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In 1927, Stanford deposited the spike for safekeeping in the vault of Well Fargo Bank & Union Trust Company in San Francisco.

In 1892, he donated his art collection and keepsakes - including the famous gold spike - to the museum at the newly opened Leland Stanford Junior University in Palo Alto, California. Shortly after the ceremony, Hewes reclaimed his gold spike. Thus is the greatest undertaking of the 19th century accomplished. The speeches are good and our band played pretty well until they had taken too much ardent spirit. Everybody who is sober enough is scribbling some are cheering some laughing and throwing up their hats and it is a festive scene. Twenty or thirty prominent newspapers have reporters here.

Half a dozen telegraph offices are crowded with applicants. Much nonsense was got off but we had a jolly day. …”Īfter the ceremonies and speeches, the real celebration began. Our regiment marched up, stood at parade rest while our pictures were being taken. Nattie and myself were permitted to give a stroke upon the hammer. Two beautifully decorated engines, one from each road advanced till their guards touched the engineers climbed out and broke a bottle of champagne across the space and shook hands. The telegraph wire were so arranged that the taps were flashed to all parts of the United States so that eager thousands in N.Y., Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia and other large cities at that moment knew the rail was laid and the Pacific Road complete! Truly it is worth a trip from New Hampshire to see this alone. A telegraph wire was attached to the spike at a given signal one-two-three strokes or taps were made with the silver hammer. The officers of the ‘U.P’ advanced from the East and those of the ‘C.P.’ from the West. A rail was then taken by workmen and put in its place, a spike of solid gold was then produced with a silver hammer. A laurel wood tie beautifully polished and appropriately engraved was then brought out, and by the two highest officials of each road present was placed in position. Ceremonies were opened with prayer by a Minister from Massachusetts. We have just witnessed the laying of the last rail, crowds commenced assembling at 7 o’clock. Captain Currier recorded the historic events of that day in his diary, which is now preserved in the Wells Fargo Corporate Archives. 21st Infantry regiment were being redeployed from Virginia to the Presidio of San Francisco, and on their way became the first military unit to complete a journey west by train. Army officer, Captain John Charles Currier, and his newlywed wife, Nattie. Among the crowd gathered to celebrate the laying of the final rails was a young U.S.