Building the First Transcontinental Railroad

[RS 27464, Chin Quan Chan; Seattle District, Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files, Applications to Reenter, c. 1892-1900]: Chin Quan Chan Family, Chinese Exclusion Act Case File, circa 1911

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Bison
Railroad
Pioneer life
Great Plains

A compelling illustration of a holdup on the Kansas Pacific Railroad.

Fisher, Jenifer, Hall, Benjamin, Iwanicki, Nick, Jansdatter, Cheyenne, McDonnell, Sarah, Morris, Timothy and Van Hoye, Allen

National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States, 1913

<h2>The Death of the West</h2>
As impressive an achievement as the Transcontinental Railroad was, it also signified the beginning of the end for the “untamed” American West. Hunting for sport became more popular, as passengers on trains hunted herds of bison as they rode across the Great Plains. These train-hunts were designed to both provide entertainment for passengers and to reduce food supplies for Native Americans, who relied on the bison as a staple for survival. Since Native Americans were some of the biggest opponents to westward expansion, lawmakers and railroad pundits alike supported these cruel hunting practices. Unfortunately for both the bison and Native Americans, these wasteful practices were incredibly successful in driving both populations to the edge of annihilation.
The Transcontinental Railroad also commercialized parts of the agricultural west. Forcibly relocating dozens of Native American tribes and seizing their land opened land for pioneer farmers. Areas of the Great Plains that were previously considered unsuitable for farming were reallocated by the Homestead Act of 1862. As a trade for government subsidization, farmers that purchased this new, cheap farmland were expected to work the semi-arid grassland of the High Plains to repay their debts.
Areas that could not be reached by railroad also experienced a sharp decline in population. As the costs of supplying plains and desert communities continued to rise, families moved to greener, more central states. Abandoned communities, isolated by land and resources, created ghost towns across the West. Although the railroad provided opportunities for growth for towns lucky enough to have access, most settlements that relied on wagons to transport goods found that they could not pay the costs necessary to ensure basic survival.

"Rath & Wright's buffalo hide yard in 1878, showing 40,000 buffalo hides, Dodge City, Kansas."

A Nation Transformed

History

Human Impact

Changing the Landscape

A Nation Divided 

National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures

National Archives and Records Administration

<h3>Web:</h3>
(2014). The big four. California State Railroad Museum Foundation. <a href="http://www.csrmf.org/explore-and-learn/railroad-history/the-transcontinental-railroad/the-big-four">http://www.csrmf.org/explore-and-learn/railroad-history/the-transcontinental-railroad/the-big-four</a>
Hall, L. The pacific railway: A brief history of the pacific railway. Retrieved from: <a href="http://railroad.lindahall.org/essays/brief-history.html">http://railroad.lindahall.org/essays/brief-history.html</a>
Hollis, D. (2010). The impact of railroads on warfare during the american civil war. Retrieved from: <a href="http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/2010/02/16/the-impact-of-railroads-on-warfare-during-the-american-civil-war/">http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/2010/02/16/the-impact-of-railroads-on-warfare-during-the-american-civil-war/</a>
Native americans. Retrieved from: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interview/tcrr-interview/">http://tinyurl.com/cdob235</a>
Tunneling in the sierra Nevada. Retrieved from: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-tunnels/">http://tinyurl.com/kyyq4ce</a>
Who was who. Retrieved from: <a href="http://railroad.lindahall.org/resources/who-was-who.html#Civil-War">http://railroad.lindahall.org/resources/who-was-who.html#Civil-War</a>
Workers of the central pacific railroad. Retrieved from: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-cprr/">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-cprr/</a>
<h3>Print:</h3>
Bain, D. H. (1999) Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad. New York: Viking.
Pryor, A. (2012) The big four railroad barons and other railroad stories. Roseville, CA: Stagecoach Publishing.

Building the First Transcontinental Railroad

References

References

Web:

Print: