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The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana purchase was bought from France when Napoleon Boneparte was in control. This purchase made the transcontinental railroad possibel because much of central and western America were now proper of the United States. -
Gold discovered at Sutter’s Creek
This was the beginig of the gold rush in California. The gold rush was one of the biggest gold rushes in history and it brought many people to California. The transcontinental railroad would help people travel more easily in cases like this. this is part of what inspired the transcontinental railroad to be built. -
Pacific Railroad Act
This act gave the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies the task of building the transcontinental railroad. This act was what started the construction of the railroad and was the first step of many to build the transcontinental railroad. -
Sand Creek Massacre
The Sand Creek Massacre occurred in Colorado. During this massacre the United States Army invaded the Cheyenne Indian village and killed 150 Indians. -
Dodge became cheif enginieer
General Grenville Dodge bacame cheif engineer of the Union Pacific shortly after the Sand Creek Massacr. After Dodge bacame cheif engineer the railroad continued to intrude on Navtive land which created more conflicts during the westward construction. -
50 Chinese Workers Employed
As an experiment, Charles Crocker and James Strobridge hired 50 Chinese men. They did this in order to see how capable and they would be to work on the railroad and laying the tracks. -
Chinese Strike
The Chinese workers were treated very unfairly. When they went on strike, they demanded an increase in salary and a decrease in daily hours so that they would work no more than 10 hours a day. their strike was non-violent and effective. -
Young signed Union Pacific contract
Brigham Young owned five shares of the Union Pacific Railroad as stock. he signed a contract with the railroad to build from Echo to the Great Salt lake Shores, 150 miles, that was worth $2,125,000. -
Young makes contract with Central Pacific
Fall of the same year that Young singed a contract with the Union Pacific, he created a contract with Central Pacific. The contract was to build 200 miles of railroad from Humbolt Wells, Nevada to Ogden, Utah. -
The Golden Spike
This was the day the transcontinental railroad was completed. Telegraph wires were wrapped around the last spike that went into the ground. When the hammer hit the spike it sent signals east and west. When the signals from the spike reached San Francisco and New York, cannons fired telling the world the the railroad was finished.
