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Background
CPRR Construction History
UPRR Construction History

ACROSS THE CONTINENT.—THE FRANK LESLIE TRANSCONTINENTAL EXCURSION.—
THE EXCURSION TRAIN ROUNDING CAPE HORN AT THE HEAD OF THE GREAT AMERICAN CANON, WITH
A VIEW OF THE SOUTH FORK OF THE AMERICAN RIVER, WHERE  GOLD WAS FIRST DISCOVERED IN 1848.
Frank Leslie Transcontinental Excursion Train, hand-colored engraving,
New York, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, April 27, 1878,
pp. 128-129. Size: 15 x 20 1/2".
Original hand colored image courtesy Ed Sherman, California Images.
Digital Photography, image modification courtesy Bruce C. Cooper.

On March 2, 1827, Congress granted to the State of Illinois certain lands to aid in the construction of a canal "to connect the waters of Illinois and Lake Michigan." (4 Stat., 284.)

March 2, 1833, Congress authorized the above grant to be diverted, and a railroad constructed with the proceeds of said lands. This was the first Congressional enactment providing for a land grant in aid of a railroad, but was not utilized by the State. (4 Stat., 662.)

The first right of way (30 feet on each side of its line) through the public lands for a railroad, with use of timber within 300 feet on either side, and 10 acres of land at terminus, was granted to a Florida company March 3, 1835. (4 Stat., 778.)

On July 2, 1836, the right of way through the public lands was granted to the New Orleans and Nashville Railroad Company, and in this act first appears the requirement to file a description of the route and surveys in the General Land Office. Some additional privileges were granted, and a limitation was imposed, requiring the company to begin the construction within two years, and to complete it within eight years, and in case of non-compliance with these provisions the grant to be forfeited. (5 Stat., 65.)

The first important railroad act was that of September 20, 1850: "An act granting the right of way and making a grant of land to the States of Illinois, Mississippi, and Alabama, in aid of the construction of a railroad from Chicago to Mobile." (9 Stat., 466.) This grant gave the State of Illinois alternate sections of land (even-numbered) for six sections in width on either side of the road and branches, being a grant of specific sections.

The second section initiated the "indemnity" practice, or the granting of lands to the company in lieu of lands within the original grant occupied by legal settlers at the time of the definite location of the route, to be taken within 15 miles of the road, and attached to the grant a limitation upon their disposition.

The third section provided that the lands of the United States within the grant limits should not be sold at less than double minimum price, being an increase of the price of lands from $1.25 to $2.50 per acre, or from single to double minimum. It provided for forfeiture of the grant, with payment to the United States, by the State, for lands sold, in case of failure to construct the road within a certain fixed time. Unsold lands were to revert to the public domain, and purchasers from the State to have good title. This was providing for default and reversion there after. The road was to be a public highway, to be used by the Government free of toll or other charges, and the mails were to be carried at prices fixed by Congress. This act extended like terms and conditions to the States of Alabama and Mississippi in aid of the Mobile and Ohio road, which was to connect with the Illinois Central and branches, all of which roads are now established.

The Hannibal and Saint Joseph and Missouri Pacific Railroads were the roads built under the act of June10, 1852: "An act granting the right of way to the State of Missouri, and a portion of the public lands, to aid in the construction of certain railroads in that State." (10 Stat., 8.) This act contained two features in addition to the main provisions of the Illinois grant, viz: a plan of disposition of the lands granted, and a cause directing the Secretary of the Interior to offer at public sales, at periods, at double minimum price, the reserved Government sections. The provisions of the Illinois bill requiring the States to reimburse the Government for lands sold, in case of default, were not in the Missouri act; and in the Arkansas act of February 9, 1853 (10 Stat., 155), the section to "offer" the reserved lands was omitted.

June 29, 1854, a grant was made to the Territory of Minnesota for the purpose of aiding the construction of a railroad from the southern line to the eastern line of the Territory. (10 Stat., 302.) This act was very different from any yet passed. It was an unusual thing to make a grant to a Territory. Its provisions were more full and definite, and selections under authority and supervision of the Interior Department was ordered. This act was repealed by act of August 4, 1854. (10 Stat., 575.) The Supreme Court of the United States sustained the repealing statute and this grant became forfeited. (Rice vs. Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad, 1 Black, U. S. R., 358.)

