When in May 1869, on a bare shoulder of Utah the late great Leland Stanford swung a silver maul at a golden spike (which he missed), history was made. The fire bell in Sacramento rolled to the rope. The first of 220 cannon shots was fired on Fort Hill, San Francisco. A two-mile parade stumbled into step in Omaha. Decorations blazed from the wooden lamp posts of Chicago. The chimes-master of Trinity Church at the head of Wall Street in New York played "Old Hundred" on his clanking choir, and President U. S....
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