Editing Golden spike (section)

== History ==
{{See also|First Transcontinental Railroad#The "Last Spike" ceremony}}

Completing the last link in the transcontinental railroad with a spike of gold was the brainchild of [[David Hewes]], a [[San Francisco]] financier and contractor.<ref name="Bowman">Bowman, J.N. [http://cprr.org/Museum/Bowman_Last_Spike_CHS.html "Driving the Last Spike at Promontory, 1869"], ''California Historical Society Quarterly'', Vol. XXXVI, No. 2, June 1957, pp. 96–106, and Vol. XXXVI, No. 3, September 1957, pp. 263–274.</ref> The spike had been manufactured earlier that year especially for the event by the William T. Garratt Foundry in San Francisco. Two of the sides were engraved with the names of the railroad officers and directors.<ref name="Bowman"/> A special [[Railroad tie|tie]] of polished [[California laurel]] was chosen to complete the line where the spike would be driven.<ref name="Bowman"/> The ceremony was planned to be held on May 8, 1869 (the date engraved on the spike), but it was postponed two days because of bad weather and a labor dispute that delayed the arrival of the Union Pacific side of the rail line.<ref name="Bowman"/>

[[File:The Last Spike 1869.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''The Last Spike'' painting by Thomas Hill (1881)]]
On May 10, in anticipation of the ceremony, [[Union Pacific No. 119]] and Central Pacific No. 60 (better known as the ''[[Jupiter (locomotive)|Jupiter]]'') locomotives were drawn up face-to-face on Promontory Summit.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11371/ |title = Ceremony at "Wedding of the Rails," May 10, 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah |website = [[World Digital Library]] |date = May 10, 1869 |access-date = July 20, 2013 }}</ref> How many people attended the event is unknown; estimates run from as few as 500 to as many as 3,000; government and railroad officials and track workers were present to witness the event.<ref name="Bowman"/>

Before the last spike was driven, three other commemorative spikes, presented on behalf of the three other members of the Central Pacific's [[The Big Four (Central Pacific Railroad)|Big Four]] who did not attend the ceremony, had been driven into their places in the laurel tie that had been bored in advance:
* a second, lower-quality gold spike, supplied by the San Francisco ''News Letter'', was made of what in 1869 was $200 worth of gold and inscribed: ''With this spike the San Francisco News Letter offers its homage to the great work which has joined the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.''
* a silver spike, supplied by the State of [[Nevada]]; forged, rather than cast, of {{convert|25|ozt|g}} of unpolished silver
* a blended iron, silver, and gold spike, supplied by the [[Arizona Territory]], engraved: ''Ribbed with iron clad in silver and crowned with gold Arizona presents her offering to the enterprise that has banded a continent and dictated a pathway to commerce.''<ref>{{Cite news|title=Deseret Morning≈News|date=April 24, 2007}}</ref> This spike was given to Union Pacific president, [[Oliver Ames Jr.|Oliver Ames]], following the ceremony. The spike was donated to the [[Museum of the City of New York]] in 1943, by a descendant of [[Sidney Dillon]].<ref name="Christie's 2023">{{cite web |url=https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-a-steel-railroad-spike-clad-in-gold-6410978/ |title=A Steel Railroad Spike Clad in Gold and Silver Used in the Ceremony Marking the Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, 10 May 1869 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2023 |publisher=[[Christie's]] |access-date=January 29, 2023}}</ref> It was, for a time, on display at the [[Union Pacific Railroad Museum]] in Council Bluffs, Iowa.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news/local/union-pacific-museum-has-hidden-gem-from-golden-spike-ceremony/article_9725f542-6a88-5c9b-9eb2-acd540781343.html|title=The Daily Nonpareil|last=Rohwer|first=Tim|date=October 18, 2015|access-date=July 8, 2016}}</ref> The Museum of the city of New York sold the spike in January 2023, via auction, to benefit other items in its collection. The winning bid totaled {{US$|2.2}}{{nbsp}}million<ref name="Christie's 2023" />

The golden spike was made of 17.6-[[Carat (purity)|karat]] (73%) copper-alloyed gold, and weighed {{convert|14.03|ozt|g}}. It was dropped into a drilled hole in the ceremonial last tie and gently tapped into place with a ceremonial silver [[spike maul]]. The golden spike was engraved on all four sides:
* ''The Pacific Railroad ground broken January 8, 1863, and completed May 8, 1869''
* ''Directors of the C. P. R. R. of Cal. Hon. Leland Stanford. C. P. Huntington. E. B. Crocker. Mark Hopkins. A. P. Stanford. E. H. Miller Jr.''
* ''Officers. Hon. Leland Stanford. Presdt. C. P. Huntington Vice Presdt. E. B. Crocker. Atty. Mark Hopkins. Tresr. Chas Crocker Gen. Supdt. E. H. Miller Jr. Secty. S. S. Montague. Chief Engr.''
* ''May God continue the unity of our Country, as this Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world. Presented by David Hewes San Francisco.''<ref name="Bowman"/>

The original golden spike was removed immediately after being hammered in, to prevent it from being stolen. 

