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Our First Transcontinental Railroad
and
The Last Gold Spikes at Promontory, Utah
May 10, 1869
By
Edson T. Strobridge
San Luis Obispo, California
Biographer of
James Harvey Strobridge
Superintendent of Construction, Central Pacific Railroad
© November 17, 2005
1. The Hewes Stanford Gold Spike is in fact at
Stanford University Museum and apparently has been in their possession or control since David Hewes donated
it to the University in 1892. The confusion as to its authenticity developed
by the research by Prof. Robin Lampson in which he was mislead at several points.
He either failed to recognize or ignored the Jewelers
receipt he found
in 1937 which listed the charges for "Finishing 2 Gold Spikes" and
did not recognize that the two photos he was given by Mrs. Mabel Hewes Chandler
were not of the original spike but of a second spike which was still unknown
outside the Hewes family. He was not alone in overlooking the description of
2 spikes on the receipt as the receipt had been donated to Stanford
and is/was framed and hanging on the wall in the Stanford Archives Room
for public display. No record of anyone else, Lampson, Stanford Archivist,
historian or visitor, has ever questioned if there were actually two spikes.
Lampson's research was further confounded by the National Park Service who
borrowed the brass replica from Stanford, duplicated the spike exactly but
then duplicated the engraving, not from the Stanford replica, but from the
Hewes photographs of the second spike that Prof. Lampson had earlier provided
without realizing the difference. This left everyone believing that the NPS
replica was an exact duplicate of the Hewes Stanford Gold Spike.That
spike rests at the NHS at Promontory to this day. The next conflict was discovered
by Lampson in reviewing the Utah Historical Quarterly in
its Winter 1969 issue where he discovered photographs of "two obviously different "Last
spikes", one on page 80 and the other on page 144". One was identified
by Lampson as one of the Stanford brass spikes, the other Stanford's gold spike.
The magazine credited Stanford University with the two photos of the original
spike and Lampson concluded "we are confronted with two different "originals" of
a single historical artifact." The Stanford Archivist was
also not aware of the differences between the photographs he had provided
to the NHS.
Photos of the Stanford Spike were published by Gerald Best in his "Iron
Horses to Promontory" pg.58 in 1969; by J.N.
Bowman in his research
published in the California Historical Society Quarterly, June 1957, pg. 97 and by Lampson (as seen by him on May 26, 1969 at Stanford U. Museum) in his
paper "The Golden Spike is Missing" published in the Pacific Historian,
Winter, 1970. All three photos are of the same original Hewes Stanford
Gold Spike. Lampson is the only one who believed his photo was of a replica.
It is my opinion that one should not fault Prof. Lampson on his research
except for his failure to recognize that "2 spikes" were
on the receipt. Had he known that I am sure the outcome of his research would
have been quite different. He encountered too many misrepresented facts and
he received no good advice or help from others who should have known or at
least have been interested. The one thing that Lampson did accomplish was to
discover the evidence that would eventually be used to prove what the Hewes
Keepsake Gold Spike actually was. If the CSRM will make the second spikes
identity and place in history well known then fifty years from now we won't
have another mystery of which spike is the original gold spike.
2. The stories of the Sprue or "Nugget" attached to the Hewes
Stanford Gold Spike has also become an exaggerated legend, added to every
time someone finds a miniature
spike or determines more rings were made. In
the Lieutenant Joshua Hewes family biography, a copy, which is available on
the CPRR.org web site, David Hewes clearly states "I presented the
gold spike to Governor Stanford, as a compliment to the Central Pacific Railroad, and
after he had taken as much of the nugget as he required to make certain souvenirs,
it was returned to me —-". page 252. (Emphasis added) Governor
Stanford no doubt kept a portion of the "Sprue" as James Harvey Strobridge,
Supt. of Construction on the Central Pacific was known to have worn a
piece of the nugget as a fob on his watch chain until his death in April 1921
as attested to by his grandson, Edward Keating Strobridge Jr. in an interview
in 1977. One can only speculate that Stanford took a piece large enough to
make more than the one souvenir that he gave Strobridge but the existence of
any others has never come to light. It seems only reasonable to assume
that Stanford might have taken as much as half the nugget to share with
the key men who worked on the Central Pacific.
