By John O’Connell, Idaho State Journal; April 23, 2019
PROMONTORY, Utah — At a time when the North and South were divided by the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation on July 1, 1862, to unify the East and West through the creation of a Transcontinental Railroad.
The transportation corridor Lincoln envisioned when he signed the Pacific Railway Act was completed on May 10, 1869. On that date, business tycoon Leland Stanford drove the final symbolic spike during a ceremony at Promontory Summit, linking the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads.