SCRIPT
FOR THE "LAST SPIKE" CEREMONY
A Skit by Jeanmarie Alo, St. Raphael School, San Rafael, California
NARRATOR
1
The date is
May 10, 1869, and we are gathered here together at Promontory Summit, Utah to
watch the "Last Spike" Ceremony celebrating the completion of the
Transcontinental Railroad.
Many important people have come from far away to witness this ceremony,
including some of the people you know.
There are
also people gathered together in New York, Washington DC, Chicago and San
Francisco, waiting to hear that the last spike has been driven.
The weather
was cold and cloudy this morning, but it has cleared up and we are ready to go.
TELEGRAPH
OPERATOR
I'm the
telegraph operator. People are
sending us messages from all over.
So I send a message saying, "To Everybody. Keep quiet.
When the last spike is driven at Promontory Point, we will say
'Done!'. Don't break the circuit,
but watch for the signals of the blows of the hammer."
NARRATOR
Now, before
we go on, we have some speeches that need to be given. Our first speaker is the ghost of
Theodore Judah, who had to be here at this important event.
THEODORE
JUDAH
My dream is
finally realized. I worked so hard
for this. It was my survey work
that helped find the way through the Sierra Nevada so this railroad could be
built. My work with the US Senate
and Congress helped get the bill passed that made this possible. Now people won't have to travel by
clipper ship around Cape Horn, or through the Isthmus of Panama, or even by
wagon train. All of those were
long and dangerous. Now we can get
to from California to New York in 10 days!
Of course,
if President Lincoln hadn't signed the Pacific Railroad Act, business men would
not have done this.
NARRATOR
Why I see
President Lincoln (or his ghost rather) has also come to join this ceremony.
PRESIDENT
LINCOLN
I signed
the Pacific Railroad Act in 1862.
This Act did 3 things which helped make it possible for this railroad to
be built. These were:
1. Creating loans for the companies that would build the
railroad. They would get $16,000 a
mile when they built on flat land, $32,000 a mile when they built on sloping
land, and $48,000 a mile for building in the mountains, like the Sierra Nevada.
2. The Act also gave 6400 acres of land to the railroad
companies for every mile they built.
3. The Act created the two railroad companies, the Central
Pacific and the Union Pacific.
I see some
Central Pacific and Union Pacific workers would like to tell you about their
work on the railroad.
CENTRAL
PACIFIC WORKER 1
It was a
tough job building the Central Pacific line. But the Big 4, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Collis
Huntington and Mark Hopkins were up to the job.
The hardest
part was building through the Sierra Nevada mountains. There were huge avalanches and snow
storms. We had to build 15 tunnels
through solid granite. At first,
we were only able to get through 8 inches a day. Then we got nitroglycerine and that helped us dig out up to
18 inches a day.
CENTRAL
PACIFIC WORKER 2
Of course,
we couldn't have done it without the Chinese workers. At first, Charlie Crocker did not want to hire them because
they were only about 4 feet, 10 inches tall and weighed only about 120 lbs. But they turned out to be hard workers
and were very dependable. The CP
paid them about $30 a month in gold coin.
Once we got
through the Sierra Nevada, the desert was really hot! But we were on a race to get to Ogden, Utah first. We even laid 10 miles of track in one
day. That's a record that's never
been beat. Altogether, we laid 690
miles.
And now,
the Union Pacific would like to say somethingÉ..
UNION
PACIFIC WORKER 1
We didn't
get started as soon as the Central Pacific and we got off to a slow start. But then Thomas Durant, our Vice
President, hired Grenville Dodge.
Dodge had been a general in the Civil War and really knew how to get
things done. He hired many new
workers, most of them Irish and then we really started laying track!
We did have
to solve some real resource problems though. For example, there weren't any trees in Nebraska we could
use to build our railroad ties. We
had to go up to the North Platte to get them. Then, when we got into the desert we had to haul water 50
miles to get drinks for the men.
UNION
PACIFIC WORKER 2
We had
other challenges too. When we got
to the Great Plains we had many problems with some of the Indian tribes
there. They didn't like how we
took over their land and killed so many buffalo. To them, the buffalo were important for food, clothing and
tools.
We managed
to get through though and we've laid 1,086 miles of track to get where we are
today– Promontory Summit.
NARRATOR
Thank you
CP and UP workers. Now we have two
more important men who would like to make brief comments. May I introduce Grenville Dodge and
Charles Crocker.
CHARLES
CROCKER
We are
finally here! There were times I
wondered if this could really happen, and there were times that I wanted to
quit. But we've done it– and in
half the time most people thought it could be done. I'd like to congratulate everyone!
GRENVILLE
DODGE
I second
that! Congratulations
everyone! As the Construction
Chiefs for our railroad companies, Charles Crocker and I were responsible for
getting the railroad built. But we
couldn't have done it without all the people who were involved and worked on
the line. There were many
different kinds of jobs and all of them were important to finishing this.
NARRATOR
Thanks to
both of you. But now it's time to
let the people in the other cities know what is happening.
TELEGRAPH
OPERATOR
I'll send
this message. "Almost ready. Hats off; Prayer is being offered."
THE
REVEREND DR. TODD
Our Father
and God, God of Creation and God of Providence, thou hast created the heavens
and the earth. ÉÉ O Father, we desire to acknowledge thy
handiwork in this great work, and ask thy blessing upon us here assembled, upon
the rulers of our government and upon thy people everywhere; that peace may
flow unto them as a gentle stream, and that this mighty enterprise may be unto
us as the Atlantic of thy strength and the Pacific of thy love, through Jesus,
the Redeemer, Amen.
NARRATOR
Now the two
Supervisors of Construction, Strobridge for the Central Pacific, and Reed for
the Union Pacific, will bring up the last tie.
REED AND
STROBRIDGE
This
ceremonial tie is made of polished laurel wood and has a silver plaque in the
middle of it, commemorating this great day. Let's put the tie in place. The Chinese will lay the last two rails.
CHINESE
(2)
We are
honored to be chosen to lay the last two rails. (Pretend to put the rails down.)
TELEGRAPH
OPERATOR
I've sent
this message. "We have done
praying. The spike is about to be
presented."
CHICAGO
We
understand. All are ready in the
East.
SPIKE
PRESENTOR
This last
spike was made to celebrate the completion of the Transcontinental
Railroad. It is almost pure
gold. On one side it lists the
officers of the CP and on another side, the directors. Another side reads "The Pacific
Railroad ground broken Jany 8, 1863 and completed May 8th 1869.
On the
final side it has the words, "May God continue the unity of our Country as this
Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world."
I am giving
this spike to Leland Stanford, President of the Central Pacific.
TELEGRAPH
OPERATOR
"All ready
now. The spike will soon be
driven. The signal will be three
dots for the commencement of the blows."
Leland
Stanford and Thomas Durant will drive the spike with a silver maul.
LELAND
STANFORD AND THOMAS DURANT
(Come to
the center and pretend to drive
the spike.)
TELEGRAPH
OPERATOR
"DONE!"
CITIES
(Cheer
loudly!)
LELAND
STANFORD
I'm sending
a telegram to General Ulysses S. Grant, the President of the United
States. The telegram reads: "Sir:
We have the honor to report that the last rail is laid, the last spike is driven. The Pacific Railroad is finished."
Great Railroad Race - Interactive
Railroad Project