Hewes describes a symbolic ring he had made from his portion of the gold sprue and presented to
Secretary of State William H. Seward. "It was made with two oval shaped
emblems, one of California gold quartz and the other of quartz containing moss-agate,
which was found in the Rocky Mountains and gold quartz representing the Central
Pacific, and the Moss Agate for the Union Pacific." Hewes writes
on page 250 of his memoirs—"the golden spike and several souvenir
rings made from a portion of the spike left for that purpose" all being
in the Stanford Museum. Note that Hewes never made any claim to have made any
miniature gold spikes!
Leo
J. Friis, in his biography of David Hewes: More than the Golden Spike,
1974, p.33 writes that Hewes gave his wife a ring bearing the inscription "Last
Spike P.R.R. (sic), Driven May 10, 1869, a similar ring inscribed "Last
Spike P.R.R., Driven May 10, 1869 From D. Hewes to R. Abbott, his favorite
sister, a forth ring, inscribed "The Mountain Wedding, May 10, 1869" presented
to John Todd, the minister who gave the invocation at the last Spike Ceremony. Friis
also makes no mention of any miniature
gold spikes.
Stephen E. Ambrose, in his book Nothing like it in the World, 1863-1869,
2002, pg. 360, not to be outdone, adds rings for "President Grant,
Oakes Ames (Pres. of the Union Pacific) and others" with no
supporting documentation; the stuff that legends are built on.
The Southern Pacific Bulletin
May 1926, pg. 8 tells the story of General Foreman
of Telegraph construction, Amos Bowsher's CPRR reminiscences, "Some
'Shark' from San Francisco signed up people to send them gold spikes as a piece
of the original, I was one of those who bit at $5 a charm. Of course our charms
were knocked out of far different stuff than the real gold spike!"
The Southern Pacific Bulletin Oct. 1927 pg. 11 Chapter 23 reports "For
months afterwards (May 10, 1869) in all parts of the country miniature gold
spikes were offered for sale as mementos of the completion of America's first
transcontinental railroad."
There were also newspaper advertisements in the Sacramento newspapers and the
country was flooded with these sales of these miniature gold spikes. Today
these miniature gold spikes can be found at the NHS in Promontory, Utah, at
the CSRM, sometimes offered by antique dealers and who knows where else.
Unless tested by a metallurgist against the Hewes Stanford Gold Spike there
would be no way to determine which ones of the possible hundreds made could
possibly be authentic.
Stanford University Library, Dept. of Special Collections in Central Pacific–Gold
Spike and Memorabilia–Fol.2 has a "Photograph (numbered
#14011) of a gold spike and other memorabilia." It includes the Hewes
Stanford Gold Spike, all four rings described by Hewes in his two biographies,
one miniature gold spike (which appears to be the same design as the one now
in the NHS Promontory collection and a small hammer which may have been intended
to represent the symbolic Silver Headed Spike Hammer. The fact that these mementoes
are all in the same photograph indicates that the photo itself may be a
very old one, probably taken before the mementoes were given to their
intended recipients, possibly as early as 1869-1870. The photo appears
to bear out what David Hewes has said regarding the four rings he had
made from the sprue removed from the Stanford Spike as well as the one
miniature spike claimed to have been given to his brother-in-law, Benjamin
Cox. The one claimed to have been given to Tilden G. Abbott, now at the NHS
appears to be of the same design. The possibility that Hewes did make
at least one, perhaps two miniature gold spikes from the sprue makes one wonder
how much gold was in the "nugget." I suspect that the Hewes Keepsake
Gold Spike and attached "nugget" are comparable to the Stanford
Spike and the volume and/weight of the sprue can be closely estimated
from it. That knowledge would help determine how much gold was available for
the souvenirs made.
David Hewes never made any claims of making any of these miniature spikes even
though a number of people claimed to have had an original souvenir. The
San Francisco "Sharks" did their work well and the nation today is
faced with more souvenirs taken from the Hewes Stanford Gold Spike Nugget
(sprue) than there was sprue available. One would be need to be very careful
in accepting any of these small souvenir gold spikes as authentic without some
examination by a metallurgist and an expert in the jewelers art. Hewes
used the art of engravers for his mementos, the "Sharks" spike were
mass-produced and have been observed with the engraving actually stamped in
the souvenir.
