Category Archives: Geography
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago: DONE
This blog post, describing the driving of the golden spike, is adapted from my article “Races Within A Race” that appeared in the April 2019 issue of Roundup Magazine. Leland Stanford, president of the Central Pacific, performed the honors on behalf … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
Newly elected President Ulysses S. Grant, on his inauguration day in March 1869, put a hold on the issuance of any more government bonds to help finance the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad until they agreed on … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
Ulysses S. Grant was inaugurated as the 18th President of the United States on March 4, 1869. His first executive order, released later that evening, directed the suspension of the issuance of further subsidy bonds to the Union Pacific and … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
In February 1869, both the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad were stymied in their race to be first to Ogden, Utah, by fierce snowstorms. In Wyoming, the Union Pacific’s 90-mile line between Rawlins Springs and Laramie was … Continue reading
A Reader’s Question
Recently a reader asked me why and how I wrote The Iron Horse Chronicles. I decided to share my answer with all the readers of this website. The idea for The Iron Horse Chronicles first came to me in 2006 when … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
The following was originally posted on January 9. It did not get distributed to various social media sites with which I share my posts, so I’ll repost it. In January 1869, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., grandson and great-grandson of U. … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
The following was originally posted on January 9. It did not get distributed to various social media sites with which I share my posts, so I’ll try again. In January 1869, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., grandson and great-grandson of U. … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
Both the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad hoped to beat their competitor to the opposite border of Utah from where they would enter the state in order to maximize the amount of government bonds they could claim. … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
Orville Hickman Browning, Secretary of the Interior during the Andrew Johnson administration, had the responsibility of issuing government bonds used to finance the building of the first transcontinental railroad. Browning had earlier completed the senatorial term of Stephen A. Douglas, … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
During October 1868, the Union Pacific contract workers, under the direction of General Jack Casement, increased the pace at which they laid track. The typical rate averaged two to three miles per day, occasionally five. On October 26, however, they … Continue reading
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