The series of grants to Iowa and other States in 1856 (11 Stat., 9, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 30), and the Minnesota act of 1857 (11 Stat., 195) were in form and substance similar to the Missouri grants of June 10,1852.

As early as 1838 a public meeting was held at Dubuque, Iowa, for the purpose of expressing opinions favorable to the construction of a railroad to the Pacific coast. Public attention was again directed to it, and interest revived about the time of the settlement of the Northeastern boundary question by the Webster-Ashburton treaty of 1842.

In 1845 Senator Douglas proposed a grant of alternate sections of land to the States of Ohio, Indian a, Illinois, and Iowa, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Lake Erie, via Chicago and Rock Island, to the Missouri, River, and prepared a bill (upon which he issued an address to his constituency) to organize the Territory of Nebraska, extending from the Missouri River westward, &c., as well as a bill to organize the Territory of Oregon, from the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and to reserve to each of said Territories the alternate sections of land for 40 miles on each side of a line of railroad, from a point on the Missouri River where the Lake Erie road should cross the same, and thence to the navigable waters of the Pacific, in the Territory of Oregon, or on the bay of San Francisco, in the event that California should be annexed in time.

After the admission of California into the Union in 1850, and up to 1862, a host of measures were proposed in Congress for a railroad to the Pacific Ocean, and frequent reports were made by a select committee in each House. The main provisions of the bills reported favorably were that Congress should make an appropriation of lands, varying in the different bills from fifteen to forty sections per mile, from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and providing that the President of the United States should receive sealed proposals from contractors for the construction of the road; contractors to construct at their own expense, and own it when constructed ; the United States to make conveyance of the lands granted as fast as the road should be completed through the same. The Government was to make a contract in advance for the transportation of the mails, Army and Navy supplies, and all other freight for the Government to be determined by bids. These bids were to be received on the following points: First, within how short a time will the contractors complete the road? Second, at what rate per annum will the contractors carry the mails and Government freights for a period of twenty y ears from the date of the completion of the road?

When all bids were received the President, in the presence of the Cabinet and other persons, was to open the bids and assign the contracts to those contractors whose bids should be most favorable to the interests of the United States, having in view the shortness of time for completion and the cheapness of transportation upon it.

During the years 1853 to 1856, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1853 (10 Stat., 219), the Government of the United States, under the War Department, organized and executed a series of surveys and explorations from the Mississippi River westward to the Pacific Ocean, for ascertaining the most practicable and economical railroad route to the Pacific Ocean. The report reviewed the resources and prospects of the following routes: The extreme northern route (Stevens's) between the forty-seventh and forty-ninth parallels, north latitude; the route of the forty-first parallel (Mormon route); the route of the thirty-eighth parallel (Benton's great central or Buffalo Trail route); the route of the thirty-fifth parallel (Rusk's route); and the route of the thirty-second parallel (El Paso and Gila to the Pacific) through the Gadsden Purchase.

Pending the campaign of 1856 mass meetings were held and legislatures petitioned, so strong was the popular desire to have Congress take some definite steps to promote the building of a railroad across the continent.

Both the Republican and Democratic parties adopted resolutions in their conventions of 1856, and again in 1860, pledging themselves in support of it.

The Presidential candidates favored it in their speeches, and Presidents Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln, in their messages to Congress, recommended legislative aid. (H. R. Ex. Doc. 47, Forty-sixth Congress, third session.)

All these forces bearing upon Congress led to the enactment of a law, July 1, 1862, entitled "An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes." (12 Stat., 489.) This was the charter act of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and conferred certain privileges, and made grants to several other railroad companies then existing under State charters. It provided for the appointment of two directors on the part of the Government by the President of the United States, who were to act with the directors of the company. (The act of July 2, 1864, increased the number of Government directors to five.)

This act empowered the Union Pacific Railroad Company "to lay out, locate, construct, furnish, maintain, and enjoy a continuous railroad and telegraph, with the appurtenances, from a point on the one hundredth meridian of longitude west from Greenwich, between the south margin of the valley of the Republican River and the north mar-gin of the valley of the Platte River, in the Territory of Nebraska, to the western boundary of Nevada Territory," subject to the terms of the act. At the western boundary of Nevada it was to meet and connect with the line of the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, a corporation then existing under the laws of that State, which by this act was authorized to construct a railroad and telegraph line from the Pacific coast at or near San Francisco, or the navigable waters of the Sacramento River to the eastern boundary of the State of California, upon the same terms and conditions in all respects as were provided for the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and it was further provided that the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, after completing its line to the eastern boundary of California, should continue constructing eastward until it should meet and connect with the Union Pacific, and the whole line of railroad from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean was completed.

