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Southern Pacific Railroad by the thirty-second parallel of latitude fell through 

 as a matter of course. 



In 1862, the isolated position of the Pacific States was keenly felt by 

 statesmen at Washington, and the question was first mooted that California 

 and her neighbours might waver in their loyalty to the Union. An iron-road 

 should bind them to New York, and the question of a through Pacific Railroad 

 again came prominently before Congress. 



In the meantime the production of gold in California had been enormous ; 

 com was raised far in excess of the local demand ; Southern California was 

 striving to expoi't wine, hides, and tallow ; trade had sprung up with Oregon, 

 the Sandwich Islands, and most important of all with China ; quicksilver was 

 almost flowing from the mines of Almaden ; and the strong desire felt by the 

 Californians for a Pacific railroad was brought to a climax by the discovery 

 that a practicable route across the snow-clad Sierra did exist through Donner 

 Pass, midway between San Francisco and "Virginia City. Nevada gave a 

 helping hand to California by the discovery of the Comstock silver mine, and 

 the wealth that poured in from it, raised that territory into the Council of the 

 States. 



Even amidst the horrors of civil war, when Washington itself was 

 threatened, and £500,000 were leaving the Treasury daily for the support of 

 the northern armies, still the Pacific Railroad Bill was triumphantly carried, 

 and grants of land and subsidies were agreed upon, increasing in amount as the 

 line advanced westward ; but no definite conclusion was arrived at as to the 

 Eastern starting point of the route. The great precedent was however 

 established — that government aid to the extent of about half the total amount 

 necessary would be provided out of the national treasury to assist a Pacific 

 Railway entei^prise. Finally, the following programme was adopted, and the 

 work actually commenced : the main line was to extend from Omaha on the 

 Missouri river, to Sacramento in California, 1721 miles. St. Louis was to be 

 provided for by a subsidised branch line to connect with the main line on or 

 about the hundredth meridian of longitude, east of the Rocky Mountains. 



Three companies were to prosecute these works, and to stand on an equal 

 footing as regards land grants, loans, etc. Firstly, the Union Pacific Railway 

 Company constructing the line westward from Omaha. Secondly, the Central 

 Pacific Railway of California proceeding eastward from Sacramento. These 

 companies were to make their lines as quickly as possible from either end, and 

 to meet at an intermediate point not fixed. Thus it was the interest of each 

 company to lay as much track as possible, for the amount of Government sub- 

 sidy, as well as the share of influence in the management, depended on the 

 proportion of the line laid. Immense parliamentary excitement took place, and 

 the contest was between St. Louis and Chicago. Money was spent like water, 

 in the Legislature, but not under its ordinary name, being called by an 

 American journal of the period, "the element of influence." Thirdly, the 

 Union Pacific Railway Company, Eastern Division, obtained the Government 

 subsidy for a distance of 400 miles west of Kansas city. Thus it is evident 

 that Chicago had gained the day. 



If the civil war had not intervened, it is more than probable that, although 

 the year 1869 might not have seen a locomotive plying between New York and 

 the Pacific, Ave should never have seen the iron road laid across the Black 

 Hills. Chicago would have built the branch line, and the main line would 

 have been laid further South, below the barrier of winter snows ; it would 

 have passed round the Rocky Mountains, not over them ; across productive 

 valleys, instead of through worthless deserts, and along the rich central trough 

 of California, in the place of climbing an Alpine pass more than 7000 feet 

 above the Pacific. 



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