The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States is the name of a railroad line across the United States that linked the city of Omaha (Nebraska) with Sacramento in the 1860s, thus linking the railroad network of the Eastern United States with California, on the Pacific coast. It ended with the famous Golden Spike ceremony held on May 10, 1869 in Promontory, Utah, creating a nationwide mechanized transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West. This network made the famous wagon trains in the so-called old west of previous decades become obsolete, changing them for a modern transport system.
Authorized by the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 and strongly supported by the federal government, it was the culmination of a movement over decades to build this line and was one of the greatest achievements of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, completed four years after his death. The construction of the railroad required enormous feats of engineering and work to cross plains and high mountains by the railroad companies Union Pacific and Central Pacific, the two companies that built the line to the west and east respectively.
The construction of the railroad was partly motivated to interconnect the Union during the Civil War. This significantly accelerated the population of the West by white settlers, while contributing to the decline of the Indians in these regions.
In 1879, the Supreme Court of the United States formally established, in its decision regarding the case Union Pacific Railroad against United States, on November 6, 1869 as the official date of completion of the transcontinental railroad.
This railroad was considered the greatest American technological feat of the 19th century. It served as a vital link for industry, commerce and travel, joining the East and West halves of the late 19th century of the United States. The Transcontinental Railroad ended quickly with the romantic lines of diligence, much slower and riskier, that had preceded it. The subsequent advance of the so-called "manifest destiny" and the proliferation of the "iron horse" through the lands of the indigenous natives greatly accelerated the fall of the great Indian culture of the Great Plains.