Right of way was granted through the public lands to the extent of 200 feet in width on each side of the track, and a grant of land to the amount of five (increased to ten by act of 1864) alternate sections per mite on each side of the road within the limits of 10 (increased to 20) miles on each side of the road, not sold, reserved, or otherwise disposed of by the United States at the time of the definite location of the line. All mineral lands were excepted from the operation of this act.

Upon the completion of each 40 consecutive miles of railroad, and the presentation of a statement to that effect, verified on oath, by the president of the company to the President of the United States, he was to appoint three commissioners to examine the same, and upon their certificate that such section was properly constructed, patents to the granted lands within said section were to be issued. (The act of 1864 changed this to sections of 20 miles in length.)

It also provided for a Government subsidy in bonds equal to $16,000 per mile for that portion of the line between the Missouri River and the base of the Rocky Mountains; $48,000 per mile for the distance of 150 miles through the mountain range; $32,000 per mile for the distance intermediate between the Rocky and Sierra Nevada ranges, and $48,000 per mile for a distance of 150 miles through the latter range of mountains.

These bonds were of value $1,000 each, payable thirty years after date, bearing interest at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually, and were in the nature of a loan of credit by the United States, and were made a first-mortgage lien on the whole line of railroad and telegraph and all its appurtenances, but by section 10 of the act of 1864 they were made a second mortgage or subordinate lien to bonds of the same tenor and amount which the respective companies were authorized to issue. The companies were to pay these bonds at maturity, but in the mean time all compensation for services rendered for the Government was to be withheld by it and applied to the payment of said bonds and interest, and in addition thereto they were required to pay a sum equal to five per centum of the annual net earnings of said roads. It has since been held that the Government is only entitled to withhold compensation for services rendered on the aided portions of the road. United States vs. Kansas Pacific Railway (99 U. S. R., 455), Union Pacific cases (16 C. Cls., 353), and Treasury Circular No. 83, dated July 27, 1883.

This act was amended May 7, 1878, by what is generally known as the " Thurman act" (20 Stat., 56), which also provides in section 2 that the whole amount of compensation for services rendered shall be withheld. Section 3 provides that there shall be established in the Treasury of the United States a sinking fund, which shall be invested by the Secretary of the Treasury in bonds of the United States. Moneys withheld under section 2 are not applied as in ordinary cases, first to extinguishment of interest, but under section 4 are credited to the companies respectively-one-half of the amount of transportation retained and 5 per cent. of net earnings to the bond and interest account, and the remainder of 25 per cent. of net earnings to the sinking fund, the difference being that that which is credited on bond and interest account bears no interest, and that which is invested in the sinking fund earns for the companies the interest of its investment until the maturity of the bonds, when the whole accumulated fund will be applied toward the payment of the debt.

If, however, at any time the Secretary of the Treasury was satisfied that the remainder or 75 per cent. of their net earnings was insufficient to pay the interest for that year upon the obligations of either company existing as a paramount lien to that of the United States, and that said interest had been paid out of such net earnings, it was made his duty to remit so much of the 25 per cent. as had been applied to the payment of such interest. If either company defaulted in the payments required by this act it was prohibited from declaring any dividend until such payments were made.

This sinking fund is held by the Government for the protection and security of its own interests, and those of the lawful holders of any lien paramount to its own. (For the condition of the bond and interest, and sinking fund accounts June 30, 1883, see pages 7 and 12 of this report.)

The act of July 1, 1862, incorporating the Union Pacific Railroad Company, was formally accepted by the directors September 2, 1862, and acceptance filed in the Department of the Interior June 26, 1863.

Construction. - The chief engineer of the road, in his report to the president of the company, December 1, 1869, says: "In 1863 and 1864 surveys were inaugurated, but in 1866 the country was systematically occupied, and day and night, summer and winter, the explorations were pushed forward through dangers and hardships that very few at this date appreciate. As every mile had to be run within the range of the musket, there was not a moment's security.

