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HISTORICAL ROOTS OF AMERICA’S RAILROAD 39
Route of the irst transcontinental railroad from Sacramento, California, to Council Blufs, Iowa.
he Central Route
The possibility of a transcontinental railroad with a terminus in Sacramento saw light in the early part of 1861 when an enthusiastic civil engineer, heodore Judah, together with local miner Daniel Strong, led a study of what would become the selected central route: over the Sierra Nevada, through Clipper Gap, Emigrant Gap, Donner Pass and south to Truckee.
Subsequently, Judah established the Central Paciic Railroad Company. Its chief investors were Leland Stanford (president), Collis P. Huntington (vice president), Mark Hopkins (treasurer) and Charles Crocker (construction supervisor). hey became known as
the “Big Four” of the Central Paciic Railroad. With their support, the central route came to the fore.
Based on its experience providing transcontinental mail service from 1860 to 1861, the Pony Express disproved claims that the central route was impassable during winter.
he Southern Route
he 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the hostilities between the United States and Mexico; California was now under U.S. governance. he gold rush of 1849 brought a huge inlux of people to California. During this time, the entire economy of California relied on mule teams, stagecoaches and steamboats; the region needed railroads very badly!
Although the need for a railroad was there, the choice of route remained a major issue. Then a study indicating the viability of a southern path running through the northernmost part of Mexico spurred the Gadsden Purchase in 1853; this tract of land is present- day New Mexico and Arizona. With this acquisition, an all-southern route to California was close to realization. Congress, however, still could not settle on a route—in the end it decided against construction on the southern route, or what is known today as Interstate 10.