at the time was the only such link. It was therefore of vital importance to keep it open through the winter months. Although completed in November 1885 it was soon abandoned as throughout that winter, up to 12 metres of snow buried the
1910 Rogers Pass avalanche
14071291
1853, worked in Congress to promote Minnesota interests. He lobbied for the construction of a railroad connecting Saint Paul and Lake Superior, with a link from Saint Paul to the Illinois Central Railroad. Before 1856 there was minimal discussion of statehood within Minnesota. However, as discussion of a potential transcontinental railroad in the U.S. became serious, leaders in Minnesota recognized that a territory was in a weak position to lobby for this economic opportunity. In December 1856, Rice brought forward two bills in Congress: an enabling act that would allow Minnesota to form a state constitution, and a railroad land
Territorial era of Minnesota
470798
which made winter train travel safe and practical. In areas where the original line has been bypassed and abandoned, primarily due to the Lucin Cutoff re-route in Utah, the original road grade is still obvious, as are numerous cuts and fills, especially the Big Fill a few miles east of Promontory. The sweeping curve which connected to the east end of the Big Fill now passes a Thiokol rocket research and development facility. In 1957, Congress authorized the Golden Spike National Historic Site. Today the site feature replica engines of Union Pacific No. 119 and Central Pacific Jupiter having been
First Transcontinental Railroad
470712
terrain, while a railroad connection to that City was already being planned for and surveyed. Efforts to survey a new, shorter, "better" route had been under way since 1864. By 1867, a new route was found and surveyed that went along part of the South Platte River in western Nebraska and after entering what is now the state of Wyoming, ascended a gradual sloping ridge between Lodgepole Creek and Crow Creek to Evans pass (also called Sherman's Pass) which was discovered by the Union Pacific employed English surveyor and engineer, James Evans, in about 1864. This pass now is marked
First Transcontinental Railroad
6749805
a Bureau of Corporations to study and report on monopolistic practices. To pass his anti-trust package through Congress, Roosevelt appealed directly to the people, casting the legislation as a blow against the malevolent power of Standard Oil. Roosevelt's campaign proved successful, and he won congressional approval of the creation of the Department of Commerce and Labor, which included the Bureau of Corporations. The Bureau of Corporations was designed to monitor and report on anti-competitive practices; Roosevelt believed that large companies would be less likely to engage in anti-competitive practices if such practices were publicized. At Knox's request, Congress also authorized
Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt
440639
runaways, while Still met them at the correct station and guided them to safety. They eventually escaped either to the North or to Canada, where slavery had been abolished during the 1830s. Following upon legislation passed in 1990, in 1997, Congress passed H.R. 1635, which President Bill Clinton signed into law, and which authorized the United States National Park Service to establish the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program to identify associated sites, as well as preserve them and popularize the Underground Railroad and stories of people involved in it. The National Park Service has designated many sites within
Underground Railroad
3222852
never again spoke on Santo Domingo. Grant personally lobbied Senators to pass the treaty, going so far as to visit Charles Sumner at his home. Fish out of loyalty to Grant authorized and submitted the treaty. The Senate, led by opposition of Sumner, refused to pass the treaty. After the Piegan Indian massacre in January 1870, Secretary Cox in March 1870 demanded that Congress implement definitive and lasting legislation on Indian Policy. President Grant, who desired that Indians become "civilized," had created the Board of Indian Commissioners in 1869 under his Peace policy. Cox defended the integrity of the Commissioners
Jacob Dolson Cox
11770594
John W. Gunnison also explored and surveyed the area in search of a route for the transcontinental railroad. Not long after exploring the area, Captain Gunnison was killed by Indians, and his second in command, Lt. Edward G. Beckwith, took over and decided that the best route for the railroad would be further north through Wyoming across the Great Divide Basin. Cochetopa Pass Cochetopa Pass is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of south-central Colorado. It lies on the Continental Divide between the city of Gunnison to the northwest and the town of Saguache to the southeast. It also
Cochetopa Pass
