The Final Spike: Connecting the Cascade Division
A commemorative ceremony at the west portal of the Stampede Pass tunnel marks a massive milestone for Northern Pacific Railway expansion.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The last spike of the Cascade Division of the Northern Pacific Railroad was driven near the west portal of the tunnel on the Stampede Pass track at 6:01 p.m. today. A number of persons, including officials of the road, civil engineers, trainmen, and other railroad employees, gathered at the point of the junction of the rails. Assistant Superintendent J. M. Buckley was the master of ceremonies. The dispatcher's office had been connected with the St. Paul office direct, so that the officials there could be informed of the occurrence. Mrs. U. K. Stuts, wife of the Assistant Chief Engineer of the Cascade Division, stepped to the front and broke a bottle of champagne near the last spike. Then she seized a ponderous hammer and with a gentle tap sent it into the yielding wood of the tie. Several other ladies then took a turn at the hammer, and when the spike was half way driven, Mr. Buckley raised the maul and sent home the final blow. Assistant General Manager Buckley’s private car then passed over the newly laid track. The scene of the driving of the last spike was photographed by an artist who was present.
“Mrs. U. K. Stuts, wife of the Assistant Chief Engineer of the Cascade Division, stepped to the front and broke a bottle of champagne near the last spike. Then she seized a ponderous hammer and with a gentle tap sent it into the yielding wood of the tie.”
The completion of the Stampede Pass tunnel in 1887 was the crucial link that allowed the Northern Pacific Railroad to establish a direct, year-round line into Seattle, effectively cementing the city's status as a western rail terminus. Today, the Stampede Pass remains a vital, if occasionally embattled, freight corridor, illustrating the century-long struggle to balance transcontinental logistical demands with the rugged geography of the Cascades.
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