The Pony Express and the first transcontinental telegraph never ran down the Humboldt; both crossed Nevada about a hundred miles south on the shorter Central Route. The corridor became a communications route in 1868, when the Central Pacific strung wire as it laid iron, and highways, power, and fiber have followed the same graded easement since. The series closes on the question of what this route is for and who decides.
Who's who
- James SimpsonArmy surveyor of the Central Route across Nevada
- Howard EganOpened the Central Route as a mail road
- Henry JoyPresident of the Lincoln Highway Association, which chose the Central Route
- Abraham Lincoln+7 more episodesRecipient of the first transcontinental telegraph message in 1861
Where it happens
- Central Route, NevadaLine of US 50; about 280 miles shorter than the Humboldt route
- Humboldt River corridor, NevadaWatered route of the trail, railroad, US 40, and Interstate 80
- Battle Mountain, Nevada+5 more episodesInterstate 80 interchanges carry 8,100 to 8,700 vehicles a day
- Promontory Summit, Utah+3 more episodesEnd point of the 1868-69 railroad build
- Thacker Pass, Nevada+2 more episodesLithium project sixty miles north of the interstate
Timeline
- 1861The Pony Express and the first telegraph cross Nevada on the Central Route.
- July 1, 1862The Pacific Railway Act authorizes a railroad and telegraph line.
- 1868-1869The Central Pacific strings wire along the Humboldt as it lays rail.
- November 1926The Victory Highway route becomes US 40.
- June 29, 1956Interstate 80's designation dates from the Federal-Aid Highway Act.
- August 22, 1986The last piece of Interstate 80 opens near Salt Lake City.
Still debated
The thesis that later technologies took the same easement because it was already graded and permitted is the series' own reasoning, not a published finding. No citable study was found on what interstate bypasses did to the towns.
Connected episodes in other series
The Presidents Who Inherited Andrew Jackson's PlaybookAs Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 10Also features Abraham Lincoln
Three Hundred Dollars: How Money Bought a Civil War ExitGreeting: America and the Draft · Episode 3Also features Abraham Lincoln
Manifest Destiny and the Road to WarTake the Land, Not the People · Episode 1Also features Abraham Lincoln
Did the Homestead Act Stop American Socialism?The Deed and the Wage · Episode 5Also features Abraham Lincoln