THE DASH TO PROMONTORY

It seems to have been the intent of Congress throughout that the two companies should build until they met, then, wherever this might be, join their rails and form a continuous line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast. But at each step in the evolution of Pacific Railroad legislation, Congress found it impossible to frame the statutes with sufficient precision to prevent the companies from interpreting them to serve their own purposes. Both companies had very cogent reasons for wishing to build and operate as large a share of the Pacific Railroad as possible. And they were willing to pay a very high price to attain this goal.