Sunday, May 5, 2019

A wedding celebration.


On May 10, America celebrates one of the greatest engineering achievements in human history—the completion of the (sort of) transcontinental railroad.
The historic 1869 event at Promontory Summit (often reported incorrectly as Promontory Point, an altogether different place) drew a crowd of somewhere between 500 and 3,000 people. The 150th anniversary celebration at the windswept Golden Spike National Historic Park will likely draw many more. Museums and libraries and other places around greater northern Utah have been and will continue to offer exhibits and other commemorative activities.
Despite all the dire consequences associated with the building of the railroad—further displacement of native tribes, destruction of wildlife, abuse of workers, creation of a new class of robber barons, and the many financial improprieties involved—the driving of the golden spike marking the completion of the railroad hastened the settlement and economic development of the West and helped bind the sprawling nation together.
It’s a day worth remembering. So, celebrate the wedding of the rails—or mourn, if you must.


2 comments:

  1. I have never made it to Promontory Summit, but it's high on my wish list of travel destinations.
    Did you attend the anniversary celebrations?

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    1. Too many people for me, Tanja. Friends who were there estimated the crowd at 20 to 30 thousand. Traffic on the two-lane road was backed up for miles.

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