3. The San Francisco Newsletter and California Advertiser Gold
Spike, donated to Leland Stanford on May 1st, 1869 by Frank Marriott, was
covered in great detail. In Vol.IX No.14 dated May 1, 1869 on page 1, col.
1 published a notice:
"THE LAST SPIKE" The "News Letter has
this morning forwarded to Hon. Leland Stanford, at the Front of the Central
Pacific Railroad, a Railway Spike Of Solid Gold" and follows
with a complete copy of the inscription."
along with an engraving of the spike in almost a scale size.
In its May 8th edition, on page 1, Col. 2, Frank
Marriott offers a lengthy story and then quotes from the S.F. Daily Times (and
others) on the description of his spike:
A handsome gold spike, weighing 9 and a half ounces, and
costing about $200, was sent to President Stanford and other officers of the
road, yesterday, by Frederick Marriott, proprietor of the News Letter. The
spike, which is an exact facsimile of an ordinary railroad spike, bears
the following inscription: "With this spike the San Francisco Newsletter
offers its homage to the great work which has joined the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans this month – May 1869." S.F. Daily Times.
Note: The News Letter spike, unlike the Hewes Spikes, is an exact
facsimilie of a contemporary common spike used on the Central Pacific track
construction. There were several manufacturers of these spikes so the design varied
slightly from one manufacturer to another. Generally the original
common iron spikes measured 9/16" square by 5 3/8" long and
weighed 8 1/2 oz. This writer has several original unused original CPRR "dropped
spikes" in his collection.
"Promontory Point". May 7th. – Governor
Stanford and party have brought out the last tie, and are provided with an
assortment of last spikes. The largest is the solid gold one presented by Mr.
Hewes. Besides this there is a handsome one of pure gold presented by the San
Francisco News Letter and two silver ones from Virginia bullion and
from Arizona. —Bulletin p.1: 2
A special four-page edition, Vol. IX No. XV was published on May 15, 1869. This
edition was called a "Supplement
to the News Letter" and
on the page 1 header, labeled the edition the Transcontinental Railroad Postscript to
the San Francisco News Letter and California Advertiser. The
entire edition is dedicated to the May 10th ceremony and the history surrounding
the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad including a close up view
and reporting by Frank Marriott representative. "Mr. [A. D.] Bell of the
[San Francisco] Bulletin."
He describes the driving of the Frank Marriott San
Francisco News Letter golden spike:
"At a quarter of the hour before noon seven strokes
of the silver hammer in the hands of Governor Stanford as he drove our golden spike into
the auger hole prepared for it, and the connection and the connection between
the "Union Pacific" and the "Central Pacific" Railroads
was complete. (Pg. 1:1)
Mr. A.D. Bell provides a description of the News Letter Spike:
"The Gold
Spike that we presented to Governor Stanford to be driven into the last
rail (sic) was manufactured by Messer’s. J. W. Tucker & Co., well known
goldsmiths of San Francisco; was photographed by Messer’s. Bradley & Rulofson,
and engraved by Mr. Van Vleck”. p. 4:2
Mr. Bell again writes: "muscular exertion and
mental energy have been used to their utmost tension, and our golden spike that
joins the ends of the roads exemplifies that past exertion—" p.3:
2
My point here is to emphasize that Frank Marriott had a representative on site
and was watching closely what had become of the gold spike he donated to Stanford.
Mr. Bell described the scene:
"Some newspapers had three men on the ground and
it was all I could do to prevent myself from being choked out by the morning
newspapers, working for extra editions across the continent." p.4:1
His description of what became of the News-Letter Spike:
"One of the [gold] presentation spikes was afterward
cut, and half given to (Sidney) Dillon (Director of the U.P.) for a memento." p.4:
2.
Why Mr. A. D. Bell did not provide the identity of this spike
is not known but it had to be the gold News Letter spike as all the
other presentation spikes were accounted for. Other newspapers, including
J.N. Bowman, Calif. State Library historian, in his treatise "Driving
The
Last Spike," Calif. Historical Society Quarterly, Sept. 1957, pg.271:5,
states "the second gold spike was given to General Dodge."
