Qualla: Golden Spike

Golden Spike: Introduction

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wjenning, CC BY-SA 3.0. Leland Stanford raised the silver maul and swung. He missed. So did David Hewes. The crowd pressed so close that the ceremony devolved into cheerful chaos, but it hardly mattered. The single word "done" had already been telegraphed across the nation, announcing that the first transcontinental railroad was complete. The golden spike itself, a 17.6-karat ceremonial object manufactured by the William T. Garratt Foundry in San Francisco, was never meant to hold rails together. It was a symbol, and within moments of being driven on May 10, 1869, it was removed lest souvenir hunters steal it. The spike that united a continent now rests at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University.

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Image: Wjenning | CC BY-SA 3.0

Golden Spike: The Brainchild

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The original uploader was Americasroof at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.5. The idea of a gold spike came from David Hewes, a San Francisco financier and contractor with a flair for the dramatic. He commissioned the spike especially for the May ceremony, having two sides engraved with the names of railroad officers and directors. The event itself drew so...

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Image: The original uploader was Americasroof at English Wikipedia. | CC BY-SA 2.5

Golden Spike: The Chinese Legacy

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown, Public domain. A common myth holds that no Chinese workers appear in the famous photographs of the ceremony. This is false. Stanford University's Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project identified two Chinese laborers in Andrew J. Russell's iconic "handshake" photograph. More appear i...

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Image: Unknown | Public domain

Golden Spike: What Came After

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Promontory ceremony marked a milestone, but not the finish line. Neither Sacramento nor Omaha was a seaport, and neither had rail connections when designated as termini. Western Pacific completed the line from Sacramento to San Francisco Bay on September 6, 1869. The U.S. Sup...

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Image: Chris Light | CC BY-SA 4.0

Golden Spike: Remembering and Forgetting

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The original uploader was Mr Snrub at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0. By 1904, the Promontory route was obsolete. The new Lucin Cutoff crossed the Great Salt Lake directly from Ogden to Lucin, cutting 43 miles from the journey. Main line trains no longer passed over Promontory Summit. In 1942, the original rails were pulled up for World War II scra...

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Image: The original uploader was Mr Snrub at English Wikipedia. | CC BY-SA 3.0

Golden Spike: A Spike in Culture

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit United States Mint, Public domain. The golden spike has driven its way into American culture. John Ford depicted the ceremony in The Iron Horse (1924), now preserved in the National Film Registry. Wild Wild West (1999) staged a fictional assassination attempt at the ceremony. Hell on Wheels ran multiple seasons on...

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Image: United States Mint | Public domain