U N I O N PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY
"What Cheer" Dining Hall in Wahsatch, Utah, 1870. This railroad town, located at the divide between the Bear and Weber rivers, had only a short life as the rails pushed across the country.
Opening the Gates of Zion: Utah and the Coming of the Union Paeifie Railroad B Y R O B E R T G. A T H E A R N
D
1866 and 1867 the American reading public became increasingly engrossed in a contest that was developing in an area still frequently labeled the American Desert. Union Pacific Railroad construction crews, off to a slow start in the summer of 1865, now were mounting their attack upon the distances of the plains, with a vigor that attracted national attention. With each passing month the army of workers improved its techniques, added manpower, and commenced to URING THE YEARS
Dr. Athearn, a previous contributor to the Utah Historical Quarterly, is professor of history at _ the University of Colorado and book review editor of Montana, the Magazine of Western History.
