The Spike Heard 'Round the Region
Update 29
1875-1876
The actions of Finch had reinforced the spirits and resolve of New SorGun, and the town was still on the map - But for how long? Mayor Walker and the other town leaders knew that New SorGun could not survive on an island. To really thrive and become a world class city, they needed a rail connection. And if Northern Pacific wasn’t going to do it, then dang it, this town could come together and do it themselves. On May 1st of 1874 the entire town held a big festival in the shadow of the big SorGun tree – it was deemed a living monument by the first settlers of New SorGun.
The next day (after the hangovers wore off) work began on the tracks. With ground being leveled and railroad ties being laid, the excitement around town was electric.
The New SorGun Railroad Company was born that spring. The plan was to run the line east, over the mountains and connect with the Northern Pacific track in Eastern Washington – creating the shortest and most direct route to the Pacific.
At first, the group of volunteer railroad builders made moderate progress. But after the initial excitement wore off, it became clear that without the proper materials, workers and expertise, the New SorGun Railroad Company was more fantasy than reality. Meanwhile, work on the Northern Pacific line plowed ahead at breakneck pace.
On October 25th 1874, the final spike was driven in the rail line that connected Steamer Bay with Kalama. A simple ceremony was held, attended mostly by the railroad workers and their families.
But despite the lack of pomp and circumstance, the psychological effect of driving the final spike was heard around the region. Suddenly, businessmen and investors were clamoring to get a piece of the terminus pie.
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Neighborhoods were filling up as well. Some just wanted to start a new life, while others were riding the wave of excitement and trying to get rich in the process.
Regardless of the fact that there was thousands of miles of unfinished track through Montana and the Dakotas, the sight of a rail station in Steamer Bay gave Finch’s paper tiger some teeth.
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Steamer Bay experienced unprecedented growth throughout 1875 and by the fall it could claim a population of over 1000 souls and it was competing with New SorGun for the population crown of the region.
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Yet New SorGun was still ticking.
The railroad bosses were determined to pull the thorn that was New SorGun out of their foot. At first they tried to erase the name New SorGun from any train schedules that existed. When that didn’t work, they amended the train schedules to require an overnight stay in Steamer Bay before a boat would make the final connection from Port Haven to New SorGun.
The era of the sail was on the wane.
And steam locomotion was the future.
Would New SorGun rot on the vine, like so many other towns caught in a bygone era?
The Northern Pacific Railroad would like for nothing better than to see New SorGun turn to dust. And as Steamer Bay’s growth boomed through 1876, the railroad big wigs were counting on that very outcome, as they happily counted their money in half a continent away in Minneapolis.
Thanks for stopping by 
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