thousand men at work that winter. Suddenly the Central
Pacific surprised the Eastern builders by filing a map and plans for
building as far as Echo, some distance east of Ogden. The Union Pacific
forces, however, were equal to the occasion. At first, one mile a day
had been considered rapid construction, but now, even with the limited
daylight of the winter months, they were laying over two miles a day,
and they finally crowned their efforts by laying in one day between
sunrise and sunset nearly eight miles of track.

In the meantime the Central Pacific also had stopped at nothing. The
company had a dozen tunnels to build but did not wait to finish them.
Supplies were hauled over the Sierras, and the work was pushed ahead
regardless of expense. On May 10, 1869, the junction was formed, the
opposing track layers meeting at Promontory Point, five miles west of
Ogden, Utah. Spikes of gold and silver were driven into the joining
tracks, and the through line from the Missouri River to the Pacific
Ocean had been completed; the first engine from the Pacific coast faced
the first engine from the Atlantic. The whole country, from President
Grant in the White House to the newsboy who sold extras, celebrated this
achievement. Chicago held a parade several miles long; in New York City
the chimes of Trinity were rung; and in Philadelphia the old Liberty
Bell in Independence Hall was tolled again.

The cost of the Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha to its junction with
the Central Pacific formed a subject of controversy for a generation.
The saving of six months of the allotted time for completing the road
no doubt increased its cost to the builders, for at times they borrowed
money in the East at rates as high as 18 and 19 per cent. Besides, in
pushing the line far beyond the bounds of civilization without
waiting for the slower pace of. the settler and the security which his
protection afforded, it often became necessary for half the total number
of workmen to stand guard and thus reduce the working capacity of
the construction force. Even so, hundreds were killed by the Indians.
Governmental restrictions of various kinds also increased the cost of
the road. For example, the stipulation that only American iron should
be used increased the cost by at least ten dollars for every ton of rail
laid. The requirement that a cut should be made through each rise in the
Laramie plains, thus giving the track a dead level instead of conforming