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Researched by Bill Bingham, University of Utah L. D. S. Institute of Religion Stephen Ambrose the author of Nothing Like it in the World, a history of The building of the Transcontinental Railroad was asked in a interview if there was anything in his research that he hadn't expected to find. He answered with the following words: "My biggest surprise in writing about the railroad is how much I came to like the Mormons. I was not prepared for what a critical role they played. Without Brigham Young, there would never have been a Transcontinental Railroad. He recruited a lot of Mormons to build tunnels and lay track. I was also struck by how patient Young was about the shenanigans of the railroad moguls. Besides being a great religious leader and politician, he was a good businessman. He was a very impressive man. He was good. He was one of the best of all the Americans of the 19th century." (Deseret News Sunday, September 3, 2000.) In his book Ambrose says the following about President Young. "He was a man noted for his firmness, intelligence, fairness, decisiveness, good looks, and ability to put the long-term interests of those in his charge ahead of their short-term gain. Like the top politicians, he had a remarkable memory for facts and figures, geography, who owed what favors or money to whom, the names of his competitors and his followers and their wives. He knew who had taken that position on this or that issue, and when, and what his own position had been.... Had it not been for his generally feared or despised religion, he quite possibly might have been a president of the United States, and, depending on the time, a good or even a great one. As it was, he founded Salt Lake City and made it and his Mormon religion into a great city and religion. In the process, he played a major role in building the UP and CP." (Nothing Like it in the World, p. 278) Brigham Young was a visionary man and could see a time when the railroad would be in place. "According to a contemporary Mormon historian, during the original Mormon crossing of the plains to Salt Lake City, Young had pointed to where railroad tracks would one day run." (Nothing Like it in the World, p. 279) [Brigham Young] had three of his sons-Joseph, Brigham, Jr., and John W.- that he used in the hiring and directing of the men that helped grade the rail bed and bore tunnels in the mountains. John Sharp was the Bishop of the Salt Lake Tenth Ward. He soon joined with Brigham's three sons in the hiring and directing of the men that worked on building the Union Pacific. "Sharp, close to Young, was also his lawyer, and would remain a major Utah railroad leader for decades. Together Joseph Young and Sharp became associated in a firm known as Sharp & Young that took on grading contracts and the boring of several tunnels. The partners soon had fourteen hundred men working for them in Echo Canyon, and working well." (Nothing Like it in the World, p. 285) On 10 May 1869 when the golden spike was driven, Bishop Sharp represented the church at Promontory Summit. He also brought the Tenth Ward Brass Band to play for the festivities. When the Central Pacific saw the good work done by the Mormons building the Union Pacific they immediately began negotiations and hired the firm of Benson, Farr & West. "Ezra Taft Benson was a member of the Council of Twelve (and great-grandfather of a future secretary of agriculture); Lorin Farr was mayor of Ogden; Chauncey West was a Mormon bishop" (Nothing like it in the World, p. 290) In the fall of 1868 grading parties were strung out, like beads on a necklace, all the way down Echo and Weber Canyons to Ogden, attacking every hill and ravine that barred the way. The Narrows began about four miles west of Echo and 995 miles west of Omaha. This was some of the most difficult grading on the road, and almost continuous job of cut and fill.
At a late meeting of the Municipal Council of this city the matter was under consideration, and the following resolutions, presented by Alderman S. W. Richards, were unanimously adopted Be it resolved by the City Council of Salt Lake City, that a committee be appointed to make suitable arrangements for celebrating, in this city, the approaching event of laying the last rail on the Great Pacific Railroad, thereby connecting the eastern and western portions of the continent, and constituting one of the most remarkable epochs of the age---one of unparalleled interest in the universal development of our Territorial, State and Nation of greatness. Resolved-That a committee be appointed to be present at Promontory Summit to witness the occasion as representatives of this city, expressive of our earnest and joyful appreciation of the accomplishment of this great national enterprise to world wide in its influence. Resolved-That telegraphic communication be made to all the principal cities of this Territory announcing the completion of the road immediately upon receipt of such inelegance in this city. Alderman S. W. Richards, Alderman A. H. Raleigh and General R. T. Burton, were appointed said committee of arrangements The following named gentlemen were appointed a committee to represent Salt Lake City at Promontory Summit: Hon William Jenings, Vice President of Utah Central R. R., Col F. H. Head, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Feramore Little, Esq., Director of the Utah Central R.R., Col. John Sharp, Assistant Superintendent of the Utah Central R.R., and C. R. Savage, Esq. On the 7th inst. the following message was dispatched to both T.C. Durant, Esq. Vice President U.P.R.R. and Gov. L. Stanford, President C.P.R.R. Salt Lake City joins in celebrating the completion of the Great Pacific Railway. Please inform as the precise time. S.W. Richards; A.H. Raleigh; R.T. Burton, Committee of Arrangements