“The public conviction that a railroad linking the West and the East was an absolute necessity became so pronounced after the gold discoveries of '49 that Congress passed an act in 1853 providing for a survey of several lines from the Mississippi to the Pacific.” LinesEconomyDiscoveryGoldAbsolutesWestCongressConvictionEastProvidingPacificSurveysMississippiRailroads Book:The Railroad Builders: A Chronicle of the Welding of the States Source: The Railroad Builders: A Chronicle of the Welding of the States
“Yet, in 1850 nearly all the railroads in the United States lay east of the Mississippi River, and all of them, even when they were physically mere extensions of one another, were separately owned and separately managed.” StatesUnitedUnited StatesRiversLaysMereEastExtensionsMississippiRailroadsMississippi River Book:The Railroad Builders: A Chronicle of the Welding of the States Source: The Railroad Builders: A Chronicle of the Welding of the States