150th Anniversary of the Completion of the Transcontinental Railway

Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah 

My husband and I were two of 20,000 people on Friday who celebrated at Promontory Summit, Utah the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, marking the achievement of the railroads and railroad workers who risked everything to make the Transcontinental Railroad a reality.

The parking tickets sold out quickly and we bought ours online immediately when we heard that we couldn't join in on the festivities unless we showed the permit on our dashboards.  Traffic signs warned of delays because of this "Major Event", as the city officials called it.  The traffic was heavy, but once we pulled in to the dusty "parking lot", which was, in reality, a dusty field, I felt a lump in my throat when we saw the train from the west and the one from the east facing each other, with men recreating the famous picture of a two men celebrating with champagne and toasting each other. 

My husband and I brought along folding chairs to listen to the speeches by the dignitaries, including the governor of Utah, the Heads of the US Departments of Transportation and Interior, Mitt Romney, an actor from the series, Hell on Wheels, the ambassador of Ireland, and descendants of those who worked on the railroad. My favorite part of the day was listening to the keynote speaker, Jon Meacham, a historian, and author.  His eloquence brought tears to my eyes: “We should not sentimentalize the American experience,” Meacham said. “The nation has been morally flawed, often egregiously so, from the beginning. We must be honest about that.”

He went on to say, “If the men and women of the past, with all of their flaws and limitations and ambitions and appetites, could press on through ignorance and superstition and racism and sexism, through selfishness and greed, to form a more perfect union, then perhaps we too can right wrongs and leave things better than we found them.” 

Elaine L. Chao was my second favorite speaker of the day.  She reminded us that within three years of its completion, trains could travel from New York City to San Francisco in just one week.  Prior to that, travelers endured up to 6 months or more of dangerous travel by ship or covered wagon to cross the continent.

The transcontinental railroad was built by Civil war veterans from both the North and the South who worked together, along with Mormon settlers, African-Americans, Native Americans, and, Chinese laborers. Building from the West, the Central Pacific Railroad hired 15,000 workers, of whom 12,000 or more were Chinese immigrants. These are the men whose jobs were to blast through the granite of the imposing Sierra Nevada mountains. It was dangerous work using explosives and many lost their lives.

The governor, wearing a top hat, joined a few other men to recreate the pounding of the "golden" spike, which was actually a copper spike, made especially for the anniversary.  After the speeches and recreations were over, fireworks lit up the afternoon sky and a flyover of four planes in formation, saluted this grand achievement--the most important engineering feat of the 19th century and the symbol of the east and west joining together making the United States one connected nation, filled with many ethnicities who worked with each other to get the job done.