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decade. They were authored by Senator John Sherman. The Fifty-first Congress was also responsible for passing the Land Revision Act of 1891, which created the national forests. Harrison authorized America's first forest reserve in Yellowstone, Wyoming, the same year. Other bills were discussed but failed to pass, including two significant pieces of legislation focused on ensuring African Americans the right to vote. Henry Cabot Lodge sponsored a so-called Lodge Bill that would have established federal supervision of Congressional elections so as to prevent the disfranchisement of southern blacks. Henry W. Blair sponsored the Blair Education Bill, which advocated the use
51st United States Congress
3441249
20th century, the pass became used as the route of U.S. Highway 84 and later Interstate 25. The town of Glorieta is located on the eastern side of the pass. The stairwells of the Colorado State Capitol Building display cannonballs from the battle as ornaments. In 1879, the New Mexico and Southern Pacific Railroad constructed a railroad through the pass, which became part of the second North American transcontinental railroad in March 1881. The NM&SP was absorbed into its parent company, the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in 1899, and the Santa Fe used the route for their Chicago
Glorieta Pass
11482380
and Pacific Railroad in 1926. The Sunset Highway was a part of the Yellowstone Trail, a transcontinental auto-trail. In 1926 the United States Numbered Highway System was established, and the highway over Snoqualmie Pass was designated U.S. Route 10 (US 10). The bridge that carries SR 906 over Hyak Creek was built in 1928. The road was first able to be kept open all winter by 1931, and in 1934 it was numbered Primary State Highway 2 in addition to US 10. The highway was paved between 1931 and 1939. SR 906 came to be the name of the highway
Washington State Route 906
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(1861–1863) passed the Homestead Acts which granted an applicant of land with the requirement that the applicant improve the land. This incentive encouraged thousands of settlers to move west. The federal legislation lacked adequate oversight and accountability. The two companies took advantage of these weaknesses in the legislation to manipulate the project and produce extra profit for themselves. Despite the generous subsidies offered by the federal government, the railroad capitalists knew they would not turn a profit on the railroad business for many months, possibly years. They determined to make a profit on the construction itself. Both groups of financiers
First Transcontinental Railroad
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Kansas Pacific Railway The Kansas Pacific Railway (KP) was a historic railroad company that operated in the western United States in the late 19th century. It was a federally chartered railroad, backed with government land grants. At a time when the first transcontinental railroad was being constructed by the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific, it tried and failed to join the transcontinental ranks. It was originally the "Union Pacific, Eastern Division", although it was completely independent. The Pennsylvania railroad, working with Missouri financiers, designed it as a feeder line to the transcontinental system. The owners lobbied heavily in Washington
Kansas Pacific Railway
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or be seized by Great Britain, in January 1811 President Madison requested Congress to pass legislation authorizing the United States to take "temporary possession" of any territory adjacent to the United States east of the Perdido River, i.e., the balance of West Florida and all of East Florida. The United States would be authorized to either accept transfer of territory from "local authorities", or occupy territory to prevent it falling into the hands of a foreign power other than Spain. Congress debated and passed, on January 15, 1811, the requested resolution in closed session, and provided that the resolution could
Seminole Wars
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above with standard gauge . Since 1970, when the direct standard gauge line across the country was completed, the passenger train on the Sydney to Perth line has been called the Indian Pacific. The proposed Iron Boomerang would connect iron in the Pilbara with coal in Queensland, so achieving loaded operations in both directions. Transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple
Transcontinental railroad
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Portland, Rutland, Oswego and Chicago Railroad The Portland, Rutland, Oswego and Chicago Railroad was a plan for a railroad between Portland, Maine and Chicago, Illinois, proposed as the first step of a transcontinental railroad. The plans were made by John A. Poor of Portland in the 1860s, but he died in 1871 before they could be finalized. The Portland and Rutland Railroad was chartered in Maine on March 6, 1868 and in New Hampshire on July 3, 1868. The companies were authorized to build a railroad from Portland west to Danbury, New Hampshire on the Northern Railroad. From Danbury to
