The building of the Pacific Railroad was one of the great works of man. Its promoters were men of small means and little or no financial backing outside of the aid granted them by the Government. It took nerve and good Yankee grit to undertake and carry out the project. How it was done it is hoped the succeeding pages may show.
Fair Oaks, California, 1906.
Poem read at the Celebration of the opening of the Pacific Railroad, Chicago, May 10th, 1869.
Ring out, oh bells. Let cannons roar
In loudest tones of thunder.
The iron bars from shore to shore
Are laid and Nations wonder.
Through deserts vast and forests deep
Through mountains grand and hoary
A path is opened for all time
And we behold the glory.
We, who but yesterday appeared
But settlers on the border,
Where only savages were reared
Mid chaos and disorder.
We wake to find ourselves midway
In continental station,
And send our greetings either way
Across the mighty nation.
We reach out towards the golden gate
And eastward to the ocean.
The tea will come at lightning rate
And likewise Yankee notions.
From spicy islands off the West
The breezes now are blowing,
And all creation does its best
To set the greenbacks flowing.
The eastern tourist will turn out
And visit all the stations
For Pullman runs upon the route
With most attractive rations.
—From the Chicago Tribune, May 11th, 1869.[(Back to Content)]