"In making the surveys numbers of our men, some of the ablest and most promising, were killed, and during the construction our stock was run off by the hundreds-I might add by the thousands. Each day taught us lessons by which we profited the next, and our advances and improvements in the art of railway construction were marked by the progress of the work; 40 miles of track having been laid in 1865; 260 in 1866; 240 in 1867, including the ascent to the summit of the Rocky

Mountains, at an elevation of 8,235 feet above the ocean; and during 1868, and to May 10, 1869, 555 miles" (were built), "all exclusive of side and temporary tracks, of which over 180 miles were built in addition.

"The first grading was done in the autumn of 1864, and the first rail laid in July, 1865. * * All the material and supplies for construction had to be transported hundreds and thousands of miles by teams, or at best by steamboats."

He says, further, that the lack of confidence in the project, even in the localities to be the most benefited, was so great that laborers demanded their pay in advance before they would perform a day's work.

The map showing the definite location of the first 100 miles of road was filed in the General Land Office October 24, 1864. It was amended December 14, 1864.

The map showing the location of the last or thirteenth hundred miles west from Omaha was filed January 8, 1869.

Maps showing location of routes between Promontory Summit and Monument Point, Utah, were filed May 10, 1869.

The dates of acceptance of completed sections by the President are as follows:
 

Omaha to 40th mile-post, 40 miles, January 24, 1866.

40th to 65th mile-post, 25 miles, May 1, 1866.

65th to 105th mile-post, 40 miles, June 25, 1866.

105th to 125th mile-post, 20 miles, July12, 1866.

125th to 160th mile-post, 35 miles, August 8, 1866.

160th to 205th mile-post, 45 miles, September 8, 1866.

205th to 240th mile-post, 35 miles, October 12, 1866.

240th to 270th mile-post, 30 miles, November 6, 1866.

270th to 305th mile-post, 35 miles, January 2, 1867.

305th to 345th mile-post, 40 miles, June 10, 1867.

345th to 385th mile-post, 40 miles, July 5, 1867.

385th to 420th mile-post, 35 miles, August 27, 1867.

420th to 455th mile-post, 35 miles, October 1, 1867.

455th to 490th mile-post, 35 miles, November 4, 1867.

490th to 510th mile-post, 20 miles, December 11, 1867.

510th to 540th mile-post, 30 miles, January 25, 1868.

540th to 560th mile-post, 20 miles, May 25,1868.

560th to 580th mile-post, 20 miles, May 16, 1868.

580th to 600th mile-post, 20 miles, June 12, 1868.

600th to 62.0th mile-post, 20 miles, June 16, 1868.

620th to 640th mile-post, 20 miles, July 21, 1868.

640th to 660th mile-post, 20 miles, July 23, 1868.

660th to 680th mile-post, 20 miles, July 23, 1868.

680th to 700th mile-post, 20 miles, August 8, 1868.

700th to 720th mile-post, 20 miles, August 27, 1868.

720th to 740th mile-post, 20 miles, September 5, 1868.

74Oth to 760th mile-post, 20 miles, September 5, 1868.

760th to 780th mile-post, 20 miles, September 28,1868.

780th to 800th mile-post, 20 miles, October 21, 1868.
 
 

800th to 820th mile-post, 20 miles, November 19, 1868.

820th to 860th mile-post, 40 miles, December 5, 1868.

860th to 880th mile-post, 20 miles, December 12, 1868.

880th to 900th mile-post, 20 miles, Deceniber 16, 1868.

900th to 920th mile-post, 20 miles, December 23, 1868.

920th to 940th mile-post, 20 miles, December 23, 1868.

940th to 960th mile-post, 20 miles, January 28, 1869.

960th to 980th mile-post, 20 miles, February 9, 1869.

980th to 1,000th mile-post, 20 miles, February 9, 1869.

1,000th to 1,085.88th mile-post, 85.88 miles, July 15, 1869.

By a joint resolution of April 10, 1869 (16 Stat., 56), it was provided that the common terminus of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads should be at or near Ogden, Utah, and that the Union Pacific Railroad

Company should build, and the Central Pacific Company pay for and own, the road from Promontory Summit, 53 miles west from Ogden, from which place said roads should form one continuous line.

