American Experience (1988)

Episode Overview

The intense competition between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific to build a transcontinental railroad culminated on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Point, Utah. Narrator Michael Murphy describes the project as both "the engineering marvel of the 19th century" and "a flat-out swindle." Historian Wendell Huffman, one of the commentators, refers to it as "the technological manifestation of Manifest Destiny," while it also sealed the fate of the Plains Indians. As Murphy notes, once the final spike was driven, "America could take its place as the first nation in the world."