ghtened ideas, assisted by young and vigorous intellects, met and
conquered prejudice and moneyed opposition, and opened a new
commercial era in the annals of the Union. But it was not accomplished
without a long and wearying struggle, in which the bull-dog
pertinacity and fierce grip of Sargent was manifested. Day after day,
for weary weeks, in the Committee of the Whole, Sargent and Campbell
stood up alternately, and answered objections as fast as made, in
short, sharp, close and cutting speeches. And night after night, they
held interviews with Eastern Senators and Representatives, while at
their side, supplying them with information on all desired points, sat
Theodore D. Judah, the engineer, earnest and hopeful to the last.
Senators did not nor would not believe that the road could or would be
built. Said Lovejoy, during one of the debates: "Do I understand the
gentleman from California to say that he actually expects this road
to be built?" "The gentleman from Illinois may understand me to
predict that if this bill is passed, the road will be finished within
ten years," responded Sargent. People can now judge between Lovejoy's
and Sargent's ideas of the vigor of the West.

The end came, the bill was finally passed, and the news thereof caused
the hearts of Californians to leap for joy. Ground was broken at
Sacramento, and work was commenced immediately. Another battle was to
be fought, a financial one. Before they could receive any aid from the
Government, forty miles of road must be built and stocked, which would
cost at least four million dollars, for that forty miles carried the
road far up among the Sierras, through a great portion of their heavy
work. Money was "tight"--in fact it always is when a man wants
some--commanding two per cent. per month in California. The
corporators put in their entire fortunes. The city of San Francisco
issued bonds in assistance of the work; the State and several counties
also rendered material aid, but all combined was but a trifle compared
to what was required. C. P. Huntington, then Vice-President of the
road, went to New York for aid, but among the capitalists there he met
the same answer that had been given to Judah by the moneyed men of San
Francisco. Finally, he met with Fisk and Hatch, dealers in government
stocks. They feared not the result of the scheme. These energetic
capitalists with the promptness of young and active minds--while
older capitalists were questioning w