Portland, Rutland, Oswego and Chicago Railroad
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York Central Railroad system. Portland, Rutland, Oswego and Chicago Railroad The Portland, Rutland, Oswego and Chicago Railroad was a plan for a railroad between Portland, Maine and Chicago, Illinois, proposed as the first step of a transcontinental railroad. The plans were made by John A. Poor of Portland in the 1860s, but he died in 1871 before they could be finalized. The Portland and Rutland Railroad was chartered in Maine on March 6, 1868 and in New Hampshire on July 3, 1868. The companies were authorized to build a railroad from Portland west to Danbury, New Hampshire on the Northern
Portland, Rutland, Oswego and Chicago Railroad
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The Cal-P operated independently from 1865 to 1876. It was then operated by the Central Pacific and was finally sold to the Southern Pacific. Amtrak's "Capitol Corridor" follows the original Cal-P Line from Sacramento to Suisun/Fairfield on its way to Oakland and San Jose. While the transcontintal railroad was the first railway line to cross the U.S., it wasn't truly a transcontinental line because it terminated at Sacramento, short of the Pacific destination of San Francisco. The first truly transcontinental railroad was through Stockton, over Altamont Pass and thence via Niles Canyon to the San Francisco Bay Area, a distance
California Pacific Railroad
7858780
in the world. H. W. Corbett and others from Portland would then use it to get back and forth to the connecting ships to and from the East, rather than crossing on mule back. When the transcontinental Union Pacific Railroad to San Francisco was completed on May 10, 1869, this more direct route was then used for shipping and travel connecting to Portland by boat or stage coach. In 1869 Corbett was able to make his first transcontinental trip from the East to San Francisco. Prior to that he had crossed the Isthmus of Panama thirteen times on trips between
Henry W. Corbett
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of Colorado. The Kansas Pacific Railroad linked with the Denver Pacific Railway via Denver to Cheyenne in 1870. The original transcontinental railroad route did not pass through the two biggest cities in the so-called Great American Desert—Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah. Feeder railroad lines were soon built to service these two and other cities and states along the route. Modern-day Interstate 80 roughly follows the path of the railroad from Sacramento across modern day California, Nevada, Wyoming and Nebraska, with a few exceptions. Most significantly, the two routes are different between Wells, Nevada and Echo, Utah. In this
First Transcontinental Railroad
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major regional highway heavily congested by Central Valley suburbanization. Of the two railroad lines through the old pass, one is still in use: the original Western Pacific line, sometimes known as the Altamont Corridor, now owned by Union Pacific. It carries freight trains as well as the Altamont Corridor Express, which gives its occasional name and operates between Stockton, Livermore, Pleasanton, Fremont, and San Jose. The abandoned right-of-way was used by the Southern Pacific, now also part of Union Pacific. This line was the Bay Area's original connection to the transcontinental railroad, from 1869 until 1879, when a sea level
Altamont Pass
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grass, and the railroad drilled wells for water. Coal was mined in Wyoming by the time the UP arrived. Coal shipments by rail were also looked on as a potentially major source of income—this potential is still being realized, as Wyoming is the nation's largest coal producer in the 21st century. The original Union Pacific reached the new railroad town of Cheyenne in December 1867, having laid about that year. They paused over the winter, preparing to push the track over Evan's (Sherman's) pass. At , Evans/Sherman's pass is the highest point reached on the transcontinental railroad. The Dale Creek
History of the Union Pacific Railroad
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Western Pacific Railroad) has an active mainline on the south side of the canyon. The Altamont Corridor Express runs along this line on weekdays. The former Southern Pacific route from Oakland to Tracy via Niles Canyon is now abandoned, except for the portion from Sunol to Niles Station operated by the heritage railway known as the Niles Canyon Railway. This line was the original extension of the First Transcontinental Railroad from Sacramento to San Francisco Bay (by way of Stockton and the Altamont Pass) and was completed in 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad, but lost its transcontinental traffic in
Niles Canyon
8156719
