Transcontinental Railroad
Lesson 24
The Pony Express was no longer needed after the invention of the telegraph. The transcontinental line was completed on October 24, 1861. Transcontinental means “across the continent”. Messages could be sent by Morse Code in a manner of minutes.
In 1848 an attempt was made to develop a steamship line which would carry mail from Panama to California through the Isthmus of Panama. There was difficulty crossing Panama to the Pacific. Carriers had to travel primitive trails, go upstream in long canoes, endure mosquitoes, bad water and disease. A railroad was needed. In 1850, work began on a railroad across South America. It took 5 years of hard work. This was the first transcontinental railroad in the Western Hemisphere.
Californians desired to have a railroad that crossed the continent. It would take large amounts of money and lots of work. In 1862 when the south seceded from the Union, Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act. Four wealthy men formed the Central Pacific Railroad Company. They became known as the Big Four. The Pacific Railroad Act named the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies to build the railway. The Central Pacific Railroad was to build east from Sacramento. The Union Pacific Railroad was to build west from Omaha, Nebraska. Work began in 1863 in Sacramento. The Union Pacific began its work in the summer of 1865. Many Chinese men were hired to work on the railroad because they would work for low wages. The work was hard and dangerous. The summit of the Sierra was reached in 1867. Track was laid at the rate of between two and six miles a day by each company. Competition between the railroad companies increased the closer they got to one another. After seven years, in May of 1869, the two lines met at Promontory Point in Utah. They laid a total of 2,221 miles of track. People could travel from the Atlantic states to California in just five days. California was now linked with the eastern United States.
1) Chart showing number of days it took to travel each route.
2) Map showing the Transcontinental Railroad. Trace each route with a different color.
3) Candy train
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