‘Cowboy’ Jim Gray

We are told that driving the golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, marked the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad.

The location is now the Golden Spike National Historic Park. Thousands of railroad enthusiasts joined in a 150th anniversary celebration the weekend of May 10, 2019.

In 1869 the Central Pacific built track from the west coast while the Union Pacific completed the track from the Missouri River. The meeting of the Central Pacific’s Jupiter engine and Union Pacific’s No. 119 engine included a crowd of dignitaries and rail workers. Today it is recognized as the first big American media event.

Unfortunately, the joining of the two railroads with that iconic golden spike did not produce a transcontinental railroad with uninterrupted rails extending from sea to shining sea. The Missouri River was yet to be bridged. Passengers had to leave the train on either side of the river, take a stage to river’s edge, and cross the river by ferry. A waiting stage then delivered them to the railroad station on the other side. Freight was transferred by wagon and ferry in a similar manner.

Meantime, the Pacific Railroad, (Missouri Pacific) had connected across the state of Missouri from St. Louis to Kansas City in 1865. It was not the first to cross the state. The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad had reached St. Joseph, Mo., in 1859. The frontier railroad delivered the first letter for the inaugural ride of the Pony Express in 1860. But, like the later Union Pacific, all traffic that headed west had to be ferried across the river.

The very first railroad in Kansas, the Elwood and Marysville Railroad, began construction March 20, 1860. On April 23, 1860, the pioneer steam engine “Albany” rolled into Wathena over five miles of completed track to capture the honor of being the first iron horse west of the Missouri River.

Early achievement did not guarantee lasting success.

The Elwood and Marysville languished while others forwarded their own ventures.

In May of 1863, Samuel Hallett and “The Pathfinder” John C. Fremont purchased controlling stock in the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad. Incorporated in 1855, the company surveyed its right-of-way from Leavenworth to Fort Riley by 1862, but had not commenced construction at the time of the Hallett-Fremont purchase. The new railroad acquisition was renamed Union Pacific Railway Company, Eastern Division.

Headquarters offices for the new company were moved from Leavenworth to Wyandotte, Kan., where construction began three-quarters of a mile west of the Missouri River on Sept. 7, 1864. A crew began clearing trees and building the grade for the tracks just above the mouth of the Kansas River on its north bank.

There were setbacks. Fremont was ousted from the company. Hallett was shot to death by a disgruntled worker. The company stumbled until new leadership gained control of the company. Lawrence was finally reached on Nov. 26, 1865.

The delay caused the company to change from its original plan to build into Nebraska.

Instead they determined to build along the entire length of the Smoky Hill River into the desolate high plains of eastern Colorado. Denver was the new destination and wild Kansas history was about to be made.

Junction City, Ellsworth, Hays City, as well as several lesser known locations took turns as hell on wheels end-of-track towns through 1866 and 1867. Meanwhile, the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad built a cutoff from Camron, Mo., to Kansas City. Not to be denied the company began construction of the “Hannibal Bridge” over the Missouri River in 1867. When completed the bridge would join the Missouri railroad with the Union Pacific, Eastern Division to deliver an uninterrupted line of rail traffic from Missouri into Kansas.

At Sheridan, Kan., the Union Pacific Eastern Division ran out of money in 1868. The company languished until it was reorganized. Under Congressional approval the Kansas Pacific Railway Company renewed the quest. Construction did not resume until the fall of 1869.

On the eastern end of the track, the Hannibal Bridge over the Missouri River was completed and opened for business on July 3, 1869. At Denver another rail line was completed to Cheyenne, Wyo., connecting the city to the mainline of the Union Pacific on June 24, 1870. To speed up construction on the Kansas Pacific, a crew began building east out of Denver.

At 3 p.m. Aug. 15, 1870, at a place called Camanche Crossing, the last spike was driven to connect the Kansas Pacific from the Missouri River to Denver, Colo. But more than that, because of the Denver-Cheyenne connection and the Hannibal Bridge, the connection 149 years ago near present-day Strasburg, Colo. represented the completion of “the first truly coast to coast railroad.” Consequently, you haven’t missed it! There’s still plenty of time to plan for next year’s 150th anniversary of the completion of America’s transcontinental railroad where it really happened at Strasburg, Colo. on The Way West.

“The Cowboy,” Jim Gray is author of the book Desperate Seed: Ellsworth Kansas on the Violent Frontier, Ellsworth, KS Contact Kansas Cowboy, 220 21st Road, Geneseo, Kan. Phone: (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.