![]() Lincoln remembered Dodge's expertise and summoned the engineer to Washington in 1863 to discuss a starting point for Union Pacific. As the saying is, he completely ‘shelled my woods,' getting all the secrets that were later to go to my employers." Lincoln sat down beside me and, by his kindly ways, soon drew from me all I knew of the country west and the results of my reconnaissances. On a visit to Iowa in 1859, he met with Grenville Dodge, who would one day become Union Pacific's chief engineer.ĭodge later wrote in his “Personal Recollections of Lincoln”: Lincoln and Union PacificĮven before he became president, Lincoln, a railroad attorney, had an avid interest in the Pacific route. Lawmakers already realized the impact the railroad could have on local economies and wanted the business for their own states. What path Union Pacific should take was a matter of much contention. The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 gave the work of building the railroad to two companies: Central Pacific, an existing California railroad, and a new railroad chartered by the Act itself – Union Pacific.Ĭentral Pacific would start at the Pacific and head east, and Union Pacific would start in the middle of the country, the beginning of the frontier, and head west. ![]() On July 1, 1862, after decades of debate and disagreement on the matter, Lincoln brought the transcontinental railroad to life with a stroke of his pen.Īnd with that same stroke, he created Union Pacific. Even after becoming a state, California had its own secessionist movement.Ī transcontinental railroad, Lincoln hoped, would bring the entire nation closer together – would make Americans across the continent feel like one people. Little more than a decade had passed since Oregon was claimed by Great Britain and California was part of Mexico. These states were rich with natural resources and trade potential, and their place on the flag was far from secure. And most importantly, it would tie new states California and Oregon to the rest of the country. It would give settlers safe and dependable passage west. The new line would support communities and military outposts on the frontier. In Lincoln's mind, the railroad was part of the Civil War effort. At the same convention where Lincoln was nominated, the Republicans pledged to stop the spread of slavery, to establish daily mail service and to build a transcontinental railroad. Many leaders felt that the time for such a massive undertaking was not in the middle of an expensive Civil War. ![]() There was so much to argue about … Who would pay for it, and who would build it? And where would it begin and end? Lincoln and the RailroadĬongress had tried to make it happen and failed. ![]() Indeed, by the time Lincoln took office in 1861, many Americans believed that expanding the railroad was absolutely necessary. Visionaries first began talking about a route to the Pacific in the 1830s. No other president has fought so hard – or sacrificed more – for our union.īut Lincoln's legacy as “the great uniter” reaches far beyond the resolution of the Civil War.Īt the height of that war, with unity so much on his mind, President Lincoln sought a way to connect and secure the great expanse of our nation, to unite it entirely, from sea to shining sea. The right time, the right man.Ībraham Lincoln will forever be remembered as the man who held our nation together during its most uncertain hour. Such intrinsic pride.Īt Union Pacific, we credit much of our success to our unique history, a history that began with Lincoln and the nation's first transcontinental railroad. When your company's first task is to unite a continent – when you can count Abraham Lincoln himself as a founding father – it gives you such purpose. Union Pacific is proud to celebrate the legacy of Abraham Lincoln – who set the transcontinental railroad in motion and brought our railroad to life. ![]()
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