Clint Nash, age 14, of Erie, Pa., for his question:
WHEN WAS THE FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD COMPLETED?
North America became the first continent to have a rail line from coast to coast on May 10, 1869. On that day, a last spike made of gold was driven into the tracks at Promontor in northern Utah to mark the completion of the first transcontinental railroad.
Railroads had developed rapidly in the Eastern United States during the 1850s. But none extended into the wild, undeveloped regions west of the Mississippi River.
Then in the early 1860s, the United St es government suggested that Eastern rail lines be extended all t e way westward across the continent. The proposed route roughly followed the 42nd parallel from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California.
Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act in 1862. The act gave two companies responsibility for building the railroad. The Union Pacific Railroad was to start. la ng track westward from a point near Omaha while the Central Pacific Railroad was to lay rails eastward from Sacramento.
Congress granted both railroads large sections of land and millions of dollars in government I ns to complete the major project.
Work stated in 1863 the Central Pacific company and two years later by Union Pacific the Central Pacific had to cross the Sierra Nevada, the towering mountain range in eastern California while the union Pacific had to cross the rugged Rockies.
Tracks, ties and other equipment had to be transported great distances. To obtain the necessary workers, the Central Pacific hired thousands of unskilled Chin se laborers. The Union Pacific hired thousands of European immigration is and Civil War veterans.
Each rail liad worked toward the other, pushing across barren plains and rugged mountains in all kinds of weather. By 1868, the work had turned into a race between the two companies to see which could lay the most track in the shortest time.
The two railroads met at Promontory, a point in the Promontory Mountains of northern Utah, on May 10, 1869, and a last spike made of gold was driven into the rails to mark the occasion. Stanford University now has the spike.
With the meeting of the two railroads, railroading in North America boomed. By the end of the 1800s, the United States had four more transcontinent al rail lines.
The Canadian Pacific Railway completed Canada's first transcontinental line in 1885. It extended from Montreal, Quebec, to Vancouver, British Columbia.
The completion of the United States and Canadian transcontinental lines opened vast regions of both countries to settlement and trade. Many small Western communities started by the railroads grew into important cities. They include Billings, Montana; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Vancouver.
Earlier, the first grant to a railroad from Congress helped build a line from the Great Lakes at Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile, Alabama. This railroad was completed in 1856 and settlers poured into the area along the route.