significant restrictions on memorial design and approval. These restrictions include: Since 1986, the National Capital Memorial Commission and procedures established by the Commemorative Works Act have been bypassed only twice. The first time was when Congress specifically passed legislation (the "Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center Act") in 2003. This legislation authorized a visitors' center next to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The second was when Congress enacted "An Act to Expedite the Construction of the World War II Memorial in the District of Columbia" (P.L. 107-11) in 2001. This law required that the National World War II Memorial be constructed, and
National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission
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River. Located from Evans pass, Union Pacific connected the new "railroad" town of Cheyenne to Denver and its Denver Pacific Railway and Telegraph Company railroad line in 1870. Elevated above sea level, and sitting on the new Union Pacific route with a connection to Denver, Cheyenne was chosen to become a major railroad center and was equipped with extensive railroad yards, maintenance facilities and a Union Pacific presence. Its location made it a good base for helper locomotives to couple to trains with snowplows to help clear the tracks of snow or help haul heavy freight over Evans pass. The
First Transcontinental Railroad
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Indians by the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the terms of the Fort Wise Treaty of 1861. In 1863, the Union Pacific Eastern Division (renamed the Kansas Pacific in 1869) was authorized by the United States Congress's Pacific Railway Act to create the southerly branch of the transcontinental railroad alongside the Union Pacific. Pacific Railway Act also authorized large land grants to the railroad along its mainline. The company began construction on its main line westward from Kansas City in September 1863. In the postwar era, many railroads were planned, but not all were actually built. The nationwide Panic of
History of Kansas
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3, 1891). While in Congress, he helped write the legislation which authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission. On December 2, 1886, Clements married Lizzie Eleanor Dulaney, daughter of a wealthy real estate owner in Louisville, Kentucky, in that city. In 1887, Clements moved from La Fayette to Rome, Georgia, where he served for a year as president of the Chattanooga, Rome, and Columbus Railroad. Clements was defeated for renomination in 1890 due to political manoeuvering in his district. Clements welcomed reconciliation between North and South. At an 1889 reunion of veterans, Clements stated that Northern and Southern veterans had worked together
Judson C. Clements
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banks that benefited the government the most. Butkiewicz (1995) shows that the RFC initially succeeded in reducing bank failures, but the publication of the names of loan recipients beginning in August 1932 (at the demand of Congress) significantly reduced its effectiveness, because it appeared that political considerations had motivated certain loans. Partisan politics hindered the RFC's efforts, though in 1932, monetary conditions improved because the RFC slowed the decline in the nation's money supply. The original legislation establishing the RFC did not limit it to lending to financial institutions; it was also authorized to provide loans for railroad construction and
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
2730614
Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, which it used to raise money in Europe for construction. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former President Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in western Montana on September 8, 1883. The railroad had about of track and served a large area,
Northern Pacific Railway
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example, with the Congress opposing the Carter Administration's decision to focus on hospital expenditures. Despite the times, Richmond's neighborhood health centers remained, championed by Congress and reinforced by an assortment of PHS programs to improve access to care. Transferred to PHS jurisdiction in the early 1970s, neighborhood health centers were renamed Community Health Centers, authorized under 1975 legislation, scaled down and revamped to focus on rural (1975) and urban (1977) areas, spread thin to include new constituencies like residents of Appalachia and migrant workers and those served by PHS's National Health Service Corps. During Richmond's tenure, Congress would pass the
Julius B. Richmond
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His "Northern Pacific Views" photographically documented over the years, the routes, destinations, infrastructure and equipment of the railroad. Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, which it used to raise money in Europe for construction. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former President Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike"
