Final Paper Railroad
Fanny Varain
Period 6
The First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a 1,907-mile railroad line constructed
between 1863 and 1869 across the western United States to connect the Pacific coast at
San Francisco Bay with the existing Eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa. It
was built by three private companies: the original Western Pacific Railroad Company, the
Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, and the Union Pacific Railroad
Company. The road established a mechanized transcontinental transportation network
that revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West by bringing these
western states and territories firmly and profitably into the "Union" and making goods
and transportation much quicker, cheaper, and more flexible from coast to coast.
With strong congressional support and under the direction of the Department of
War the Pacific Railroad Surveys were an extensive series of explorations of the
American West to explore possible routes for a transcontinental railroad through North
America, between 1853 and 1855. The expeditions included surveyors, scientists, and
artists and resulted in data covering at least 400,000 square miles. Published by the
United States War Department from 1855 to 1860, the surveys contained significant
material on natural history. In addition to describing possible routes, these surveys also
reported on the geology, zoology, botany of the land as well as provided ethnographic
descriptions of the Native peoples encountered during the surveys. After years of study
the construction and operation of a transcontinental railroad line was authorized by the
Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864. The Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific
Railroad, were chosen by Congress to build and operate the first transcontinental railroad
from the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Sacramento, California and to the
San Francisco Bay.
Period 6
The First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a 1,907-mile railroad line constructed
between 1863 and 1869 across the western United States to connect the Pacific coast at
San Francisco Bay with the existing Eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa. It
was built by three private companies: the original Western Pacific Railroad Company, the
Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, and the Union Pacific Railroad
Company. The road established a mechanized transcontinental transportation network
that revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West by bringing these
western states and territories firmly and profitably into the "Union" and making goods
and transportation much quicker, cheaper, and more flexible from coast to coast.
With strong congressional support and under the direction of the Department of
War the Pacific Railroad Surveys were an extensive series of explorations of the
American West to explore possible routes for a transcontinental railroad through North
America, between 1853 and 1855. The expeditions included surveyors, scientists, and
artists and resulted in data covering at least 400,000 square miles. Published by the
United States War Department from 1855 to 1860, the surveys contained significant
material on natural history. In addition to describing possible routes, these surveys also
reported on the geology, zoology, botany of the land as well as provided ethnographic
descriptions of the Native peoples encountered during the surveys. After years of study
the construction and operation of a transcontinental railroad line was authorized by the
Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864. The Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific
Railroad, were chosen by Congress to build and operate the first transcontinental railroad
from the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Sacramento, California and to the
San Francisco Bay.