Golden Spike!

Today was the most fun day ever!!! Mom, Dad, Rich, and I took a little road trip up to Promontory Point to see the Golden Spike National Historic Site. It is such a cool place! None of us had been there before, and today we realized the reason behind that fact--Golden Spike NHS is in the middle of nowhere. But it's definitely worth the trip out across the salty desert to reach the site. After all, it was here at this very point that the east coast connected to the west coast in 1869.

Here is a picture of the golden spot. They placed this special railroad tie to mark the meeting of the Central Pacific (coming from the west) and the Union Pacific (coming from the east). It was into this tie that THE golden spike was nailed. Unfortunately THE golden spike is not here in Utah, but rather it is at Stanford University's art museum. The president of the Central Pacific Railroad was Leland Stanford (as in Stanford University), and he brought the golden spike with him, so I guess it makes sense that he took it home with him too. There was an engraving on the the golden spike that read: "May God continue the unity of our Country as this Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world."

Here is an exact replica of Engine 119--the Union Pacific's coal-burning engine.







And here is an exact replica of Jupiter--the Central Pacific's wood-burning engine.





Each day at the park, they do several locomotive runs for visitors. It's so neat! Here is a video of Engine 119 coming down the track:



And here is a video of Jupiter pulling up to the "Last Spike" site:



Isn't that cool?! Here are Rich and Mom with Engine 119.








And here are Mom and Dad in front of Jupiter.











And here I am straddling the golden spike railroad tie. That was quite a feat they accomplished just four years after the end of the Civil War. When the golden spike was pounded into place, telegraph operators sent word to all of the major U. S. cities. There were celebrations all across the country as people realized that the nation was now truly united from coast to coast. We realized today that it is quite significant that in 1869 all imaginable technology barriers were surmounted with the completion of the transcontinental railroad, and just 100 years later in 1969, man landed on the moon--another seemingly impossible technological milestone!

After our very fun visit to Promontory Point, we headed over to Richmond, Utah. We ate lunch at our favorite place: LD's Cafe (they make the world's best hamburgers). Then we went to the Richmond cemetery to visit our ancestor Amanda Barnes Smith's grave. She is Dad's great great great grandmother and is a well-known Church history figure because of her experiences at Haun's Mill, Missouri. Her husband and one son were murdered in the Haun's Mill Massacre, and another son, Alma, had his hip shot out by the mob. Amanda, by divine guidance received through prayer, constructed a poultice that later formed into a new hip for Alma. She was a remarkable woman and my family and I have gained strength and faith from her writings. It was very nice to visit her grave today. After the cemetery stop, we went to the Pepperidge Farm distribution center and the Fat Boy ice cream headquarters--both located in Richmond. As you can imagine, we had some yummy cookies and ice cream. It was a wonderful day!!!