Chapter 4 No.4

Commencement of the work.

Selection of Omaha as Eastern Terminus - Celebration Over Breaking Ground - Speech, George Francis Train - Commencement of Work - Conditions October, 1864 - Routes Considered.

The first move towards the construction of the road was the selection of an eastern terminus which by the Charter was left to the President of the United States. This was fixed by President Lincoln on December 2nd, 1863, the official announcement being as follows: "I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do upon application of said Company (The Union Pacific Railroad) designate and establish such first above named point on the western boundary of the state of Iowa east of and opposite to the east line of Section Ten in Township fifteen, north of range thirteen, east of the sixth principal Meridian in the territory of Nebraska."

"Done at the city of Washington this 7th day of March in the year of our Lord 1864.

Abraham Lincoln."

Immediately upon receipt of advice as to the President's action on December 2nd, 1863, the citizens of Omaha regardless of their connection with the road arranged to break ground for the Union Pacific Railroad and to properly celebrate the commencement of the work and especially the selection of their city as the eastern terminus, which was accordingly done. The spot selected for the initial point was near the Ferry Landing and not far above where the Union Pacific shops are now located. This particular spot with the first mile of track constructed, was long ago swept away by the Missouri River.

The ceremonies were commenced by asking the Divine Blessing on the enterprise in a prayer by the Rev. T. B. Lemon, Pastor of the First Methodist Church in Omaha. The Reverend Gentleman petitioned that the road make one the people of the East and West. That it would result in peopling the waste places of the West; that it might lend security to those on the frontier, and other similar requests, all of which have been fulfilled to a degree that is past being coincidental. The first earth was then removed by Governor Saunders of Nebraska Territory, Mayor Kennedy of Omaha, George Francis Train and others assisting. Congratulatory messages were received from different parts of the country. Speeches were made by A. J. Poppleton and others, the day being wound up by a banquet in the evening. The speech of the day was delivered by George Francis Train, then in his heyday, which is so characteristic of the man and of the ideas then prevalent relative to the road and the results of its construction as to warrant the following somewhat lengthy extracts:

"I have no telegrams to read, no sentiments to recite. The official business being over and as I happen to be lying around loose in this part of the country at this particular time, it gives me a chance to meet some of the live men of Nebraska at the inauguration of the grandest enterprise under God the world had ever witnessed.

"America is the stage, the world the audience of today, while one act of the drama represents the booming of cannon on the Rapidan, the Cumberland and the Rio Grande, sounding the death knell of rebellion, the next scene has the booming of cannon on both sides the Missouri to celebrate the grandest work of peace that ever engaged the energies of man. The great Pacific Railroad is commenced and if you know the men who have hold of the enterprise as well as I do, no doubt would arise as to its speedy completion.

"Four thousand years ago the Pyramids were started, but they simply represented the vanity of man. The Chinese wall was grand in conception, but built to break the tide of invasion. The Suez Canal was gigantic, but how limited all those things appear in comparison to this enterprise.

"Before the first century of our nation's birth we may see in the New York Depots, some strange Pacific Railroad notices such as,

'European passengers for Japan will please take the night train. Passengers for China this way. African and Asiatic freight must be distinctly marked For Pekin via San Francisco.'

"Ere ten years go by I intend to let the European traveller get a new sensation by standing on the ridge pole of the American Nation and sliding off into the sea.

"One day a dispatch will come in-we have tapped a mountain of copper, nineteen miles square, later on-we have just opened up another field of coal-or-we have struck another iron mountain this morning-when Eureka-a telegram electrifies the speculators in Wall Streets and gold drops below par-at ten this morning we struck a pick into a mountain of solid gold.

"The Pacific Railroad is the nation, and the nation is the Pacific Railroad. Labor and capital shake hands today. The lion and the lamb sleep together. Here in the West are the representatives of labor and in the East are those of capital. The two united make the era of progress. Steam, Gas, and Electricity are the liberty, fraternity, and equality of the people. The world is on the rampage. Events are earthquakes now.

