Promontory, Utah. Elevation: 4905. When Josh and Traci were visiting, it quickly became clear that they know way more about the West than I do. I’d always assumed that the first coast-to-coast railroad tracks met in the middle of the country, like Nebraska or somewhere. Nope! Utah! We ran out of time to drive out to the Golden Spike National Historic Site while they were here, but they got me inspired to go see it anyway.
The visitor’s center.
A replica of the last spike driven into the tracks. “The original, of 17.6 carat gold, weighted 18 ounces and was valued in 1869 at $350. … Now on exhibit at the Stanford University Museum, Palo Alto, California.”
The tracks coming from the west. “Noon … Monday … May 10th, 1869. A rough crowd had gathered at the far set of tracks 75 yards ahead. Six million spikes and six years’ work lay behind them. Now, only one section of rails was left undone. The honor of ceremonially ‘finishing’ the Pacific railroad … fell to the two rail barons who had spearheaded the roadbuilding: Stanford and Durant. … Governor Stanford stepped up, took the hammer, swung, and missed. Then Dr. Durant took his turn … and also missed the spike. With each swing of these mauls, the crows of workingmen broke into spontaneous applause. James Strobridge and Samuel Reed, the crew bosses for the two roads, then took up … mauls and divided the last blows between them, as the air exploded with hurrahs. With those last few swings, the billion-dollar dream of the world’s first transcontinental railroad became a reality.”
Inside the visitor’s center.
Ten miles of track in one day. I’m not going to complain about my work anymore. “Lacking precise instructions from Congress as to where to meet, and spurred by financial rewards for building grade, both railroad companies prepared railbed past each other for 250 miles. No parallel track was ever laid. Promontory Summit was chosen as the point for the joining of the rails.”
“Four months after completion, Promontory was a notorious boomtown composed of hotels, saloons, and gambling tents with a few stores and shops. Transcontinental passengers changed trains here until mid-1870. Many were victimized by resident gamblers and con artists. Newspaperman J.H. Beadle noted of the town: ‘4,900 feet above sea level, though theologically speaking, if we interpret scripture literally, it ought to have been 49,000 feet below that level, for it certainly was for its size, morally nearest to the infernal regions of any town on the road.”
“Four months after completion, Promontory was a notorious boomtown composed of hotels, saloons, and gambling tents with a few stores and shops. Transcontinental passengers changed trains here until mid-1870. Many were victimized by resident gamblers and con artists. Newspaperman J.H. Beadle noted of the town: ‘4,900 feet above sea level, though theologically speaking, if we interpret scripture literally, it ought to have been 49,000 feet below that level, for it certainly was for its size, morally nearest to the infernal regions of any town on the road.”
And this is basically what Promontory looks like now. “After the opening of the Lucin Cutoff in 1904, the historic rail line north of the Great Salt Lake was of minimal importance. In 1942 the last spike was ceremonially ‘undriven’ here before a crowd Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, and state dignitaries. In a few months, the entire line between Corinne and Lucin was salvaged, with the steel directed to America’s war effort.”
While at the visitor’s center, I noticed a sign for the Spiral Jetty! I had wanted to visit the Spiral Jetty (Robert Smithson’s 1970 earthwork in the Great Salt Lake) and did not realize it was near the Golden Spike. The visitor’s center host said the Spiral Getty was about 16 miles down the dirt road. When I told him I wasn’t driving a Jeep or anything, he said “Well. The road is better than it was.”
On the way to the Spiral Jetty. The road cuts through scrubby fields of fuzzy black cows. This is the view of a cow trail approaching the Great Salt Lake.
The Spiral Jetty! (There are a few people just starting to walk down it on the right side of the photo.) Smithson used more than 6,000 tons of black basalt rocks to create the 15-foot-wide, 1,500-foot-long artwork. I had heard that the Spiral Jetty is underwater sometimes, but the lake has apparently receded from it in recent years.
The Great Salt Lake.
On the drive to Walla Walla over spring break, we left before sunrise. As we passed Ogden, the sky was beginning to brighten behind the snow-covered mountains, and a little town in the foothills illuminated the two spires of a beautiful white church. It looked like a scene from the Swiss Alps. So on the way home from the Spiral Jetty (read: lunchtime) I went looking for civilization and for the white church. Apparently it is located in the town of Brigham City, home of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. (Yes, I had to ask Nene.)
Found the church! It is the LDS Brigham City temple.
Across the street from the church was the LDS Brigham City tabernacle. Overall, Brigham City is a very picturesque town. (They even had Girl Scouts selling cookies at Smith’s.)
Watch for livestock.