Northern Pacific Railway
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united the country by rail. The first of these, the "Pacific Railroad", was built by the Central Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad to link the San Francisco Bay at Alameda, California, with the nation's existing eastern railroad network at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska, thereby creating the world's first transcontinental railroad when it opened in 1869. Its construction was made possible by the US government under Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862, 1864, and 1867. The world's First Transcontinental Railroad was built between 1863 and 1869 to join the eastern and western halves of the United States. Begun just before the
Transcontinental railroad
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wagon trails through Donner Pass that was used by settlers and prospectors, on the Emigrant Trail, coming from the eastern United States across the Sierra Nevada. Today the same pass can be reached by way of the Pacific Crest Trail or a new trail created by Sugar Bowl ski resort, in 1994, called the Mt. Judah Loop trail. The Central Pacific Railroad first began train services to Donner Pass in 1868 after the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad across the United States. A new tunnel constructed two-miles (3 km) through virtually solid granite, dubbed "The Big Hole tunnel", was
Sugar Bowl Ski Resort
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in 1885, built a wooden railroad trestle across the Great Salt Lake between Ogden and Lucin, between February 1902 and March 1904. The Lucin Cutoff completely bypassed Promontory Summit. The last regularly scheduled transcontinental passenger train to pass through Promontory station was on Sunday, September 18, 1904. When the Great Depression led to a dramatic fall in revenues from railroad traffic, the Southern Pacific decided to abandon the line when it failed to meet its operating costs. On September 8, 1942, an "unspiking" ceremony was held to commemorate the lifting of the last rail over Promontory Summit; the old steel
Promontory, Utah
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Jedediah Smith in late spring of 1827 when leaving California at the end of his first exploratory journey, the first crossing ever of the Sierra Nevada by a non-native. The pass was later used by John Bidwell on his emigration to California. John Ebbetts, a California pioneer, traversed the pass in April 1851 with a large train of mules. He hoped it would make a suitable route for the transcontinental railroad, as he noted little snow at the time. However, this was likely an anomaly, as the current highway is generally closed from November through May due to snow accumulation.
Ebbetts Pass
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by the Ames Monument (41.131281,-105.398045 lat., long.) marking its significance and commemorating two of the main backers of the Union Pacific Railroad. From North Platte, Nebraska (elevation ), the railroad proceeded westward and upward along a new path across the Nebraska Territory and Wyoming Territory (then part of the Dakota Territory) along the north bank of the South Platte River and into what would become the state of Wyoming at Lone Pine, Wyoming. Evans Pass was located between what would become the new "railroad" towns of Cheyenne and Laramie. Connecting to this pass, about west of Cheyenne, was the one
First Transcontinental Railroad
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Act. When the Spanish first entered the region, they found a Kumeyaay rancheria at the mouth of Chollas Creek. In 1871, Congressman John A. Logan wrote legislation to provide federal land grants and subsidies for a transcontinental railroad ending in San Diego. A street laid in 1881 was named Logan Heights after him, and the name came to be applied to the general area. Plans for a railroad never successfully materialized, and the area was predominantly residential by the turn of the century, becoming one of San Diego's oldest communities. Its transformation began in 1910 with the influx of refugees
Barrio Logan, San Diego
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been affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court. Even if all of the Indiana courts came to the wrong conclusions, the only avenue of appeal left to the plaintiff was to the United States Supreme Court - for Congress had authorized no other court to hear appeals of state court decisions. This case laid the groundwork for the current understanding that the decisions of state courts can not be challenged in federal courts (other than the Supreme Court) unless Congress has enacted legislation that specifically authorized such relief. An example of legislation that has been interpreted to this effect is 28
Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co.
