![]() 119, a coal-burner with a straight smokestack. The locomotives whose cowcatchers (or pilots) touched on May 10, 1869, were the Central Pacific’s Jupiter, which burned wood and had a balloon-style smokestack, and the Union Pacific’s No. A third side provided news: “The Pacific Railroad ground broken Jany 8th 1863 and completed May 8th 1869.” The fourth side provided inspiration: “May God continue the unity of our Country as the Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world.” Two of the sides were engraved with the names of Central Pacific officials. Some $350 of Hewes’ own gold was shaped at a foundry into a 55⁄8-inch-long, 14-ounce spike. Yee.’” Durant then took spike hammer in hand and followed up with an anticlimactic second miss.Īlthough there were three spikes of solid gold, the one that became famous as “the golden spike” was compliments of Stanford’s San Francisco friend David Hewes. “Everybody slapped everybody else on the back and yelled ‘He missed it. “Irish, Chinese, Mexicans, and everybody yelled with delight,” recalled Toponce. It didn’t matter to the telegraph operator, who immediately sent off the one-word message: “DONE.” French immigrant Alexander Toponce, who witnessed the ceremony, wrote that a “howl went up” when Stanford hammered the rail instead of the spike. The honor of driving the last spike went to Stanford, but his big blow was a clear miss. Then a fourth iron spike, technically the “last spike,” was wired to the transcontinental telegraph line so that the big blow from the iron spike hammer could be heard from coast to coast. A permanent pine tie was laid down, and three regular iron spikes were driven into it. After that show, the laurel wood tie and shiny spikes were removed. Four of these ceremonial spikes (one of the gold ones didn’t make it) were “tapped” rather than “driven” into a laurel wood tie that had been brought to the scene with four holes already drilled into it. There really was a golden spike in fact, there were three of them, as well as a silver spike and a fifth spike that was a blend of gold, silver and iron. Promontory was off the main line by 1904 and by World War II was no longer even served by the railroad. The Promontory Point and Summit mix-up occurred right away when reporters, many of whom didn’t even see the ceremony, looked at the maps of the day and only saw “Promontory Point.” Before 1869 was out, the terminus of the UP and CP was moved some 60 miles to the southwest from Promontory Summit to Ogden, making the former a mere whistle-stop on the transcontinental railroad. The UP had to make a special payroll run before Durant could continue on to Promontory Summit. It seems that tie cutters in Wyoming wouldn’t let the VP pass until they were paid five months’ worth of back wages. Central Pacific President Leland Stanford arrived on time in his private railroad car. The “Wedding of the Rails” ceremony was originally to take place on May 8, 1869. ![]() Here are a few other points worth noting about a monumental endeavor-made possible by the backbreaking labor of mostly Chinese (Central Pacific) and Irishmen (Union Pacific)-that began America’s honeymoon with railroads and changed the way Americans thought about time, landscapes and horizons: Still, close to 30,000 people showed up at the right place in 1969 for the centennial celebration, and even the 125th anniversary in 1994 drew 14,000 spike buffs. Renewed interest in the “Last Spike Site” did not end all historical misconceptions, of course. government establish the Golden Spike National Historic Site. These may be viewed as small points about a pivotal event in American history, but here is a larger point: Although Promontory Summit, where the “Wedding of the Rails” ceremony took place, became Promontory Station and later Promontory, a center for local dry farming, this important historical site was all but forgotten for nearly a century. In truth, the last spike was made of ordinary iron, and it was driven at Promontory Summit, about 35 miles north of Promontory Point, in what was then Utah Territory. Well, that was indeed the date of the great American railroad linkup, but they are wrong on several points. Countless books, magazines and history teachers have said so. Inexhaustibly, the Union Pacific built westward and the Central Pacific built eastward until their rails joined to form the first transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, with the driving of a golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah. A Few Good Points About the Golden Spike Close
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