Time Machine (1869): Completion of the
Great Transcontinental Railroad
By New York Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 04.22.16
Word Count 777
In this photo from 1869, representatives from the East and the West shake hands at the laying of the last rail of the Union
Pacific Railroad in Utah. Photo: Andrew J. Russell, Yale University Libraries
Newsela Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 11, 1869, edition of The
New York Times. Its style of multiple dispatches is typical of newspapers of the time.
Promontory, Utah, Monday, May 10 -- The long-looked-for moment has arrived. The
construction of the Pacific Railroad is un fait accompli (a done deal). The inhabitants of the
Atlantic seaboard and the dwellers on the Pacific slopes are henceforth emphatically one
people. Your correspondent is writing on Promontory Summit in Utah, surrounded by the
deafening shouts of the crowd. The tick, tick of the telegraph is close to his ear. The
machine will use Morse code to convey the events of the day, which are:
Day's Events Delivered By Morse Code Across Country
Prayer by the Reverend Dr. John Todd, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, asking the favor of
heaven upon the enterprise.
Laying of two rails. One will be placed opposite the other — one for the Union Pacific
Railroad and one for the Central Pacific Railroad.
Presentation of railroad spikes to the two companies — on the part of California by Dr. W.H.
Harkness, on the part of Nevada by the Honorable F. A. Fritle, and on the part of Arizona
by Governor Anson P.K. Safford.
Response by former California Governor Leland Stanford on the part of the Central Pacific
Railroad.
Response by General G.M. Dodge on the part of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Driving of the last spikes into the rails by the two companies; telegraph to be attached to
the spike of the Central Pacific Co., and the last blow to announce to the world by
telegraph the completion of the Pacific Railroad.
Telegram to United States President Ulysses S. Grant.
Telegram to The Associated Press news service.
Announcement in Washington of the Completion of the Road -- Scene in the
Telegraph Office
Special Dispatch to The New York Times
Washington, D.C., Monday, May 10 -- The completion of the Pacific Railroad has
dominated public attention here today to the exclusion of everything else. The feeling is
one of hearty rejoicing at the completion of this great work. There were no public
observances. However, the arrangements made by the telegraph company to announce
the completion of the road at the same time as the driving of the last spike were perfect.
At 2:20 this afternoon, Washington time, all the telegraph offices in the country were
notified by the Omaha, Nebraska, telegraph office to be ready. They would receive the
signals corresponding to the blows of the hammer that drove the last spike in the last rail.
The action would unite New York and San Francisco with a band of iron.
Telegraph Offices Linked Up, One By One
Accordingly Charles A. Tinker, manager of the Western Union Telegraph Office in this city,
placed a magnetic bell sounder in the public office of that company, at the corner of 14th
Street and the avenue. He connected the same with the main lines. Then, he notified the
various offices that he was ready.
New Orleans instantly responded, the answer being read from the bell taps. New York did
the same. At 2:27 P.M., Promontory Point, 2,400 miles west of Washington, said to the
people congregated in the various telegraph offices:
"Almost ready. Hats off; prayer is being offered."
A silence for the prayer ensued. At 2:40 the bell tapped again, and the office at the Point
said:
"We have got done praying. The spike is about to be presented."
Chicago replied:
"We understand; all are ready in the East."
Promontory Point:
"All ready now; the spike will be driven. The signal will be three dots for the
commencement of the blows."
Three Strikes Of The Bell And News Flies Across Nation
For a moment the telegraph machine was silent; then the hammer of the magnet tapped
the bell. "One, two, three," the signal; another pause of a few seconds, and the lightning
came flashing eastward, vibrating over 2,400 miles between the junction of the two roads
and Washington, and the blows of the hammer upon the spike were measured instantly in
telegraphic accents on the bell here.
At 2:47 P.M., Promontory Point gave the signal, "Done," and the Continent was spanned
with iron. The same ceremony was observed at the military telegraph office in the War
Department, where were present Secretary John Rawlings, Generals William T. Sherman,
Edward D. Townsend, and others. The president was unavoidably kept away by an
engagement.
The bell taps here, too, repeated the blows of the hammer. The completion of the great
enterprise was known here before the echoes of the last stroke had died out of the ears of
those present at the ceremonies on Promontory Point.
Quiz
1
Read the first paragraph in the section "Three Strikes Of The Bell And News Flies Across
Nation".
Which phrase from that paragraph BEST illustrates the speed of the telegraph messages?
2
(A)
the telegraph machine was silent
(B)
then the hammer of the magnet tapped the bell
(C)
the lightning came flashing eastward
(D)
between the junction of the two roads and Washington
Read the sentence from the first paragraph of the article.
Your correspondent is writing on Promontory Summit in Utah,
surrounded by the deafening shouts of the crowd.
How does the word "deafening" affect the meaning of the sentence?
3
4
(A)
It shows the unruliness of the crowd in Promontory.
(B)
It shows the great excitement about the new railroad.
(C)
It shows the need for the more reporters at the scene.
(D)
It shows the different types of emotions people felt that day.
Read the section "Telegraph Offices Linked Up, One by One." What role does this section play
in the article as a whole?
(A)
It shows the religious nature of the event by including the prayer.
(B)
It shows the huge pressure on telegraph workers at the time.
(C)
It shows which U.S. cities were most important to the completion of the
railroad.
(D)
It shows that the completion of the railroad was important across the entire
country.
Read the section "Day's Events Delivered By Morse Code Across Country." What is the
purpose of this section?
(A)
to build a sense of curiosity and suspense among readers
(B)
to emphasize that building the railroad required cooperation
(C)
to build a sense of respect for the people who laid all of the tracks
(D)
to emphasize that building a railroad seems easy, but it is not