11000462
railroad line cut under the pass via the 2,290 ft Pipestone Pass Tunnel at an elevation of 6,347 ft (1,935 m). The line was electrified in 1915 and served the Milwaukee Road's premium transcontinental passenger train, the "Olympian" (later the "Olympian Hiawatha"). A poor competitive position against the rival Burlington Northern Railroad and substantial losses caused the Milwaukee Road to abandon the line in 1980. Pipestone Pass was also used (without a tunnel) as the Continental Divide crossing for U.S. Highway 10, dating from 1926. This road is now designated as Montana Highway 2 and known locally as "The Harding
Pipestone Pass (Montana)
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and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy Research and Production. He was an author of laws that authorized efforts which included matters such as solar energy, electric cars and fusion power, and his expertise on overall energy issues was acknowledged by Members of Congress of both political parties. McCormack was a cosponsor in a successful attempt to pass legislation intended to facilitate general conversion of the United States to the metric system of measurement. HR 8674, the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, was ultimately signed by President Ford into public law 94-168. At times, McCormack took positions that were critical
Mike McCormack (politician)
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immediately act on Whitney's proposal. Theodore Judah was a fervent supporter of the central route railroad. He lobbied vigorously in favor of the project and undertook the survey of the route through the rugged Sierra Nevada, one of the chief obstacles of the project. In 1852, Judah was chief engineer for the newly formed Sacramento Valley Railroad, the first railroad built west of the Mississippi River. Although the railroad later went bankrupt once the easy placer gold deposits around Placerville, California were depleted, Judah was convinced that a properly financed railroad could pass from Sacramento through the Sierra Nevada mountains
First Transcontinental Railroad
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1876 within the right-of-way for the Illinois Central Railroad. When the Illinois Central was authorized by a Stephen A. Douglas-sponsored act of Congress on September 20, 1854 it was to be the largest railroad company on earth. The act authorized a mainline from Dunleith (later East Dubuque) to Cairo and branch lines from Centralia to Chicago. Based upon the length of the divisions, Illinois Central's division headquarters was to be built in Lee County. The railroad purchased land in the present-day city of Amboy and set up division headquarters operations as well as shop and maintenance operations. The city of
Amboy station
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to South Pass City. There are segments of the Oregon, California, Mormon, and Pony Express trails, along with and archeological and fossil artifacts. A westward-looking nation in 1869 united its eastern and western shores with the First Transcontinental Railroad, whose route traversed the Red Desert. University of Wyoming historian Phil Roberts described the notion of building a transcontinental railroad as "today's equivalent of the mission to Mars: Big, expensive and impossible". The preliminary survey for the railroad produced the first map of the Great Basin and Southern Wyoming, according to author Stephen E. Ambrose. The Red Desert's lack of water
Red Desert (Wyoming)
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The Great Northern was the first transcontinental built without public money and just a few land grants, and was one of the few transcontinental railroads not to go bankrupt. Hill chose to build his railroad north of the competing Northern Pacific line, which had reached the Pacific Northwest over much more difficult terrain with more bridges, steeper grades, and tunnelling. Hill did much of the route planning himself, travelling over proposed routes on horseback. The key to the Great Northern line was Hill's use of the previously unmapped Marias Pass. The pass had initially been described by Lewis and Clark
James J. Hill
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"Hell on Wheels". Thomas Durant is a regular character in the series and is portrayed by actor Colm Meaney. In 2015, a Lego model depicting the Golden Spike Ceremony, the event that symbolically marked the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad, was submitted to the Lego Ideas website. In the 2002 DreamWorks Animation movie, "", the main character, the horse Spirit, is delivered with other horses to pull a steam locomotive at a work site for the Transcontinental Railroad. For maps and railroad pictures of this era shortly after the advent of photography see: First Transcontinental Railroad The First Transcontinental
First Transcontinental Railroad
