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Transcontinental Railroad Fact Sheet
Transcontinental Railroad Fact Sheet Prior to the opening of the transcontinental railroad, it took four to six months to travel 2000 miles from the Missouri River to California by wagon. January 1863 – Central Pacific Railroad breaks ground on its portion of the railroad at Sacramento, California; the first rail is laid in October 1863. December 1863 – Union Pacific Railroad breaks ground on its portion of the railroad in Omaha, Nebraska; due to the Civil War, the first rail is not laid until July 1865. April 1868 – the Union Pacific reaches its highest altitude 8,242 feet above sea level at Sherman Pass, Wyoming. April 28, 1869 – a record of 10 miles of track were laid in a single day by the Central Pacific crews. May 10, 1869 – the last rail is laid in the Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah. Total miles of track laid 1,776: 690 miles by the Central Pacific and 1086 by the Union Pacific. The Central Pacific Railroad blasted a total of 15 tunnels through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It took Chinese workers on the Central Pacific fifteen months to drill and blast through 1,659 ft of rock to complete the Summit Tunnel at Donner Pass in Sierra Nevada Mountains. Summit Tunnel is the highest point on the Central Pacific track. The Central Pacific built 40 miles of snow sheds to keep blizzards from blocking the tracks. To meet their manpower needs, both railroads employed immigrants to lay the track and blast the tunnels. The Central Pacific hired more than 13,000 Chinese laborers and Union Pacific employed 8,000 Irish, German, and Italian laborers. -
Central Pacific Transcontinental Railroad, Tunnel 41 HAER No. CA
Central Pacific Transcontinental Railroad, Tunnel 41 HAER No. CA-215 (Summit Tunnel) ("The Big Hole") Southern Pacific Donner Pass Route Tunnels U'f\PP Milepost 193.3 ^ Donner Pass CAL Placer County ni ry^KlpA California 31-UJiNW] PHOTOGRAPHS WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA Historic American Engineering Record National Park Service Western Region Department of the Interior San Francisco, CA 94107 WSR CM HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD V CENTRAL PACIFIC TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD, TUNNEL 41 (Summit Tunnel) ("The Big Hole") HAER No. CA-215 Location: Southern Pacific Donner Pass Route Tunnels Milepost 193.3 at Donner Pass, Norden vicinity, Placer County, California. UTM: 10-729855-4354245 Quad: Norden, Calif. 7.5', 1955 (photorevised 1979) (west portal) UTM: 10-732925-4353470 Quad: Norden, Calif. 7.5% 1955 (photorevised 1979) (east portal) Date of Construction: 1925. Engineer: Southern Pacific Railroad Engineering Department. Present Owner: Union Pacific Railroad, 1416 Dodge Street, Omaha NE 68101. Present Use: Railroad Tunnel. Significance: The Central Pacific First Transcontinental Railroad is a segment of the western half of the first transcontinental railroad, built from Sacramento, California to Promontory Summit, Utah between 1863 and 1869, where it joined the Union Pacific Railroad which had built west from Omaha. For the purpose of the current project, the first transcontinental railroad was found likely to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places at the national level of significance under Criterion A for its significance in transportation history, in uniting the East and the West, and in the development of the West. The railroad's period of significance is 1869 to 1945, from the line's completion in 1869, through the years of its role in the settlement and development of the West, to the conclusion of the railroad's achievements in World War II. -
"History As a Novel, the Novel As History": David Galloway's Tamsen
Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos, n! l (1991), pp. 107-130 "HISTORY AS A NOVEL, THE NOVEL AS HISTORY": DAVID GALLOWAY'S TAMSEN JAVIER COY David Galloway has written, to this day, (apart from an important body of critica) work), four novels, besides a fifth one that 1 know only in manuscript. 1 His characters are varied and complex and, excepting those of the second one according to publication dates, they have bonds that unite them, even though sometimes in a subtle and not very obvious manner. His second novel, A Familiy A/bum (1978), also joins the rest of bis work with the use by the author of the narrative "voices," a resource that is present in all his novels and that we will see in detail in Tamsen. In this second novel the author presents a delicate, tender and maybe nostalgic joumey through the lives of the members of a Southem family over a stretch of three generations. The ingenious technical assembly is based on the establishment of a parallelism between the chronology of these lives and that of the invention and development of the camera, from Daguerre's days on. This feature of experimentalism does not interfere at any time with the narrative fluency, so that the reader's attention, even though he might not be an expert in photography, is not blurred by technical details, of a mechanical or scientific nature, aliento the flow of the story itself. Later, in the novel that is the main object of our study, he will also rely on this same resource of using a photograph or daguerreotype as a starting point to begin the physical and psycho logical description of his characters, briefly but signficantly, as a resource to start the portrait of the protagonist mother and her three daughters. -
