Bill Lee: “on May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven into the last link joining the rails of the first transcontinental railroad…”

“on May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven into the last link joining the rails of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, UT. Made of 17-carat gold and driven into a predrilled hole in the very last ceremonial tie, it bore the inscription: ``May God continue the unity of our country as this railroad unites the two great oceans of the world.'' Indeed, it did, with the joining of the Union Pacific Railroad, stretching from the Missouri River near the Iowa-Nebraska border, and the Central Pacific Railroad, stretching from Sacramento, CA--east met west. The United States became truly united. As the spike was struck, a telegraph was sent around the Nation, and bells rang out from coast to coast. This moment, you see, gave lots of people throughout the United States and lots of people in my State of Utah in particular access to what they needed to grow, to thrive, to prosper, to feed their families; that is, access to other people. Throughout the history of humanity, people have needed access to other people. That is why great civilizations have sprung up along great rivers and in areas where they had access to an ocean port. It is one of the reasons why, throughout much of history, people in land- locked regions of any country, including our own, very often have a hard time making a living. The introduction of the railroad started to help to change that.…”