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allowed Congress several options to consider the most efficient and cost effective route to build a transcontinental railroad. In 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act. The Union Pacific Railroad Company would build continuous railroad and telegraph lines west from the Eastern shores of the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, Iowa (opposite Omaha, Nebraska) which would meet railroad and telegraph lines build east by the Central Pacific Railroad from the navigable waters of the Sacramento River in Sacramento, California. On May 10, 1869, the two rail lines joined with an honorary Golden Spike at Promontory Summit after making a combined
Pacific Railroad Surveys
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Greeley, Salt Lake and Pacific Railway The Greeley, Salt Lake and Pacific Railway was a railroad that operated in northern Colorado in the United States during the 1880s. Founded with heavy backing with the Union Pacific Railroad, it was controlled by the Union Pacific from its inception, but was incorporated into the new Colorado and Southern Railway in 1898, becoming part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1908. The railroad company was organized by investors in northern Colorado on January 17, 1881 with the intention of starting a southern branch of the transcontinental railroad that would pass through
Greeley, Salt Lake and Pacific Railway
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Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870) The Western Pacific Railroad was formed in December, 1862, by a group led by Timothy Dame and including Charles McLaughlin and Peter Donahue, all associated with the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, to build a railroad from San Jose north to Vallejo's Mills (mouth of Niles Canyon, later Niles, now part of Fremont), east through Niles Canyon, north to Dublin/Pleasanton, east through the Livermore Valley, and over Altamont Pass to Stockton, then north to Sacramento, with the plan that the transcontinental railroad would follow the Western Pacific to San Jose and then the San Francisco
Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870)
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expand and supply the army depot at Preston by steamboat. This plan was abandoned in 1853 due to the difficulty of navigating the upper Red River because of the Great Raft logjam. Later after the destruction of the Great Raft steamboats on the Red River were finally able to navigate up the river to Preston. Preston had a steamboat landing. In 1847 the Texas legislature ordered a road to be built from Preston to Sherman. In 1853 Congress funded an exploration of the best route west of the Mississippi for a transcontinental railroad. In February 1854 an expedition of 75
Preston, Texas
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Container-deposit legislation Container-deposit legislation (also known as a deposit-refund system, bottle bill, or deposit-return system) is any law that requires the collection of a monetary deposit on beverage containers (refillable or non-refillable) at the point of sale. When the container is returned to an authorized redemption center, or retailer in some jurisdictions, the deposit is partly or fully refunded to the redeemer (presumed to be the original purchaser). It is a deposit-refund system. Governments may pass container deposit legislation for several reasons, including, for example: Deposits that are not redeemed are often kept by distributors or bottlers to cover the
Container-deposit legislation
8458
the Parks Highway in the 1970s, the railroad provided the only land access to most of the region along its entire route. In northern Southeast Alaska, the White Pass and Yukon Route also partly runs through the state from Skagway northwards into Canada (British Columbia and Yukon Territory), crossing the border at White Pass Summit. This line is now mainly used by tourists, often arriving by cruise liner at Skagway. It was featured in the 1983 BBC television series "Great Little Railways." The Alaska Rail network is not connected to Outside. In 2000, the U.S. Congress authorized $6 million to
Alaska
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Summit is the fifth-highest summit or pass on a U.S. transcontinental railroad main line after Tennessee Pass, Moffat Tunnel, Sherman Hill Summit, and Raton Pass. Soldier Summit, Utah Soldier Summit is the name of both a mountain pass in the Wasatch Mountains in Utah and a ghost town located at the pass. Soldier Summit has been an important transportation route between the Wasatch Front and Price, Utah, since the area was settled by the Mormon pioneers. It is on the route of both U.S. Route 6 and the old main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW),
Soldier Summit, Utah
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1858. As a boy he was raised in part along the roadbed of the Union Pacific Railroad during its construction as part of the First Transcontinental Railroad; his father ran businesses that catered to the construction crews, and was operating the railroad hotel at Promontory, Utah when the railroad was completed in 1869. At the ceremony on Promontory Summit where engines of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroad touched cowcatchers to symbolize the opening of the transcontinental route, Stanton rode in the UP's engine and rang the engine's bell. Stanton was educated in San Francisco, and then attended
Charles E. Stanton