Donner Memorial State Park
Donner Memorial State Park GENERAL PLAN Volume 1 of 2 Approved by the State Park and Recreation Commission April 5, 2003 VOLUME 1 This is Volume 1 of the Final General Plan for Donner Memorial State Park. It contains the Summary of Existing Conditions; Goals and Guidelines for park development and use; Environmental Analysis (in compliance with Article 9 and Article 11 Section 15166 of the California Environmental Quality Act); and Maps, Matrices, and Appendices relating to the General Plan. Volume 2 of the Final General Plan contains the Comments and Responses (comments received during public review of the General Plan and DPR response to those comments); and the Notice of Determination (as filed with the State Office of Planning and Research), documenting the completion of the CEQA compliance requirements for this project. Together, these two volumes constitute the Final General Plan for Donner Memorial State Park. COPYRIGHT This publication, including all of the text and photographs in it, is the intellectual property of the Department of Parks and Recreation and is protected by copyright. GENERAL PLANNING INFORMATION If you would like more information about the general planning process used by the Department or have questions about specific general plans, contact: General Planning Section California State Parks P.O. Box 942896 Sacramento, CA 94296 - 0001 All Photographs Copyright California State Parks DONNER MEMORIAL STATE PARK GENERAL PLAN Approved April 5, 2003 State Clearinghouse #2001102069 Arnold Schwarzenegger Governor Mike Chrisman Secretary for Resources Ruth Coleman Director of California State Parks State of California The Resources Agency California State Parks P.O. -
Road to Oregon Written by Dr
The Road to Oregon Written by Dr. Jim Tompkins, a prominent local historian and the descendant of Oregon Trail immigrants, The Road to Oregon is a good primer on the history of the Oregon Trail. Unit I. The Pioneers: 1800-1840 Who Explored the Oregon Trail? The emigrants of the 1840s were not the first to travel the Oregon Trail. The colorful history of our country makes heroes out of the explorers, mountain men, soldiers, and scientists who opened up the West. In 1540 the Spanish explorer Coronado ventured as far north as present-day Kansas, but the inland routes across the plains remained the sole domain of Native Americans until 1804, when Lewis and Clark skirted the edges on their epic journey of discovery to the Pacific Northwest and Zeb Pike explored the "Great American Desert," as the Great Plains were then known. The Lewis and Clark Expedition had a direct influence on the economy of the West even before the explorers had returned to St. Louis. Private John Colter left the expedition on the way home in 1806 to take up the fur trade business. For the next 20 years the likes of Manuel Lisa, Auguste and Pierre Choteau, William Ashley, James Bridger, Kit Carson, Tom Fitzgerald, and William Sublette roamed the West. These part romantic adventurers, part self-made entrepreneurs, part hermits were called mountain men. By 1829, Jedediah Smith knew more about the West than any other person alive. The Americans became involved in the fur trade in 1810 when John Jacob Astor, at the insistence of his friend Thomas Jefferson, founded the Pacific Fur Company in New York. -
Operation Snowflake.” Detours Around the Grapevine Are Possible Using There Are Three Major “Phases” to Operation Highway 58 and Highway 166
Frequently Asked Questions Who decides when to close I-5? Highway Advisory Radios (HAR) / The California Highway Patrol (CHP) with Changeable Message Signs (CMS) concurrence from the California Department of Caltrans broadcasts road condition information on low Transportation (Caltrans) makes this decision. frequency radio transmitters. Watch for flashing road Closures on the Grapevine as well as other mountain signs and tune to the frequency listed. In addition, It’s The Law! roads are designed to avoid a worst-case scenario closure information is displayed on CMS along I-5 and and are based on road conditions as opposed to the other impacted routes. On January 1, 2010, California Vehicle Code (CVC) experience level of individual drivers. 21809(a) took effect. It states, in part, that the driver California Highway Information of a motor vehicle while on a freeway approaching an Why are chains not allowed on the Network (CHIN) - Road Conditions Emergency Response Vehicle (CHP, Caltrans, tow Grapevine, as is the case on I-80 via Phone or Internet truck, etc.) displaying emergency or flashing lights, over Donner Pass? Caltrans provides voice-activated up-to-date shall approach with due caution and, before passing Since the snow and icy conditions are often limited to information on any California Highway by calling: in a lane immediately adjacent to the Emergency the summit, a location for the removal of chains would 1-800-427-ROAD (7623) Vehicle, make a lane change into an available lane have to be made available and this is not viable due to not immediately adjacent to the Emergency Vehicle This information is also available on the Internet at: the traffic volumes. -
