When Thomas Jefferson acquired the west in 1803, most people thought it would take a couple of centuries to make it livable and “civilized” for “proper folk.” But no matter the differences in opinion on time, it was a unanimous thought that the west would be developed, and the “Americans” would be the ones who developed it according to God’s plan. There was just one minor drawback. The Indians.
The Indians had been nothing but a source of frustration for the white settlers. Never mind that the white man was encroaching on Native lands, looting, bringing diseases, raping, killing. This was the white man’s land and it was his “manifest destiny” to make the country fit to live in!
By 1853, thousands of Native Americans were forced to move westward, abandoning their homes, to make way for the white settlers. Jefferson Davis, then secretary of war, authorized army engineers to explore the five best routes to the Pacific. This was the beginning of the construction of the railroad. By July of 1862, President Lincoln signed the Railroad Act of 1862 , choosing Omaha, Nebraska as the eastern terminus. Congress decided on the longitude.
The two railroad companies then were the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. The Central Pacific started out in Sacramento, California in January of 1863. The Union Pacific started in December of 1863 at the Missouri River bluffs near Omaha, Nebraska.
The Union Pacific, having flat land to work with, was able to build at a faster pace than the Central Pacific. But the Union Pacific had a bigger obstacle to work around than even the biggest mountain the Central Pacific faced. The Indians.
By the time of the building of the railroads, the Native American had had enough. They had been forced from their lands. They had watched their children die from starvation because of the needless slaughter of the bison. Many of their people had died as a result of the white man’s quest for land and power. The settlers had brought diseases, alcohol and guns. They had been forced on the infamous Trail of Tears, where many died from cruelty, starvation, and the elements. No wonder they were warring!
The Nevada Office Superintendent Indian Affairs, Carson City, January 9, 1866:
“...The rapid construction of the Pacific railroad, running as it will directly through these reservations, will necessarily consume the greater portion of the timber, as well as scatter the Indians from their present location. I cannot too strongly urge upon the department the necessity of an early removal of these Indians...”
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