The Transcontinental Railroad

1. The Transcontinental Railroad By Martin Ji

2. What was the Transcontinental Railroad? • The Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad that revolutionized Utah. • It brought an easier way to transport people and supplies. • This report will tell you more about this railroad.

3. A path of the railroad

4. Why did they want to build a giant railroad? • So they could send people and supplies east and west quickly and efficiently.

5. What kind of people worked for the Union Pacific? • Because of the lack of workers that could be hired due to mining, the union used mostly immigrants from different countries. • The union had around 8,000 to 10,000 Irish, German, and Italian immigrants working for them.

6. What kind of people worked for the central pacific? • Like the union, they used mostly immigrants. • They hired over 10,000 Chinese men.

7. Where did the workers sleep and eat? • They slept on a special room on the train. The room was filled with beds that the workers slept on. • They also slept in tents near the track. • They also ate in a room on the train.

8. What problems did the Union Pacific have? • They didn’t have a lot of problems with food since they were near towns with many supplies. • They also didn’t have problems with building until the very end when they had to pass the mountains. • They also had to deal with Indians who disliked the railroad in their territory.

9. What Problems did the Central Pacific have? • A long list of problems: • Lack of supplies • The Sierra Nevada Mountains • The cold winters of the mountains • Indians • And much more

10. Who disliked the railroad? • Indians. They tried many things to stopthe railroad. • They even uprooted tracks so the train would crash.

11. What was “Hell on Wheels”? • A town that followed the railroad like a traveling circus. • The rules were: • As long as it doesn’t bother the building of the railroad, it’s okay.

12. What kind of people lived in “Hell on Wheels”? • A lot of violent, unsanitary people, like: • Gamblers • Saloon Keepers • Petty Merchants • Etc.

13. When and where did the two teams meet? • On May 10th, 1869, on Promontory Summit, two trains faced each other. • One was Jupiter of Central Pacific. • One was No. 119 of Union Pacific. • On, that day, the two railroads were united, and the railroad was finally done.

14. The two teams meet!

15. What was the Golden Spike? • The last spike that was given by David Hewes. • It had telegraph wires connected to it so that when it was driven in, it would send a message across the U.S. • No one knows who drove in the golden spike.

16. The Golden Spike

17. Were there any other spikes? • Yes, there were three other spikes that represented something: • A silver spike represented Nevada • A second golden spike represented San Francisco News Letter • A spike that was mixed with many metals represented Arizona.

18. What did the telegraph say when the golden spike was driven in? • One simple word: • DONE

19. What happened after? • The spikes were removed and replaced by normal iron spikes. • The trains Jupiter and No. 119 were scrapped for iron.

20. Why did the interest of mining grow? • Because of the faster way of transporting ores, the interest of mining greatly increased.

21. Conclusion • Why is this important to Utah? • Because the railroad let people and supplies in and out of Utah very quickly. • It also made many stores close down because of the cheap prices of the Train’s merchandise. • But it brought mostly good things.

22. Bibliography • Utah State Historical Society. “Transcontinental Railroad”. http://historytogo.Utah.gov. State Gov. Web. February 14th-23rd • Uschan, Michael V. “The Transcontinental Railroad”: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2009, Print