THURSDAY. JULY S. 1962
MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFOHD. OREGON
Lincoln Signed
Land Grant Act
100 Years Ago
Br JAMES R. OUINN
Omaha, Neb. UPD One hun
dred ye an ago on July 1.
Abraham Lincoln scratched
his signature on a document
known as the Railroad Land
Grant act.
Less than seven years la
IS A
ua. i . i " 1-u.w-n.i i fjii r w ii i it i i i ii
13. X I
ter, the new law had made
possible two ribbons of steel
track stretching 1.775 miles
irom Omaha to Sacramento,
Calif. The law opened the way
to the west.
The Land Grant act provid
ed that large tracts of land be
given several railroad corpor
ations. In return, the railroads
agreed to lay tracks.
The Union Pacific Pailroad
company was the first to be
commissioned. The company
was granted nearly 19 million
acres of public domain, most
of it territory known only to
the Indians, stagecoach driv
ers and pony express riders.
Central Pacific's commission
ing followed a short time la
ter.
In what the government
called ' one of the marvels of
the age," the Union Pacific
and Central Pacific laid the
track from Omaha to Sacra
mento in less than seven cal
endar years.
The final "golden spike"
was hammered into place at
Promontory, Utah, May 10,
1868. The life line to the west
was complete.
The transcontinental tele
graph wire, finished only 7'i
years earlier, chattered out to
the nation the single word:
Done. I
The road, based on millions
of heavy wood ties, was built
by Union Pacific forces work
ing west from Omaha and
Central Pacific crews working
east from bacramcnto.
From Omaha the Union Pa
cific branch laid down 1,086
miles of track, despite bitter
weather and the raids of the
great plains Indian tribes who
were becoming alarmed over
Hie Increasing migration of
whites. The men who did it
were mostly Irish immigrants.
from oacramento, more
than 12,000 Chinese coolies
shouldered an even tougher
Job. There was heavy blast
ing through the Sierra Ne
vada and Rocky mountains.
There were the same fierce
weather and Indian raids.
On one 60-mlle stretch
alone, IS tunnels had to be
blasted through the mountains.
The Union Pacific, the only
rail link to the west until
completion of the Northern
Pacific in the middle 1880s,
triggered the first stage of a
trans - Mississippi population
explosion.
' In 1860, the population of
the entire west was just over
a million persons. Most of
these lived within a day's
travel of the Mississippi riv
er.
Just 30 years later, the U.S.
census bureau counted more
than 25 million persons west
of the Mississippi. They in
cluded miners, trappers, busi
nessmen and farmers - farm
ers who flooded in by the
thousands to take advantage
n( provisions of the Home
stead act, signed only 40 days
before the Railroad Land
Grant act.
The "iron horse" of the late
1800s proved quickly It could
conquer the great American
desert, the Rockies, Sierras
and the weather.
Where a stagecoach trip
from Omaha to Virginia City.
Nev., had required 17 days
and nights of travel before
1862, a rail trip from Omaha
to Sacramento now took less
than a week.
The railroad speeded the
industrial revolution of the
late 19th century, putting ag
riculture and timber deposits
of the west within reaching
distance of the industrial east.
The railroad also brought
the security needed by the
growing population. Gen
wuiiam r. Sherman, army
commander of the wert after
the Civil war. said the rail
road was "positively essential
to the binding together of the
republic."
Private Electric
Energy Sales Dip
Salem - fllTD - Jonel C. Hill,
Slate Public Utility Commis
sioner, said Tuesday that pri
vate electric energy sales In
Oregon dropped slightly in
May, compared to May, 1061
During May, 462.000 resi
dential customers consumed
more than 36.1 million kilo
watts hours - .25 of a per cent
below May of last year.
This is the first month sime
March, lf)5R, when electric
energy sales have not in.
creased over the previous
year.
Hill quoted a spokesman for
the biggest electric utility in
Oregon - Pacific Power &
Light Co. - as saying a com
bination of weather, billing
lag, and lost of revenue due
to a sale of an operating area I
accounted for tht leveling off. I
i : LT A A V AAV
I I t V J II I I l lX I I ill i I ! i l A 1 1 i Zl V V L-l 11 II
Hi H n U 1UJJJLU LL -xu JJ jLXA JLL
t Wn. 1 II : II
I ; - I A ll : :
ViV V
H t II SjZzXZS 11 II II 111 I
m ohm
I I l .. 11 II T-' T . J lllltiVN
I'll ( , II L i r wvilli
I -V . I 1 II CTY J I
4&ri1k. anil email mAnfhlv niumonl
I I . - I tS II XT a 'X. Atin&ZMhKfm itV I ii i s r
i w , p ii ii n x ywmmiAX noius vour selection i ran . . .
i i : v vs bl ii ftdifi . x a saw' cxiti v
2&'f i II I I L Bra i v &ti mmx'?twtxz
i ill ii i irwr-xM- v . msjr kMii.mhm?xki
VIV )V$ A. Softspoken fur blends; lambswool, nylon
A XVI I -1 II f I I Jl . : ;I sW-f' HCZ' k 14 ' ,UI "' lo'iuica in our sweaier sniri.
M A .VV.I II fc.J Vil S&. in . ,iuu.J.-J....J c.oo....
i f iff m- ii yrmttmc riw s. JL
v r.:'3 .mmWY'w .
is , i M rriS S'B Wr-m l ' S rS - nere 15 -unizen s msnoann pullover, ai.ye;
1 , iTJl " , A 11 Ii f i i U I s .XA . . ...
1 . ,U II II f i I X ,1.1 y S M)Ii witn our fur l-ancy bk,rt 512.93. Sizes 34-
I Mi im --------
m : M WAf iN3S . r ness, Remedy matched to an a,l woo.
l 8 1 1 iMIf W Man F,annel skirt of sti,ched down "lea,s-
II f R II ill- A rf X Cardigan 34-40, $13.98. Skirt 8-18, $14.98.
vaunt's ii i I d i n - iw i , i x
1 1 v-- f 11 r ?rr s v S:
j X&l II t I D. Jantzen Janessa, the new flat knit is here
V-jf II gfr'tr'-':, ff Iff in fashion's newest art form. Venetian roses
(' XX II sJtfMX JrbLlK $22.98; over a Sweater Skirt with elasti-
I j j'-':fhj 1 C'Ze W"'St s'zes 34'4' 8"18'
V III I'if'-' j fym v"f"J'i' E. Renaissance, a dimensional medallion de-
1 ! B. J( WS 'Cj-li. sign in flat knit Jantzen Janessa, $19.98,
V V y- ' 'Vi"''?C"v5rC'' i with a Date Maker Sleeveless dress, elasti
Y ES OPEN
h lmf FRIDAY NIGHT
II IIIPAnil IJ Lv . - . I ' rit'Lt ..V f - IIL Zl.llll
II InrllHMIll II r )l 'f-t :t. if
II mi viininb II 'aafr L.S ( "rtfV ii-
MODELING 4 VWM'i
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 1 "6 " VI , v
July 6 and 7 l W? lii W f&fA ' ' ? :
Mann's Second Floor ')l y? f A?'if!'
12:00,3:00,.. : 4 1 f ...Xr
By Senior High : "A Great Store in a Great Country"
Fashion Board Members ,0 1 Wo.Ctral - 215 E. Main 773-7484
$ust wean a smmlHe amid a Jasntcaeini . . .