Show Two Railroads Met on May 10 On May 1869 1669 occurred one of the W West's sl's and Americas America's symbolic hours That was the date the United States became a continental nation nation nat nat- ion the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Oceana were linked by shining sf lif steel eel f rails Valla For Por that was the date Leland Lei and Stanford president of ot the Central l Pacific Railroad swung his ham ham- hammer mer 1 r on the golden at Promontory Promontory Pro Pro- montory Point In Box Dox Elder County County Coun Coun- t ty connecting east and west It was there at Promontory Point that the officials of ot the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific finally agreed to have their respective railroads meet on that historic date The two railroads had refused to meet sooner since each railroad was was wa awarded a huge land grant and by the United States for every mile completed The grants were ten alternative alter sections of land on each side aide of or the right ht of way way later In Increased increased in- in creased to 20 sections The government t gave these granta granta grants gra gra- nta to help finance the building of the two railroads which became the first railroad of America The roads built their rights right of way across a thousand miles mUes of high prairie mountain and desert The Union Pacific used Irishmen and the C Central Pacific hired 18 Chinese coolies to finish the job on a record time of six and a half years The culmination of this transcontinental transcontinental trans trans- continental railroad was an epic struggle The nation was just re recovering recovering recovering re- re covering from debilitating effects of the Civil War and both money and materials were scarce On May 10 10 1869 1809 the Union Pacific engine with a tall tan slender smokestack touched its cowcatcher to that of ot the Central Pacific's stacked bonnet locomotive Hundreds Hundreds Hund reds of ot persons clambered over the country side as DS Mr Stanford banged bang bang- ed eel d his hammer against the golden spike Today a white cement monument monument ent and two short steel railroad reds rails commemorate that moment In history At Corinne 28 23 miles mUes west Rest of at Promontory Point a railroad rail rail- road museum recalls those early days ys of ot the coolies and the Irishmen Irishmen Irish Irish- men men- e |