1. The First Transcontinental Railroad

2. Critical Thinking
What problems may have been faced by railroad companies and workers building the Transcontinental Railroad from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California? (3 minutes) Put ideas in notes!

3. Why Build a Transcontinental Railroad?
Growth of West Coast
West Coast gold and silver
Shorter trip to move West
Connect East with West for business
Solidify the Union
Achieve Manifest Destiny

4. Getting Started… Choosing a route Conquering the Sierra Nevada
Congress ordered surveys in 1853
Debates between north and south about route
No free-state politicians would approve funds for a railroad that would spread slavery
Northerners won when South seceded
Conquering the Sierra Nevada
Giant, rocky, snowy obstacle for the engineers
Found a route through Donner Pass in 1860

5. Getting Started…(cont’d)
Gaining government support
Needed government cooperation, money, and LAND
Government was on board, but occupied by Civil War
Who will pay?
Big Four (Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins, Crocker)
Created and chaired Central Pacific Railroad
Thomas Durant
Ames Brothers
Bought most of the Union Pacific stock

6. Who Made it Possible? Key Players Theodore Judah Grenville Dodge
Both understood the great benefits of a transcontinental railroad
Both devoted their lives to making sure the plan was carried out
Railroad experts who conducted land surveys, worked with the government, and found investors for railroad
Grenville Dodge

7. What Made it Possible? Pacific Railway Act Passed July 1, 1862
Created Union Pacific to build road from the East and meet the Central Pacific
Provided companies 5 alternating plots of land on each side of the road for each mile along the route
Allowed $16,000 for each mile of flat land, $32,000 for hills, and $48,000 for mountain terrain
Revised in 1864 to allow companies more land and privileges

8. The Game Plan Central Pacific Railroad Union Pacific Railroad
Begin in Sacramento, CA
Broke ground January 1863
Union Pacific Railroad
Begin in Omaha, NE
Broke ground in late 1863 but no tracks laid until 1865
Route along the 42nd Parallel
Meeting place: Promontory Summit, UT

10. Significance of the Railroad
Biggest and best engineering project of its time
Made the country smaller
Helped spur interest in Homestead Act
Improved communication
The beginning of the end for Native Americans
Led to other transcontinental railroads and shorter branches