May 10, 1869

What happened on this date? Actually one of the more important things in American history, the final connection of the country by rail. The Golden Spike historical site at Promontory Summit, Utah commemorates this event. The park includes replicas of the two locomotives at the meeting point as well as an unusual opportunity to drive over 7 miles on the original roadbed as it approaches the joining point of the two lines. We now know that poor immigrants did most all of the back breaking work and this hastened the demise of the native American populations, but it does remain a major engineering achievement and served a special significance in the attempt to reunite the country so shortly after the end of the Civil War.