Donner Pdf Layout
Our Mission The mission of the California Department of Parks and Recreation is to provide for The Donner Party the health, inspiration and education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological diversity, he United States of America was grow protecting its most valued natural and cultural Ting rapidly during the 1830s, when resources, and creating opportunities for American frontiersmen and sailors began to high-quality outdoor recreation. bring back stories about the wonders of Alta California. The political situation was uncer- ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER tain. Mexico still held the area, but it was Governor widely believed that she was losing control of MIKE CHRISMAN her northernmost province. It seemed inevi- Secretary for Resources table that, sooner or later, the U.S.A. would step in. It was “manifest destiny,” they said, RUTH COLEMAN that the United States of America should Director, California State Parks stretch across the continent from sea to shining sea. Interest in California was further heightened in 1841, when word reached the eastern settlements that it was possible to travel directly overland to the West Coast and California State Parks does not discriminate thus avoid an expensive sea voyage. against individuals with disabilities. Prior to Two prosperous Illinois farmers, George arrival, visitors with disabilities who need Donner and his brother Jacob, were among the assistance should contact the park at the phone many who listened to the fabulous stories of number below. To receive this publication in an fine soil, gentle climate and virtually unlim- alternate format, write to the Communications ited opportunity in California. -
Appalachian Professor's Research Finds No Evidence of Cannibalism
__________________________________________________________________________________________________ Number 85________________________________________________________________________________ Summer 2010_ Appalachian Professor’s Research Finds No Evidence of 2010 UPCOMING ACTIVITIES Cannibalism at Donner Carson Trail Cleanup, July 26 – 27 Party Campsite Contact: Frank Tortorich Posted April 15, 2010, by ASU News [email protected] BOONE, NC – Research conducted by Dr. Gwen Robbins, Elko Convention, August 10 – 14 an assistant professor of biological anthropology at Appalachian State University, finds there is no evidence of Johnson’s Cutoff Trail Work, contact John cannibalism among the 84 members of the Donner Party who Winner or Ellen Osborn: were trapped by a snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada Mountains [email protected] or in the mid-1840s. [email protected] Remains from the Donner party’s Alder Creek campsite were July 6 – 7, September 28 – 29 & October 12 excavated by a team of archaeologists from the University of – 13. Montana and the University of Oregon Museum. A sample of bones from the campsite hearth was analyzed by Robbins and Passport In Time (PIT) Projects: Kelsey Gray, an Appalachian graduate. They will present the August 23 – 27, Verifying the results of this project this week at the annual meeting of the Johnson’s Cutoff Trail and Silver American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Creek Ranch. Albuquerque, N.M. September 14 – 17, Searching for the Carson-Mormon Emigrant Trail. Contact: www.passportintime.com Hawley Grade-Luther Pass Hike. September 21 – 22. Contact: John Winner or Dick Young at: [email protected], [email protected] Trails West Fieldtrip to Johnson’s Cutoff, September 7 – 9. Contact: Larry Schmidt at [email protected] James F. -
{FREE} Desperate Passage: the Donner Partys Perilous Journey West
DESPERATE PASSAGE: THE DONNER PARTYS PERILOUS JOURNEY WEST PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Ethan Rarick | 304 pages | 30 Jul 2009 | Oxford University Press Inc | 9780195383317 | English | New York, United States Desperate Passage - Paperback - Ethan Rarick - Oxford University Press Often, the emigrants displayed a more realistic and typically human mixture of generosity and selfishness, an alloy born of necessity. In late October , the last wagon train of that year's westward migration stopped overnight before resuming its arduous climb over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, unaware that a fearsome storm was gathering force. After months of grueling travel, the 81 men, women and children would be trapped for a brutal winter with little food and only primitive shelter. The conclusion is known: by spring of the next year, the Donner Party was synonymous with the most harrowing extremes of human survival. But until now, the full story of what happened, what it tells us about human nature and about America's westward expansion, remained shrouded in myth. Ethan Rarick has written about politics, crime, business and sports throughout the West. He lives in Berkeley, California. Rarick's account is not really about science; it's about humanity Rarick has done his homework. Rarick scythes away the myths of one of the nation's better-known sagas, and offers up this horrific but ennobling tale in all its freshly researched detail. Readers take heed: this is a tough book, but a gripping one. His telling is evocative and easy to read. General readers, especially those who know of the Donner party only as the cannibal wagon train, will undoubtedly find it a fascinating read. -
