In eleven months in 1868-69 the Central Pacific came up the Humboldt and created six towns, spaced at the intervals a steam locomotive needed for water, fuel, and crews; those are still the Interstate 80 exits. The episode weighs what the railroad took out and charged, notes silences in the record on Chinese labor, and closes with a Battle Mountain convention that formed Nevada's first woman suffrage association in 1870.
Who's who
- Charles Crocker+2 more episodesCentral Pacific construction chief who chose the Winnemucca crossing
- Laura de Force GordonCalifornia suffragist who organized the 1870 Battle Mountain convention
- Emily Pitts StevensCalifornia suffragist who organized the 1870 Battle Mountain convention
- Jane AddamsSuffragist for whom the Overland Limited stopped in 1914
- George LovelockDonated land to the railroad and gave his name to Lovelock
- William Passmore CarlinUnion officer for whom Carlin was named
- George NixonOwner of the Winnemucca bank robbed in 1900; later U.S. Senator
Where it happens
- Battle Mountain, Nevada+5 more episodesSite of the 1870 suffrage convention and the main line
- Winnemucca, Nevada+1 more episodeFounded 1868 at Crocker's chosen crossing
- Elko, Nevada+3 more episodesLots laid out December 1868; Jane Addams spoke here in 1914
- Promontory Summit, Utah+3 more episodesWhere the Central Pacific met the Union Pacific
- Austin, NevadaConnected by the narrow-gauge Nevada Central
Timeline
- 1862The Pacific Railway Act pays in bonds and alternate land sections.
- August-December 1868The railhead reaches Lovelock, Winnemucca, Palisade, Carlin, and Elko.
- May 10, 1869The Central Pacific meets the Union Pacific at Promontory Summit.
- July 4, 1870A Battle Mountain convention organizes Nevada's first woman suffrage association.
- 1881The Nevada Legislature denounces the Central Pacific's rate power.
- 1914Nevada's woman suffrage referendum carries.
Still debated
Battle Mountain's founding date differs by source. No per-mile counts exist for Chinese labor on the Nevada grade, and no documented expulsion of Chinese residents from corridor towns has been found.
