8.9 Mining and Transcontinental Railroad

Mining and the Transcontinental Railroad

Role of Mining and the Transcontinental Railroad

  • Mining and the Transcontinental Railroad played a significant role in bringing more people to the West.

Mining in the West

  • After the gold ran out in California, prospectors continued to search the mountains of the West for more gold and silver.
  • Discoveries and rushes brought miners streaming west.
Comstock Lode
  • First major strike was in 1859 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Mount Davidson.
  • Miners initially panned for gold in streams.
  • Peter O'Reilly and Patrick McLaughlin found gold in rich black dirt.
  • Henry Comstock (Old Pancake) tricked them into sharing the claim by claiming water rights.
  • Miners found less gold but a great deal of blue sand and blue grey quartz.
  • The blue grey quartz was rich in silver and gold.
  • Old Pancake and his partners had struck a bonanza.
  • News spread, and more than 15,000 people came to the area.
  • The find was called the Comstock Lode which was a rich vein of silver and gold ore.
Hard Rock Mining
  • Most miners worked alone or in small groups.
  • Quartz rock containing silver and gold was extremely hard.
  • Hard rock mining was difficult.
  • Holes were drilled into the rock using a drill bit.
  • Dynamite was used to blast the rock.
  • Tunnels were shored up with timbers.
  • Ore was carried out of the mine.
  • Conditions were harsh; some parts of the mine could reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Gold and silver were locked in the hard quartz rock.
Ore Processing
  • Ore was sent for processing.
  • Wagons and later railroad tracks were used to transport the ore.
  • The ore was sent to stamping mills where heavy wooden posts broke the rock into small pieces.
  • Smelting was used to melt the rock and separate the gold and silver from the slag.
  • Gold and silver were then ready for sale.
Mining Camps
  • Mining camps sprang up around the Comstock Lode.
  • Most were collections of tents and saloons.
  • Virginia City was the biggest of these, filled with people from all over the country.
  • Miners, shopkeepers, saloon owners, and other characters made up the population.
  • Those who came to mine the miners often got rich.
  • Boom towns were violent places.
  • Vigilance committees were formed to protect the towns; they handed out justice quickly.
  • Towns quieted down, and permanent residents moved in.
  • Doctors, ministers, teachers, and other settlers moved in.
  • Roads were built, connecting the town to other communities.
Pikes Peak
  • A similar strike and rush took place around Pikes Peak in Colorado.
  • Wagons headed west with "Pikes Peak or bust" painted on their sides.
  • About 100,000 "59ers" made their way across the plains.
  • Some found gold and became rich, but most were less fortunate.

Transcontinental Railroad

The Need for Direct Transportation
  • Wagons and horseback were the main ways to travel.
  • A trip by wagon train might take five to six months.
  • Clipper ships around South America could take up to three months and cost a great deal of money.
  • There was a growing desire for direct transportation west.
  • Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act in 1862 to create the first transcontinental railroad.
Construction

  • Two companies were authorized to build the line, beginning construction in 1865:

    • Central Pacific: Sacramento, California, heading east.
    • Union Pacific: Omaha, Nebraska, heading west.

  • The goal was to connect in the Intermountain region of Utah.

  • The Central Pacific had the harder route through the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

  • The Union Pacific had easy going across the plains.

  • Both companies were paid per mile of track laid and given land on each side of the track.

  • The Union Pacific hired many Irish immigrants.

  • The Central Pacific hired many Chinese laborers.

  • Both groups of workers were underpaid.

  • Supplies were shipped up the Missouri River or taken by wagons across Iowa for the eastern part.

  • Supplies for the western end were sent by ship around South America to San Francisco.

  • Rails and locomotives moved east on a railroad built from San Francisco Bay to Sacramento.

  • Ties were cut from trees in the mountains for the western end and shipped from the forests of the Midwest for the eastern end.

Completion
  • There was competition between the two companies.
  • Charles Crocker drove his men unmercifully.
  • The historical meeting was at Promontory, Utah, on 05/10/1869.
  • A golden spike was driven with a silver hammer into the wooden railroad tie.
  • The Union Pacific laid 1,086 miles of track.
  • The Central Pacific laid 689 miles of track.
Impact
  • The two coasts of the United States were now connected.
  • Other lines were soon built.
  • People and goods could now travel across the country in a week.
  • People began to stream west to settle on land, go to mining camps, or travel.
  • Manufactured goods supplied the homesteaders, miners, and residents of the West Coast.
  • Raw materials, cattle, and other bounty of the West headed to Eastern factories.
  • The economy of the whole country was on the rise.
  • The age of industry was just over the horizon.
Individuals Involved
  • Patrick McLaughlin sold his interest in the mine for 3,5003,500. 1 of his partners, Emmanuel Penrod, sold his share for a bit more 8,5008,500. The third partner, Peter O'Reilly, did the best when he sold his share for 40,00040,000 and then invested the money in a hotel in Virginia City. In the end, he turned out to have the worst luck of all as he went insane and began tunneling into the mountain, trying to find an even richer vein.
  • Henry Comstock sold his share for 11,00011,000 and tried opening a business but went broke and committed suicide.
  • Theodore Giudah initiated the creation of a transcontinental railroad.
  • Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, and Lullen Stanford (the Big Four) invested 1,5001,500 each and founded the Central Pacific Railroad.