The number of miles of road constructed and accepted during each governmental fiscal year is as follows:
 

Year ending June 30, 1866 105

Year ending June 30, 1867 240

Year euding June 30, 1868 275

Year ending June 30, 1869 380

Year ending June 30, 1870 85.88

Up to April, 1867, the road was run by the contractors for the line, Since that time it has been run by the company.

The Union Pacific Railroad Company, the Kansas Pacific Railway Company, and the Denver Pacific Railway and Telegraph Company were consolidated January 24, 1880, and formed the

The number of miles of railroad acquired by this consolidation was as follows:
 

Council Bluffs to Ogden (including Omaha bridge and approaches) 1,037.4

Ogden to junction with Central Pacific 5

Kansas City to Denver 638.5

Denver to Cheyenne 106

Leavenworth to Lawrence 34

Total 1,820.9

The total number of miles of road owned and operated in the interests of the company on December 31, 1882, was 2,872. The average number operated during that year was 2,484. (See table on page 27 of this report.)

Union Pacific Railroad Company. - The length of road subsidized is 1,038.68, miles, upon which the United States issued bonds to the amount of $27,236,512. The total amount of land covered by the grant was 13,384,089 acres, of which 1,954,523.08 had been certified or patented up to June 30, 1883. The General Land Office estimates the amount of land to be obtained by the company, after deducting that disposed of by the United States previous to the definite location of the road, to be about 12,000,000 acres. The location of the lands may be generally stated as follows: 4,800,000 acres in Nebraska, 4,600,000 acres in Wyoming, 700,000 acres in Colorado, and 1,100,000 acres in Utah, of which it may be said that 3,500,000 acres are agricultural lands, 4,000,000 acres are grazing lands, and 3,700,000 acres desert or waste.

Kansas Pacific Railway Company. - This company, originally known as the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad Company, and afterwards as the Union Pacific Railway Company, Eastern Division, was chartered by the Territory of Kansas February 1, 1855, and received from the United States, under the Pacific Railroad act before referred to, a grant of bonds and land to aid in the construction of its railroad and telegraph line. The grant of bonds was $16,000 per mile for 393.9425 miles of its line, or from Kansas City, Mo., to a point between Monument and Gopher Stations, Kans., amounting to $6,300,000. The land grant was twenty sections, or 12,800 acres, to the mile for a distance of 638.6 miles, or from Kansas City, Mo., to Denver, Colo. The total number of acres covered by the grant is 8,174,000, of which 963,714.03 acres had been certified or patented up to June 30, 1883. Deducting the amount disposed of by the United States previous to the location of the road, the General Land Office's estimate of the ]ands this company will receive is about 6,000,000 acres, located about as follows: 2,600,000 acres in Colorado, and the rest in Kansas; of this, say one-third are grazing lands and two-thirds agricultural.

Denver Pacific Railway and Telegraph Company. - This company was incorporated November 19, 1867, under the general laws of the Territory of Colorado relating to corporations, and was organized December 14, 1867, with a Board of Trustees. The first annual meeting of stockholders was held on December 14, 1868, when permanent officers were elected.

By the act of Congress approved March 3, 1869 (15 Stat., 324), the Union Pacific Railway Company, Eastern Division, was authorized to transfer to the Denver Pacific Railway and Telegraph Company all the rights and privileges, subject to all the obligations, pertaining to that part of its line of railroad and telegraph between Denver City and Cheyenne. Under this law the company obtained its land grant of twenty sections, or 12,800 acres per mile.

The length of road constructed is 105.89 miles, which entitles the company to 1,355,292 acres of land; but the General Land Office estimates the grant which the company will eventually receive as 1,100,000 acres, of which 164,751.51 had been certified or patented up to June 30, 1883. All these lands are "agricultural," and located in Colorado.

A thorough examination of the property and accounts of the Union Pacific Railway Company was made this summer, a report of which will be found in detail on pages 21 to 36, inclusive.

The Central Pacific Railroad of California was organized June 28, 1861, under the general railroad law of California, with authority to construct a railroad from Sacramento to the eastern boundary of the State.

The conditions of the Congressional act of July 1, 1862, were formally accepted by the company October 7, 1862, and acceptance filed in the Department of the Interior December 24, 1862.

