Joslyn Art Museum

Andrew Joseph Russell and Alfred A. Hart: The Race to Promontory: The Transcontinental Railroad and the American West

Andrew Joseph Russell and Alfred A. Hart: The Race to Promontory: The Transcontinental Railroad and the American West

The completion of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869, was as celebrated a national event as the first moon landing, exactly a century later. The first major news event carried “live” from coast-to-coast, telegraph wires were attached to the final spike, and as it was gently tapped with a silver maul, the strokes uniting East and…