What Changed In 1869?

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This page was last updated on September 26, 2026.

What changed with the coming of the railroad in 1869? The arrival of the transcontinental railroad fundamentally transformed Utah's freight wagon and and passenger coach networks, and the nation-wide mail network. This was especially true between Echo and Salt Lake City.

The Golden Pass (Parleys Canyon) -- Information about the road east of Salt Lake City, by way of Parleys Canyon, that originated as a toll road built by Parley P. Pratt. He called it the "Golden Pass."

U. S. Mail, 1850-1869 (Mail Coaches, Stage Coaches and Pony Express) -- Information about the early transcontinental mail routes, including the Pony Express. This was how the mail was moved cross-country before the railroad.

First Telegraph -- Information about the first telegraph in Utah, including a brief narrative of its place in the nation's network, and its connection to the existing network in California. This changed how the eastern states communicated with the West.

Freight Wagons -- Information about how rapidly freight wagons and mail coaches abandoned the old Pioneer road (via East Canyon, Big Mountain Pass, and Emigration Canyon), in favor of new routes in Silver Creek and Three Mile canyons, and lower Parleys Canyon.

Map Showing Pioneer Route of 1847 Compared to The Golden Pass Road -- A map illustrating the evolving historic routes from Echo to Salt Lake City.

Echo To Salt Lake City, 1847-1914 -- Information about the trails and roads between Echo and Salt Lake City by way of the original Pioneer Trail of 1847, and by way of Silver Creek and Three Mile canyons. The routes ere used by early mail and stage coaches, then by early automomibles up to the Lincoln Highway.

Silver Creek and U. S. 189, 1914-1962 -- Information about U. S. Highway 189, and the route through Silver Creek Canyon that first was the route of the Lincoln Highway in 1914, and after 1962, the route of Interstate 80.

Iron and Steel -- Information about the foundries, machine shops and steel fabricators in Utah in the period of 1850 to 1950. These companies helped form Utah's industrial base, especially the mines, mills, and factories. These were the companies that make machines that make machines.

Nail Making -- Information about early nail-making in Pioneer Utah. Nails were a precious commodity in Utah until the mid 1860s, when wagon-hauled freight rates along the Overland Route became much better established. Low-cost railroad freight rates chnaged nail making in Pioneer from a local cottage industry, in which nails were hand crafted by blacksmith, to an early local industry using machines imported by freight wagon from the Eastern states. The first nail-making machines arrived in Utah in 1859, and nail factories were built in several communities. By the mid 1860s, the Union Pacific railroad was building west from Omaha, and the wagon-freight route grew shorter and more cost efficient, all with Salt Lake City as the destination. Then when the railroad arrived in first Ogden, then in Salt Lake City, freight rates plummeted, and the cost of a pound of nails went from almost $1 in many cases, down to 10 cents.

Granite For The Temple -- Information about the movement of granite for the LDS Salt Lake City temple. The logistics of moving granite for the temple in the 1860 to 1891 period, by wagon then by railroad, were significant and resulted in several innovations, including the first point switch in the nation, in 1872.

Granite Quarries -- Information about the granite quarries of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

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