Construction. - The work of construction was commenced in February, 1863, and by January 31, 1865, the road was opened from Sacramento to New Castle, 31 miles; to Colfax, 56 miles, September 4, 1865; to Cisco, 94 miles, November 9, 1866; and to the eastern boundary of the State, 138 miles, by November 14, 1867. In 1868, 362 miles were constructed, and the line opened to a junction with the Union Pacific near Ogden, Utah, May 15, 1869.

The Sierra Nevada Mountains are crossed at an elevation of 7,042 feet above the sea level. It is characteristic of all rivers draining the western slope of the Sierra that they run in deep and tortuous cañons, impracticable for railroads. It is equally difficult to cross them at right angles. These physical features compelled the company to follow the ridges or divides between the rivers. Upon these a favorable line was found, involving no grade over 116 feet to the mile, and this for about 3 1/2 miles. From the summit of the Sierra eastward to the lowest point on the line in the great basin, near the sink of the Humboldt, the descent is 3,110 feet, distributed over 115 miles. Upon either face of the Sierra for 168 miles the line is either level or ascends uniformly. The eastern slope of the Sierra is much more gentle than the western. After the valley of the Truckee River is reached, at a distance of about 8 miles from the summit, the average descent is about 30 feet to the mile. From the lowest point in the Great Basin, which is elevated 3,952 feet above the sea, the line ascends in a distance of 300 miles to an elevation of 6,225 feet, at a point a little east of the Humboldt Wells. The ascent of 2,273 feet is very uniformly distributed. From this second summit the line descends by pretty uniform gradients 1,935 feet into Salt Lake Valley, in a distance of 120 miles. The difference between the lowest point on the line in the valley of the Humboldt and the lowest point near Salt Lake is 348 feet. The distance between the two is 420 miles. (See Poor's Railroad Manual.)

The first map of definite location of this road, "from Sacramento, Cal., to a point 50 miles east thereof," was filed in the General Land Office October 20, 1864, and the last one, "from Monument Point to Echo Summit, head of Echo Canon, Utah," was filed October 20, 1868. Maps of construction have been filed, with affidavits of the chief engineer of the company, bearing the dates following:
 

Sacramento, Cal., to the 31st mile-post, October 19, 1865, and from the-

31st to 74th mile-post, September 28, 1866.

74th to 94th mile-post, October 1, 1867.

94th to 114th mile-post, June 16, 1868.

114th to 138th mile-post, November 14, 1867.

138th to 158th mile-post, May 2, 1868.

158th to 178th mile-post, July 2, 1868.

178th to 215th mile-post, July 28, 1868.

215th to 255th mile-post, August 8, 1868.

255th to 290th mile-post, August 29, 1868.

290th to 310th mile-post, September 7, 1868.

310th to 330th mile-post, September 10, 1868.

330th to 350th mile-post, September 26, 1868.

350th to 370th mile-post, October 16, 1868.

370th to 390th mile-post, October16, 1868.

390th to 410th mile-post, November 12 1868.

410th to 430th mile-pest, 'November 13, 1868

430th to 450th mile post, December 28, 1868

450th to 470th mile post December 24, 1868

470th to 490th mile post Jannary 8 1869

490th to 510th mile post January 28, 1869

510th to 530th mile-post, February 6, 1869

530th to 550th mile-post, February 16, 1869

550th to 570th mile-post, March 12, 1869

570th to 610th mile post, March 30 1869

610th to 630th mile post April 5 1869

630th to 650th mile post, April 13 1869

650th to 670th mile post, April 28 1869

670th to 690th mile post May 6, 1869

From the 690.3th mile-post to Ogden, Utah, the road was constructed by the Union Pacific Railroad Company.

The number of miles constructed during each fiscal year was as follows:

Year ending June 30, 1866 31

Year ending June 30, 1867 43

Year ending June 30,1868 84

Year ending June 30, 1869 532.3

Total 690.3
 

The number of miles acquired by this consolidation was:
 

