To reach Oregon, Union Pacific Railroad organize the Oregon Short Line Railway Co. in 1881 and built from Wyoming westward across Idaho in the same year. Oregon Railway & Navigation Co. was building eastward from Portland. Tracks of the two railroads met at Huntington in November 1884.
The Last Spike was driven on November 25. Henry Thielsen, O.R.& N. Chief Engineer, set the spike, E.C. Smeed, U.P. Assistant Chief Engineer, struck the first blow, other dignitaries tapped the spike in place with a small hammer. Trains began running on December 1, 1884, between Portland and Omaha, Nebraska, giving Oregon its most direct connection with the East.
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