The Overland Route to the Road of a Thousand Wonders / The Route of the Union Pacific & The Southern Pacific Railroads from Omaha to San Francisco, a Journey of Eighteen Hundred Miles Where Once the Bison & the Indian Reigned

by Union Pacific Railroad Company. Passenger Department; Southern Pacific Company. Passenger Department

WYOMING IS FAMOUS FOR ALWAYS KEEPING ITS LAVISH PROMISES TO SPORTSMEN.

For six hundred miles there was not one white inhabitant; for stretches of one hundred miles not a drink of water.

Yet ten miles of track were laid in one day, and for several days faster than ox teams could follow with loads. Twenty-five thousand workmen were employed, and more than five thousand teams. At one time thirty ships were en route from the Atlantic coast to San Francisco with supplies. Between January, 1866, and May 10, 1869, over two thousand miles of railroad were constructed through the wilderness.

Less dramatic has been the reconstruction of the Pacific railroads, and yet not less in interest. By the year 1900, the transcontinental traffic of the country and its promise for the future had outgrown its first main highway. To the present owners and management, under the direction of the president, E. H. Harriman, fell the task of reconstruction; the task of tearing up the old track and replacing it with new; of abandoning a large part of the route and choosing new grades; of cutting through mountains by tunnels where formerly the track was laid around or over them; of replacing wooden bridges with steel; and short sidetracks with long ones. The expense of the work of reconstruction to date probably nearly equals the first cost.

In this work of rebuilding, the eight-million dollar Great Salt Lake cut-off stands prominently as the most startling of achievements in railway work. The old road through the country where the golden spike was driven was abandoned as a part of the main highway for a distance of 146.68 miles. To save grades and distance, the cut-off was built across the heart of the lake from Ogden to Lucin, 102.91 miles and so nearly straight that it is only one-third of a mile longer than an air line.

AN OVERLAND COACH, PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE DAYS OF THE MORMON EXODUS FROM ILLINOIS TO UTAH

CHIEF WHITE WHIRLWIND IN HIS WAR ARRAY. A GRIM AND FORMIDABLE WARRIOR IN BYGONE DAYS OF THE OVERLAND ROUTE
Copyright by F. A. Rinehart, Omaha.