Promontory Summit, May 10, 1869 A History of the Site Where The Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads Joined to Form the First Transcontinental Railroad, 1869, With a Special Focus on the Tents of May 10, and with Recommendations for Interpretation of and Historic Furnishings Study for the Tents at the Last Spike Site, Golden Spike National Historic Site, Utah By Robert L. Spude, History Program And with the assistance of Todd Delyea, Historic Architecture Program The Arizona Spike UP Museum Cultural Resources Management Intermountain Region, National Park Service 2005 THE GREAT EVENT CONSUMATED “The last rail is laid; the last spike is driven; the Pacific Railroad is completed.” In such terse and brief terms as these is the announcement made to the world that the great event of the age is finally accomplished. In the face of natural obstacles of the most forbidding character, the shores of the Atlantic and the Pacific are at last practically united by an iron highway spanning the continent… From henceforth we are in the Union and of it, and the great event of the age has brought us all home at last. Daily Alta California, San Francisco, May 11, 1869 PACIFIC RAILROAD The greatest epoch in the history of Chicago was that which occurred on yesterday, in the laying of the last connecting link in the great iron band, the Pacific Railroad, which cements the social and commercial interests in the eastward and westward extremes of the American Continent. This event, stupendous in its results affecting the entire country, if not the entire world, is to Chicago the dawn of a new era in the future greatness and prosperity of the city, and it follows that Chicago should rejoice. Chicago Tribune, May 11, 1869 THE LAST RAIL LAID – THE LAST SPIKE DRIVEN Monday, May 10, 1869, will be forever memorable in the history of Omaha. Not to Omaha alone, however, will it mark the commencement of an important epoch. It shall be remembered through all time as the starting point of a newer, broader and greater civilization than has ever hitherto dawned upon the progress of the world. The union of the two great Pacific Railroads, which with their connections span a continent, and, simultaneously kiss with iron lips, the waters of the two oceans is an event so important in its bearing to the well being and future progress of mankind, as not to be passed over without serious thought and reflection. Omaha Herald, May 12, 1869 EAST AND WEST The long looked for moment has arrived. The construction of the Pacific Railroad is un fait accompli. The inhabitants of the Atlantic and the dwellers of the Pacific slope are henceforth emphatically one people. Your correspondent is writing at Promontory Summit amid the deafening shouts of the multitude, with the tick, tick of the telegraph close to his ear…. It was apparent throughout the [New York] City yesterday that an event of more than usual importance was taking place, and that there was an evident disposition among the people to be jubilant… The last rail of the road connecting our opposite ocean-bound shores was laid; the last spike (a gold one, bye-the-bye) was driven; and thereupon there was booming of cannon, peals from Trinity chimes, and general rejoicing over the completion of the great enterprise. In the success of which not only this country, but the whole civilized world, is directly interested. New York Times, New York City, May 11, 1869 COMPLETED Yesterday, May 10th, at high noon, the last rail was laid and spiked, connecting the Union and Central Pacific railroads. It was the completing of an enterprise fraught with more interest than the tunneling of Mount Cenis or connecting the Red and Mediterranean seas by the Suez Canal. Exchanges and telegrams inform us that on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts it was to be celebrated with becoming ceremonies and popular demonstrations, while from down in the deserts of Utah, we have rumors of gold spikes, and silver spikes, diamond eyes, ruby lips, alabaster necks, sparkling vintage wit, sentiment, and what-not, that graced the occasion and fastened the rail. Success to the great enterprise and a volunteer toast from Montana. Montana Post, Helena, May 14, 1869. ii PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPLETE The achievement can but strike one with wonder. Daily Bee, Sacramento, May 13, 1869 What a stupendous achievement this of science, enterprise, progress…Truly we live in a wonderful age. New York Herald, May 10, 1869. Gold has paid its largest and best tribute to its elder and more useful brother – iron…California and Nevada are no longer far off provinces of the United States…The six months voyage of the ox team is superseded, forever, by the four days journey of the iron horse. Daily Appeal, Carson City, May 11, 