Transportation and Communication

By aluedloff

  • Overland Mail Service

    Overland Mail Service
    In 1857, Californians wanted better communication, or the sending and receiving of information, so the US Congress passes the Overland Mail Act which helped pay for mail service between Missouri and California. Californians wanted news about friends, family, and the government. When the law was passed, mail was to be carried by stagecoach, an enclosed wagon pulled by a team of horses. The stagecoaches left twice a week and took only about 24 days to cross the country now.

  • Pony Express

    Pony Express
    April 13, 1860
    - took about 10 days to bring mail from Missouri to San Francisco
    - journey was like a relay race, mail was passed from one rider to the next
    - riders rode through the night and did not stop even in bad weather

  • Big Four

    Big Four
    1861
    - Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker were investors in the Central Pacific Railroad Company. They became known as the Big Four.
    - Invest is to buy a part of a company in hope that it will make more money in the future

  • Telegraph

    Telegraph
    Oct 24, 1861
    - uses electricity to send messages through wires
    - takes a few minutes to receive messages
    - uses Morse code, which is "dots" and "dashes" that represent letters of the alphabet

  • 1st Tracks of Transcontinental Railroad

    1st Tracks of Transcontinental Railroad
    Oct 27, 1863
    - Central Pacific Railroad started in California and laid tracks eastward
    - created many jobs, especially for Chinese and Irish workers
    - Union Pacific Railroad started laying tracks westward in July 1865

  • Transcontinental Railroad Completion

    Transcontinental Railroad Completion
    May 10, 1869
    - Completed in Promontory, Utah with a gold spike
    - Allowed people to travel faster and easier
    - Allowed goods to travel faster and easier
    - Brought cheaper goods from the East which hurt California businesses

  • Mussel Slough

    Mussel Slough
    May 11, 1880
    - RR companies raised the price of land for tenant farmers, or farmers who have to pay rent for their farmland
    - The RR companies and farmers fought over the land
    - Farmers wanted the land in California because it had a long growing season and good soil
    - Farmers produced wheat and citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and grapefruits
    - Crops could be exported, or sent, to other countries

  • Wright Act

    Wright Act
    1887
    - Farmers built canals, or a waterway dug across land to bring water to farms
    - To prevent too much water from entering the fields, farmers built levees, or high walls made of earth.
    - Commercial farms, or farms that grew crops to sell to others, were successful