Donner Party - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.Com This Website Would Like to Remind You: Your Browser (Chrome 44) Is out of Date
3/29/2016 Donner Party - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com This website would like to remind you: Your browser (Chrome 44) is out of date. Update × your browser for more security, comfort and the best experience on this site. DONNER PARTY In the spring of 1846, a group of nearly 90 emigrants left Springfield, Illinois, and headed west. Led by brothers Jacob and George Donner, the group attempted to take a new and supposedly shorter route to California. They soon encountered rough terrain and numerous delays, and they eventually became trapped by heavy snowfall high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Purportedly reduced to cannibalism to survive through the winter, only half of the original group reached California the following year. Their story quickly spread, and before long the term “Donner Party” became synonymous with one of humanity’s most ingrained taboos. The Donner party left Springfield, Illinois, in April 1846. Led by two wealthy brothers, Jacob and George Donner, the emigrants initially followed the regular California Trail westward to Fort Bridger, Wyoming. From there, however, the emigrants decided to leave the established trail and take a new and supposedly shorter route to California laid out by an unscrupulous trail guide named Lansford Hastings. Hastings was not at Fort Bridger at the time–he was leading an earlier wagon train along his new route. He left word for the Donner party to follow, promising that he would mark the trail for them. DID YOU KNOW? http://www.history.com/topics/donner-party/print 1/3 3/29/2016 Donner Party - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Donner Pass, in the Sierra Nevada of northern California, is named for the Donner party. -
The Emigrant Trail Over Donner Summit Mit Is One Mile It Is As Steep As the Roof of a House
We arrived at the main difficulty from here to the sum- The Emigrant Trail Over Donner Summit mit is one mile it is as steep as the roof of a house. Jos. Hackney, 1849 Now my advice to you is, stay where you are. A trip across the plains is very hard. I would rather remain here all my life, than cross them [Sierra] again. Wood- ruff Lee says he would swim around Cape Horn on a log before he would cross them again. Tom Hart We went on smoothly until we reached the California Mountains,... There we met with tribulations in the Donner Summit has a lot of firsts: first transcontinental extreme. You can form no idea, nor can I give you any railroad, first transcontinental highway, first “When we struck the main ridge of the mountains, every heart was filled with terror description of the evils which best us. From the time transcontinental telephone line, and first transcontinental at the awful site [sic].” William Tustin 1846 we left the lake [Donner Lake] ... it was one continued air route. The first motorized transcontinental trip went jumping from one rocky cliff to another. We would have over Donner Summit as did the first automobile to cross accident, storm, disease, dehydration, Indians, desert, and Rd. or Old Highway 40 (labeled “Stephens Pass” on the to roll over this big rock, then over that; then there was the Sierra. sick and dying animals and friends. They learned skills map to the right). It was excruciatingly difficult. There bridging a branch; then we had to lift our wagons by they’d never contemplated. -
Oregon and California National Historic Trails
National Park Service National Trails Intermountain Region News U.S. Department of the Interior Oregon and California National Historic Trails Horseshoe Spring Crossroads Chapter - California National Historic Trail Oregon-California Trails Association Hastings Cutoff National Trails System Bureau of Land Management National Park Service What’s New? Spring 2011 Department of the Interior The Great Emigrant Flood off 1849-1854 We are excited to provide this istorians often compare the 1848 discovery of gold in American Indians especiallyly susufferedffered ffromrom the streaminstreamingg HCalifornia to the effect high octane fuel has on a fire. onslaught of “forty-niners”” across the western landscape. For update on activities since OCTA’s Within the next few years more than 250,000 gold-seekers centuries, native peoples hadad lived in the West and farmers scrambled across the Sierra-Nevada in search of without outside competitionon fforor fortune or a new life. resources. However, the floodood ooff last meeting in August 2010 in pioneers and the additionalal The road to California was not a single route. It followed rivalry for food sources, the established Oregon Trail to Fort Bridger before splitting land, water, and Elko, Nevada. either toward Salt Lake City or to Fort Hall, and eventually space threatened to the Sierra-Nevada, where it further split into several interior destroy their way of life. valley destinations. One of the routes through Utah, known as the Hastings Cutoff, rejoined the main California Trail at the Wagon ruts and traces can Humboldt River in northeastern Nevada. still be found in the vast undeveloped West — Travel conditions on the cutoff during most years were reminders of the triumphs,, generally harsh.