The transcontinental railroad was a huge part in the westward expansion and of the United States of America. As little James Fitch was sitting in the front room, grandma was brewing tea. He watched as the steam lifted the heavy pot lid. He thought that if just a little steam could do that, then more steam would lift heavier objects, like an engine.
The locomotive, also known as the steam engine, was originally Fitch’s idea, but Fulton made the first one, which was first used for steamboats.The steam boats used locomotives and trains used horses. The horses needed to sleep, eat, drink, and breathe. This made it slow on the people and hard on the horses. This went on until one hopeful day, when we thought that we should be able to move faster on land as well as sea. At this point, we can do something we have never done before and build a railroad across the United States of America. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act, clearing the way for both the transcontinental railroad and the telegraph. There were two companies building the railroad, the Union Pacific, in Omaha Nebraska, and the Central Pacific, in Sacramento California . The companies thought that they should have a race to Promontory, Utah. This race would be more difficult for the Central Pacific Railroad. They had to go through mountains, like the Nevada Mountains, and rivers, like the Sacramento River, in order to get to the finish line. On the other hand, the Union Pacific Railroad navigated easily through terrain. After all, it was mainly flat plains that they had to build on.
Those were not the only hardships that the companies went through. They also went by many Native American tribes. They saw each other as threats. Most of the time, the Native warriors attacked the builders while the women and children had to flee. Other times, the Natives moved out of the way so they wouldn't get hurt. A famous saying began circulating “Don’t throw me under the tracks.” This saying means to betray a friend or ally to get out of trouble. It originated from the transcontinental railroad. Many people died by large objects falling on them. It was hard because they didn't have all that technology that we have today. Others died from things like Native American or animal attacks. When the two railroads met up in Promontory Utah, there was no winner nor loser. In fact, they pounded the golden spike, which symbolized that the east and the west were now connected. As they hit the golden spike Arthur Ferguson said, “There will be no west!”. When he said that, he didn’t mean the direction would disappear, he meant that western part of the United States of America would be changed forever.
The gold spike was too soft and valuable to leave in the ground. It was made of pure gold. Some one might take it or it might break. To prevent these things from happening, they celebrated it for a day or two and then took the spike to the Stanford University Museum and replaced it with a regular steel spike. Eventually, they replaced the replacement of the golden spike in January of 2023 and sold the original replacement for 2.2 million dollars.
The transcontinental railroad helped our small country expand and people transport places quickly. None of this would have happened without James' observation and grandmas’ love for tea.
Written by a 7th Grader
References
Boehm, Richard, Hoone, Claudia, McGowan, Tomas, Mckinney-Browning, Mable, Miramontes, Ofelia, Porter, Prisila, Harcourt Brace social studies, 436-437, Harcourt.inc, 9/28/26.
Sundling, Charles, Pioneers of the Frontier, 14-21, ABDO Publishing, 2000, 9/28/26.
Tackle, Nacey, Shallat, Todd, The Idaho Adventure, 74, Gibbs Smith Education, 2011, 9/28/26.