1869. No grander achievement in earth’s history overflowed the victorious marches of the Sons of Mars, than were heralded by the glorious event of the completion of the great continental railway of America… The driving of the last spike of the Pacific Railroads has not only united with insoluble bonds of friendship the two extremes of our own land, but has inaugurated a revolution in the commerce of the entire globe… Of what stupendous magnitude is the change thus wrought! Cheyenne Leader, May 14, 1869 A thousand throbbing hearts impulsively beat to the motion of the trains as the front locomotive of each company led on majestically up to the very verge of the narrow break between the lines, where, in a few moments, was to be consummated the nuptial rites uniting the gorgeous east and the imperial west of America, with the indissoluble seal of inter-oceanic commerce. Deseret News, Salt Lake City, May 19, 1869 Yesterday…the Atlantic and Pacific oceans were united by an iron rail track three thousand miles in length. San Francisco and New York are within six days of each other. We may expect in a week or two to be enjoying a sight, if not a taste, of the luscious fruits and vegetables of the golden fields of California in the markets of the Eastern cities. National Intelligencer, Washington, D. C., May 11, 1869 From our Philadelphia correspondent, May 10: --The Pacific Railway was completed this afternoon at half-past 2 o’clock. The Times, London, May 11, 1869 The telegraph worked splendidly, and persons in the office here had the scene at Promontory Summit brought visibly before them, every stroke of the hammer being announced here. Rocky Mountain News, Denver, May 11, 1869 This very hour the roar of cannons, the clang of bells from one end of the continent to the other, proclaim that the mightiest work ever undertaken in our land is today completed. News, Gold Hill, Nevada, May 11, 1869 The great railroad problem of the age is now solved. The Continental iron band now permanently unites the distant portions of the Republic. Nunda News, Nunda, New York, May 29, 1869 Today marks the commencement of the Age of Steam in America. Colorado Tribune, Denver, May 11, 1869 All Hail the Pacific Railroad! Times, Dubuque, Iowa, May 11, 1869. iii Caption for next page: Photographer Alfred A. Hart captured the last spike ceremony a little after noon, Promontory time, May 10, 1869. At center, Central Pacific Railroad president Leland Stanford wields the silver plated maul. At his left is Union Pacific Railroad vice-president Thomas Durant. The white bearded John Duff and the mutton chop whiskered Sydney Dillon, both Union Pacific Railroad directors, hold up golden spikes for the photographer. In front of Dillon stands Arizona Governor Anson P. K. Safford, who offered the Arizona spike. The proceedings were halted so that Hart, the Central Pacific’s guest photographer, could capture the moment Leland Stanford wanted remembered, “the Last Act,” as Hart captioned it. In the background at left is the Wells Fargo & Co. stage office tent and beyond the crowd and right of the locomotive are the Union Pacific Railroad’s ticket and telegraph office tents. Courtesy Golden Spike National Historic Site Library. Cover photograph: Interior of Union Pacific paymaster’s tent, Laramie, Wyoming, Courtesy Union Pacific Museum. Title page photograph: Arizona Spike, Union Pacific Museum, by Tom Richter, NPS. iv v vi Table of Contents Chronology ix I. Introduction 1 II. A History of Promontory Summit, 1869 5 A) Mapping the Terrain 5 B) Locating the Line Across the Promontory 6 C) Governor Stanford and Doctor Durant Revise the Surveys 7 D) Clearing and Building the Grade 8 E) Junction City 10 F) Deciding on the Junction Point 12 G) Completing the Track and First Days at Promontory Summit 14 H) May 10, 1869 15 I) Building the Junction for the Transcontinental Railroad 30 J) Promontory City 34 K) Sodom on the Sage 40 L) Telegraph and Railroad Operations 42 M) Vigilantes 44 N) Removing the Junction 48 O) Promontory Station, Post-1869 50 III. Physical Description and Analysis of the Tents at the “Last Spike Site” 57 A) The Tents of Promontory Summit, May 10, 1869 57 1) Summary 57 2) Source Materials, Previous NPS Studies, Methodology 65 3) How Many Tents? 67 4) What Size? 69 5) History and Use of the Tents of Promontory, May 10 74 6) Other Uses Considered 90 B) The “Last Spike Site,” May 10, 1869 and After 94 C) NPS Developments of “Last Spike Site” 97 D) Existing Conditions of “Last Spike Site” 101 IV. Exhibit Tents and Historic Furnishings Recommendations 103 A) Introduction 103 B) Interpretive Goals 104 C) Options for Interpretation 105 D) Tents with Suggested Layout and Furnishings 107 E) Specifications for Phase I and Phase II Exhibit Tents 113 1) Phase I: HS-9, HS-17, HS-10: J.