The following was received on the 8th inst. S.W. Richards, A.H. Raleigh, R.T. Burton The last spike connecting rail of the Pacific Railroad will be laid on Monday next noon. Leland Stanford. The committee at Promontory Summit will telegraph the laying of the last rail. Upon announcement by telegram that the connecting rail is laid a salute will be fired from the hill, near the Arsenal, the Court House and City Hall, by Major S. G. Ladd's Artillery, in three detachments. Flags will be unfurled simultaneously therewith, from the principal offices, banks, stores and private residences in the city. Capt. Croxall's Band, from the Top of the New Tabernacle, and other Bands from different localities, will discourse their soul cheering strains to divert the public and add a life-giving impulse to the occasion. At half-past One o'clock p.m. the people generally are requested to meet at the New Tabernacle to join in expressions of becoming satisfaction. Resolutions, speeches and appropriate sentiments, interspersed with music from the Bands present, will be prominent in the proceedings. Gov. C. Durkee, Hon. G. A. Smith, Judge C. Wilson, Mayor D. H. Wells, Hon. John Taylor and Hon. W.H. Hooper are among the list of speakers for that occasion. The Memorial of the Utah Legislature of 1851-2, calling upon Congress to build the Great Highway, and urging its earliest practicable construction will be read. In the evening the Illumination will be attractive and interesting. The City Hall, the Court House, Theater, Emporium, Exchange Buildings and many other of the principal Buildings and Residencies will vie with each other in this brilliant demonstration of calcium and variegated lights and colors. The Illuminated Mottoes, suspended across East Temple street will be grand. The glowing fires from Arsenal Hill, converting darkness into light, and almost night into day, will enliven the night scene and the music of the Bands, from House Top and Hill, will impart life and fest to this glorious occasion. The public are respectfully invited, upon firing of the salute at noon, to suspend business and participate in such demonstrations as will carry into effect the general progamme for the occasion, in the display of Flags and Banners, and in evening illuminations. S. W. Richards A. H. Raleigh R. T. Burton Committee Salt Lake City, May 10, 1869 Noticeably absent [from the "Last Spike Celebration" at Promontory Summit] were Brigham Young who was not included by the two railroads in the celebration, and Charles Durkee, the Territorial Governor. Durkee had arrived back in the Territory the evening of May 10th and missed the event. RAILROAD SONGS The Utah Iron Horse After twenty-one years of hardship in transporting converts to the Salt Lake Valley via ox team, wagon trains, and handcarts, Brigham Young welcomed the coming of the first transcontinental railroad. Clarissa Young Spencer, daughter of Brigham Young, gave the following account: "Each change and advance in methods of communication and transportation brought this inland empire into closer touch with the rest of the world until the brightest dreams and hopes of the pioneers were realized by the coming of the railroad in 1869... Father took a contract for the grading and masonry of 190 miles of road from the head of Echo Canyon to the lake shore. In order to complete the work by the time agreed upon, he needed some thousands of men more than could be spared from the farms, and so he wrote Franklin D. Richards, in charge of emigration abroad, to make arrangements with the steam ship lines so that the emigrants would arrive well ahead of schedule... His contract amounted to about two and one-quarter million dollars, and some of this was sub-contracted to others, principally John Sharp and my brother Joseph A. [Young], who did the heavy stone work of the bridge abutments, cut tunnels in Weber Canyon, and sent men into the mountains to cut timber for ties... "The Utah Iron Horse" and the three songs which follow - "Echo Canyon", "The Railroad Cars, They're Coming", and "The Iron Horse" - all date from the period of construction of the final link in the transcontinental railroad. Note that a skeptical tone is present in the conclusion of this song - the railroad will bring evil as well as good.
Echo Canyon The Canyon east of Salt Lake City which gives this song its title is named, as one would expect, from the echo which attracted attention as sound bounced off the mountains and returned. The rhythm of the lyric is marked, simulating the rhythm of workmen striking the large railroad spikes with heavy hammers.
The Railroad Cars, They're Coming Wording in this railroad song reflects more of a struggle for rhetoric than is shown in most folk song. The prairie dogs in Dogtown, Will wag their little tails, When they see cars a-coming, Just flying down the rails, Amid the sav'ry sagebrush, The antelope will stand, While railroad cars go dashing, flashing, Through Mormon land. The Iron Horse Whether this song is another version of "The Utah Iron Horse", is not certain. The melody is not available. It is presented to show again the extent of the jubilation felt by the Utah people at completion of the transcontinental railroad. Across the plains the iron steed, Into our valleys soon will speed, He travels where he has a mind, And draws a string of cars behind. The Union railroad now is here, And to the River brings us near, No more for months and months we'll wait, For mules and ox-teams, slow-poke gait. The Iron Horse snorts sparks and fire And drinks ten barrels (and I'm no liar), At twenty miles an hour he flies, He runs a race on rails and ties. All the above songs were taken from "Mormon Songs from the Rocky Mountains, A Compilation of Mormon Folksong, edited by Thomas E. Cheney, p. 92-98.
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