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Old 05-10-2020, 08:04 PM
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May 10 | This Day in U.S. Military History

May 10 in U.S. Military History.

Golden Spike driven in on this day.
Quote:
1869 – In a remote corner of Utah, the presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet and drive a ceremonial last spike into a rail line that connects their railroads and makes transcontinental railroad service possible for the first time in U.S. history. Although travelers would have to take a roundabout journey to cross the country on this railroad system, the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah, forever closed a chapter of U.S. history. No longer would western-bound travelers need to take the long and dangerous journey by wagon train, and the west would surely lose some its wild charm with the new connection to the civilized east. As early as 1852, Congress considered the construction of a transcontinental railroad, but the question became enmeshed in the regional politics of the time. In 1866, starting in Omaha and Sacramento, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads began working toward each other across a northern route, with land grants offered by the government as an incentive for their work. In their eagerness for land, the two lines built right past each other, and the final meeting place had to be renegotiated. On May 10, 1869, the two lines finally met at Promontory Point, Utah.