Golden Spike National Monument, Utah

On May 10, 1869 at 2:47 PM bells in the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., a large fire bell in Sacramento, CA, and a cannon near the Golden Gate all simultaneously sounded. The event that caused this was the driving of the Golden Spike by Leland Stanford to connect the east and west coast of the United States by rail. The telegraph was connected to his sledge-hammer and when he struck the spike the signal instantly went from coast to coast. The location was a high, dry landscape in Northern Utah that was called Promontory. This event changed the future of the country and manifest the industrial ingenuity and tenacity that exemplifies the U.S.A. This historic moment is captured by Eric Dowdle in his new painting, “Golden Spike.” Bringing his humor to widen the scene and reflect more of the area at the time, this piece is fun for its history and additional asides about this historic event in American History.