California Chief Justice Stephen J. Field expressed state loyalty to Union in first transmission received by President Lincoln
Western Union completed the transcontinental telegraph, bridging communications between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for the very first time — just as the Civil War tore apart north and south — on this day in history, Oct. 24, 1861.
The lines from each coast were joined in Salt Lake City.
“The people of California desire to congratulate you upon completion of the great work,” the state’s chief justice, Stephen J. Field, wrote in the absence of the governor to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C.
“They believe it will be the means of strengthening the attachment which bind both east and west to the Union. They desire in this the first message across the continent to express their loyalty to that Union.”
“The people of California desire to congratulate you upon completion of the great work,” California chief justice, Stephen J. Field, wrote in the absence of the governor to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., in the first transcontinental telegraph message on Oct. 24, 1861. (Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Abraham Lincoln Papers)
The completion of the telegraph, making coast-to-coast communication faster than ever, instantly rendered obsolete the previous method of transcontinental communication and ended a short but storied chapter in American history.
Led to the modern internet, and ultimately the destruction of humanity. Congrats everyone.
Technology is great without corruption. With no technology, fires would be still getting started by rubbing two sticks together.
No such scenario. Humans = corruption