[[File:Hewes Family Golden Spike at the California State Railroad Museum (cropped).JPG|thumb|left|upright|Duplicate Hewes Family Golden Spike (California State Railroad Museum)]]
A duplicate golden spike, exactly like the one used in the ceremony (except for the date), was cast at the same time, but engraved at a later time and bearing the correct Promontory date of May 10, 1869. It has been noted that the first Golden Spike engraving appeared "rushed". The duplicate golden spike, the Hewes family spike, bears lettering that appeared more polished. Unknown to the public, the duplicate golden spike was held by the Hewes family until 2005 and it is now on permanent display, along with [[Thomas Hill (American painter)|Thomas Hill's]] famous painting ''The Last Spike'', at the [[California State Railroad Museum]] in Sacramento.<ref>[http://www.parks.ca.gov/events/event_detail.asp?id=1656 California State Parks]</ref>

With the locomotives drawn so near, the crowd pressed so closely around Stanford and the other railroad officials that the ceremony became somewhat disorganized, leading to varying accounts of the events. ''On the Union Pacific side, thrusting westward, the last two rails were laid by Irishmen; on the Central Pacific side, thrusting eastward, the last two rails were laid by the Chinese!''<ref name="dobie">{{cite book |last1=Dobie |first1=Charles Caldwell |title=San Francisco's Chinatown; Chapter IV: Railroad Building |date=1936 |publisher=Appleton-Century Co |location=New York |page=85}}</ref> A. J. Russell stereoview No. 539 photograph shows the "Chinese at Laying Last Rail UPRR". Eight Chinese workers laid the last rail, and three of these men, Ging Cui, Wong Fook, and Lee Shao, lived long enough to participate in the 50th anniversary parade. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the participating Chinese workers were honored and cheered by the CPRR officials and that road's construction chief, J. H. Strobridge, at a dinner in his private railroad car.<ref>[http://cprr.org/Museum/Newspapers/SF_Newsletter_1869.html ''San Francisco Newsletter & California Advertiser''] Vol IX, No. 15. Transcontinental Railroad Postscript Supplement, p. 4. May 15, 1869</ref>

To drive the final spike, Stanford lifted a silver spike maul and drove the spike into the tie, completing the line. Stanford and Hewes missed the spike, but the single word "done" was nevertheless flashed by telegraph around the country. In the United States, the event has come to be considered one of the first nationwide [[media event]]s. The locomotives were moved forward until their [[cowcatcher]]s met, and photographs were taken. Immediately afterward, the golden spike and the laurel tie were removed, lest they be stolen. They were replaced with a regular iron spike and normal railroad tie. At exactly 12:47&nbsp;pm, the last iron spike was driven, finally completing the line.<ref name="Bowman"/>

After the ceremony, the Golden Spike used in the ceremony was donated to the [[Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts|Stanford Museum]] (now [[Cantor Arts Center]]) in 1898. The ceremonial laurel tie was destroyed in the fires caused by the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake]].<ref name="Bowman"/> A replica of the laurel tie, dedicated in late 2024, is on display in the Gravity Car Barn Museum on [[Mount Tamalpais]].<ref>[https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/laurel-tie-replica-mount-tamalpais-museum-19916826.php San Francisco Chronicle]A tiny museum on Mount Tam now houses a re-creation of a lost piece of California history</ref>
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{{gallery
|align = center
|header = 
|width  = 200
|height = 150
|File:First Transcontinental Rail.jpg|The ''Jupiter'' leads the train that carried the ceremonial spike, Leland Stanford, one of the "Big Four" owners of the Central Pacific Railroad, and other railway officials to the Golden Spike Ceremony
|File:East and West Shaking hands at the laying of last rail Union Pacific Railroad - Restoration.jpg|Photograph by [[Andrew J. Russell]] of the celebration following the driving of the "Last Spike" at Promontory Summit, Utah, May 10, 1869. Because of [[temperance movement|temperance]] feelings the liquor bottles held in the center of the photograph were removed from some later prints.
|File:69workmen.jpg|May 10, 1869, Celebration of completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
}}