"Ten millions of emigrants will settle in this golden land in twenty years."

Early in 1864 work was begun on the first hundred miles. The actual work being commenced within the corporate limits of Omaha in February. About one hundred thousand dollars was spent in grading a due westerly route out of Omaha. This was abandoned on account of it being so hilly, and a route south and thence west was adopted. The ties for this section were cottonwood from the Missouri River bottom lands, treated with a view of making them last. It was found that the treatment was not effective and for the balance of the road, hard wood ties from Michigan, Indiana, and even as far east as Pennsylvania were used, some of them costing as much as two dollars and fifty cents laid down in Omaha.

At this time there was no railroad completed into Omaha from the East. The Chicago and Northwestern being the first to reach there, and its first train ran into Council Bluffs on Sunday, January 17th, 1867. Consequently all supplies, other than those coming to them via the Missouri River, had to be wagoned from Des Moines, Iowa, one hundred and thirty-three miles.

On the Missouri River the Company had in service six large steamboats carrying supplies and material for construction from Kansas City where there was railroad connection with the East by way of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad and the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Everything had to be brought in, the country being destitute of even stone and lumber, involving great expense and delays. While the level country enabled rapid progress to be made in grading, it was almost impossible to bring forward the requisite material to keep up with the graders and track-layers.

The contract for the first hundred miles had been let May, 1864, to Hubert M. Hoxie. By its terms he was to receive securities to the face value of $50,000 per mile. Sidings were to be not less than 6 per cent. of the main line. Station buildings, water-tanks and equipment was to be furnished by him to the value of five thousand dollars per mile. Hoxie before this had been in the employ of the Company in charge of the Ferry between Omaha and Council Bluffs. In March 1865, his contract was transferred to the Credit Mobilier Company, which as has been previously stated, was organized by the promoters and insiders of the Railroad Company to do the actual construction. Several experiences with individual contractors had demonstrated that they could not be relied upon, in fact that it required more in the way of capital-influence, and omnipresence than any individual could exert, consequently all original contracts for the construction and equipping of the line were handled by the Credit Mobilier who subcontracted it with firms and individuals, they by their close relations with the Company and financial interests as well as by their wide ramifications, being able to purchase materials and supplies to better advantage.

Everything was still held at war prices, iron, ties, lumber, provisions, etc., while currency and the Government bonds on which they were relying, were greatly depreciated in value. Labor was scarce and only to be had at extravagant figures.

In the report of one of the Government inspectors, made in 1864, when the grading had progressed some twenty miles out of Omaha, he stated: "There are now some two hundred men employed on the work and a like number of horses and oxen, together with two excavating machines that are doing the work of many men. It is confidently expected that this Section (the first forty miles) will be ready to be laid with rails by June 1st, next." This he regarded as very commendable but as compared with four years later, when there were nearly twelve thousand men engaged and track was going down from two to ten miles a day, it seems anything else but satisfactory.

A great amount of the preliminary work in the way of reconnoissance, surveying, and even locating was done under Governmental auspices previous to 1860, most of it by officers of the army. All of their reports and surveys were by action of Congress given to the Railroad Company, thus saving them greatly in time as well as in money. In addition to the Government surveys the Company investigated and did more or less surveying before deciding upon the route to be followed through the Rockies.

In the report of the Government directors for 1866 they refer to the following eight routes as having been investigated during the preceding year by the Company, viz.:

1st Via South Platte River and Hoosier Pass.

2nd Via Platte River and Tarryall Pass.

3rd Via North Fork of South Platte River.

4th Via Berthoud Pass.

5th Via Boulder Pass.

6th Via Cash le Poudre-Dale Creek and Antelope Pass.

7th Via Evans Pass.

8th Via Lodge Pole Creek, Cow Creek, and Evans Pass.

9th Via Lodge Pole Creek and Cheyenne Pass.

10th Via Lodge Pole Creek and South Pass.

The first seven of these routes included Denver en route. Something that the Company considered essential and which was very reluctantly abandoned.(Back to Content)