With the testimonials above one can reasonably conclude that the News
Letter gold spike, mutilated by the seven strokes of the silver hammer by
Governor Stanford was cut in half, one half given to Sidney Dillon and the other
given to General Dodge. This spike, having little importance in the day’s
event and with no obligation to Frank Marriott, was donated to the two officials
of the Union Pacific Railroad, neither of who were held in high regard by Stanford,
his Associates or James Harvey Strobridge. One can reasonably surmise
that in order to save face Dillon and Dodge both accepted the mutilated pieces
of the second spike, measuring no more than 2 1/2" or so and neither remaining
piece recognizable as a railroad spike much less a treasured ceremonial "Last
Spike." General Dodge had earlier that day alienated himself by his hard
headed demands on the precedence of who should drive the last spike and even:
"positively refused [a rail] connection and told
the Central Pacific people that they might do as they liked, and that
there should be no joint celebration." It was not until 5 minutes
before the ceremony began that an amicable arrangement was attained by
Durant and Stanford." SFNL May 15, 1869, p. 3:1 p.5
I can also accept the probable cause of these two pieces
never again being seen, or at least identified by later historians was due
to the large egos of Dillon and Dodge causing their mementos to disappear.
General Dodge had caused enough problems between the CP & UP railroads
by his intractable positions during their final negotiations
for the final track connections and now this "Last Spike" ceremony
that he no doubt experienced a little subtle payback.
4. The Lemon Spike may have been one of the four last iron spikes driven after
the four ceremonial spikes were removed; however his affidavit, statements
and interviews are so full of errors and conflicting information that there
will always be questions about truth of what David Lemon has claimed. He was
even unable to provide an accurate description of the gold spike, describing
it as about "the size of a 20 penny wire nail." UP
Magazine. "David Lemon – Old Timer" May 24, p. 5 (CPRR.org)
5. Who in fact did strike the Gold Spike for the last time? An interesting
statement by Mr. Bell about his observations is found in
the last sentence of the last paragraph of the last page of the May 15, 1869
edition of the San Francisco News Letter:
"The gold spike that we presented to Governor
Stanford to be driven into (sic) the last rail ——- The last blow
of the hammer was struck by that noble-hearted and excellent lady, Mrs. Stro(w)bridge.
Women's mission is peace and there is no greater peacemaker than the rail." SFNL,
May 15, 1869, p. 4"2 p. 6
J.N. Bowman writes in his thesis on pg. 269-270, CHSQ, Sept. 1957:
“that after the formal ceremonies of Stanford and Durant's ceremonial
blows that the crown was again asked to retire so the three official photographers
could take their pictures. The engines advanced and "nosed over the Laurel
tie and the photographs were taken”.
Two more ceremonies remained: The ceremonial driving
of the spikes by the military officers and the ladies, and the engines crossing
over the joint. Mrs. Strobridge is mentioned by name (Sacramento Bee) as having
given a token blow on one of the silver spikes however no evidence was found
on the Nevada spike and Bowman speculates that the spike she struck "may
have" been that of the Arizona Spike. In fact he found no viable evidence
to support his speculation.
It appears that Mr. A. D. Bell's report is the most accurate considering that
it was his responsibility to carefully watch exactly what happed to "our" spike
and that he was referring to the News Letter Spike that was struck for the
last time by Hanna Maria Strobridge, wife of James Harvey Strobridge, Superintendent
of Construction on the Central Pacific Railroad.
A personal note of thanks to the CPRR Museum for all it has done to promote
these discussions on the history of the Central Pacific Railroad. 1863-1869
Copies of much of the contemporary documentation for the above research
can be found on the excellent website "CPRR.org" which makes it possible
for many interested researchers and students of the First Transcontinental
Railroad to view much of the original documentation and photographs previously
only available to researchers who were able to visit, or better yet, work at
the various historical Libraries and Museums. Personally I owe a debt of gratitude for what the CPRR Museum has done, and for bringing together those serious railroad
historians who have shared
their expertise with us all.
The “missing" copy of the San Francisco News Letter is not
and has not been missing at all. Both the California State Library has an original
copy, as does the Sutro Library in San Francisco.
Courtesy Edson T. Strobridge.
Links have been added to the original
article.