Junction with Union Pacific to Sacramento 737.50

Brighton, Cal., to San José, Cal 123.16

Total 860.66

Central Pacific Railroad. - The length of road subsidized is 737.5 miles, upon which the United States issued bonds to the amount of $25,885,120. The total amount of land covered by the grant was 9,440,000 acres, of which 780,879.40 had been certified or patented up to June 30, 1883. The Land Office estimates the amount as disposed of previous to the location of this road as 1,440,000 acres, which would leave 8,000,000 to be obtained by the company under this grant. Most of the lands remaining and not patented to the company lie in the desert country between Salt Lake and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The Western Pacific Railroad. - This company was organized December 13, 1862, under the laws of the State of California. The length of road subsidized by the Pacific Railroad act is 123.16 miles, upon which the United States issued bonds to the amount of $1,970,560. The land grant was 12,800 acres to the mile, or 1,576,448 acres for the whole line, had none lying within the Territory been previously disposed of. The amount that may be obtained by the company, as estimated by the General Land Office, is 1,100,000 acres, of which 446,230.65 had been certified or patented up to June 30, 1883. The Western Pacific Railroad Company had disposed of its lands prior to its consolidation with the Central Pacific.

On September 1, 1869, the Central Pacific leased 5.64 miles of road, from Sacramento to the junction of the Western Pacific at Brighton, from the Sacramento and Placerville Railroad Company, and the line was opened to San José September 15, 1869.

The San Francisco Bay Railroad Company was chartered July 25, 1868, and was consolidated with the Western Pacific Railroad Company November 2, 1869, and opened the line from Niles to San Francisco about December 1, 1869.

By leasing the line of the Sacramento and Placerville from San Francisco to Brighton, and running trains via that route, that portion of the Western Pacific subsidized line between the American River junction and Brighton, about 3 miles, was abandoned as main track, and has since been used for storing cars. On the opening of the road from Niles to San Francisco, it at once became a part of the main line, and that portion of the road from Niles to San José was thenceforth used only as a branch road. By this route the distance from Ogden to San Francisco is 895 miles.

On August 22, 1870, the following-named companies were consolidated into the Central Pacific Railroad Company:

The California and Oregon Railroad Company, a consolidation December 18, 1869, of the California and Oregon Railroad Company, organized June 30, 1865 (into which the Marysville Railroad Company, organized November 29, 1865, was consolidated January 16, 1868), and the Yuba Railroad Company, organized November 17, 1862.

The San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda Railroad Company, a consolidation June 29, 1870, of the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad Company, organized March 25, 1863 (into which the San Francisco, Alameda and Stockton Railroad Company organized December 8, 1863 was consolidated October 15, 1868), and the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, organized October 21, 1861.

The San Joaquin Valley Railroad Company, organized February 5, 1868.

The number of miles of road acquired by this consolidation is as follows:

Central Pacific; San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda 906.71

California and Oregon 151.60

San Joaquin Valley 146.08

Total 1,204.39

On July 1, 1876, the Central Pacific leased the California Pacific Railroad for thirty years, at an annual rental of $550,000 and three-fourths of the net earnings in excess of that amount, but on January 1, 1880, the rental was changed to $600,000 per annum. The road thus acquired included that portion between South Vallejo and Sacramento. A small part of the Northern Railway was also leased in 1876, but January 1, 1880, the Central Pacific leased 112.61 miles of the last-named road for a term of five years, at $570,000 per annum. This lease included that portion of the road from West Oakland to Port Costa, and from Port Costa to Suisin, thus, by connection with the line leased from the California Pacific, opening a new route from San Francisco, via Benicia, to Sacramento, which was adopted as the through main line, thus shortening the distance from Ogden to San Francisco 61 miles. On January 1, 1880, the San Pablo and Tulare Railroad, from Martinez to Tracy, 47.58 miles, was leased for a period of five years.

The records of the General Land Office give as the number of acres of land certified or patented during each governmental fiscal year the following figures:
 

Year ending June 30, 1866 45,510.54

Year ending June 30, 1867 77,257.46

Year ending June30, 1868 21,618.63

Year ending June 30, 1870 117, 138.70

Year ending June 30,1871 9,480.52

Year ending June 30,1872 160

Year ending June 30, 1875 70,247.39

Year ending June 30, 1876 82.79

Year ending June 30, 1877 352,662.96

Year ending June 30, 1878 14,703.18

Year ending June 30, 1881 12,572.51

Year ending June 30, 1883 59,444.72

Total (Central Pacific proper) 780 879.40
 

Report on the property and accounts of this company, as ascertained from the books of this office, and an inspection trip made this summer, will be found on pages 36 to 44 and 91 to 96 of this volume.

The above matter substantially completes an abstract of the history of the construction of the "Union-Central route."
 
 

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