The Overland Telegraph Company was one of the organizations responsible for constructing the

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

line which resulted in the first transcontinental telegraph network in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The company built the section of line between Fort Churchill,

Nevada Territory The Territory of Nevada (N.T.) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until October 31, 1864, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Nevada. Prior to the creation of the Nevada T ...

(where it connected to existing telegraph networks in California) and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...

. The first messages between California and the Utah Territory were sent via the new line on the evening of October 24, 1861, completing the transcontinental network. (The section of line between the eastern United States and Salt Lake City had been completed by the

Pacific Telegraph Company The Pacific Telegraph Company was one of the organizations responsible for constructing the telegraph line which resulted in the first transcontinental telegraph network in the United States. The company built the section of line between Julesbu ...

a few days prior.) Soon after the line's completion, the Overland Telegraph Company was absorbed into the

California State Telegraph Company The California State Telegraph Company was a business originally organized to provide telegraph service between San Francisco and Marysville, California. By the spring of 1861, the company had expanded its service area south to Los Angeles, north t ...

, which itself became a part of the

Western Union Telegraph Company The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company chang ...

in 1867.

History

Organization

The

Pacific Telegraph Act of 1860 The Pacific Telegraph Act of 1860 (also known as "An Act to Facilitate Communication between the Atlantic and Pacific States by Electric Telegraph"), was an Act of Congress that authorized the U.S. Treasury to fund the construction of a telegraph li ...

called for the facilitation of telegraphic communication between the east and west coasts of the United States. A contract for construction of the telegraph line, as authorized by the act, was awarded to

Hiram Sibley Hiram W. Sibley (February 6, 1807 – July 12, 1888), was an American industrialist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who was a pioneer of the telegraph in the United States. Early life Sibley was born in North Adams, Massachusetts on February ...

of the

. Sibley and the Western Union would organize (and receive help from) other telegraph companies to build the line. The

had recently consolidated all the existing telegraph companies in California, and was tasked with building the section of transcontinental telegraph line from their existing infrastructure in California and Nevada Territory towards Salt Lake City (where it would meet the line being constructed by the

). To oversee the construction, the California State Telegraph Company's interests incorporated the Overland Telegraph Company in April 1861. The following month, the Overland Telegraph Company was officially organized with Horace W. Carpentier as president, James Gamble as Superintendent and James Street as General Agent.

Construction and operation

Construction started on June 20, 1861 at Fort Churchill and simultaneously from Salt Lake in July. James Gamble—who was managing the work—wrote, "The line was first measured and staked off; the hole-diggers followed; then came the pole-setters, and next the wire party." Between three and eight miles of line were strung per day. The older telegraph line (originally built by the Placerville and Humboldt Telegraph Company) between

Placerville, California Placerville (, ; formerly Old Dry Diggings, Dry Diggings, and Hangtown) is a city in and the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 10,747 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,389 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Sa ...

and Fort Churchill was also replaced. Once the line had been completed to Salt Lake City, the first messages were sent on the evening of October 24, 1861. At 5:13 pm (Salt Lake City time), James Street sent the first message to California from Utah Territory. It was addressed to company president Horace Carpentier, advising him the line was complete and to go to the nearby telegraph office. Less than two hours later,

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

, President of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

, sent the next message. Also addressed to Carpentier, this congratulatory message received a response, resulting in the first back-and-forth communication between

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and Salt Lake City. Shortly thereafter, a message was forwarded to San Francisco informing them that Colonel

Edward D. Baker Edward Dickinson Baker (February 24, 1811October 21, 1861) was an American politician, lawyer, and US army officer. In his political career, Baker served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois and later as a U.S. Senator from Orego ...

—a former politician in California—had been killed at the

Battle of Ball's Bluff The Battle of Ball's Bluff was an early battle of the American Civil War fought in Loudoun County, Virginia, on October 21, 1861, in which Union Army forces under Major General George B. McClellan suffered a humiliating defeat. The operation was ...

a few days prior. News of this event put a damper on the celebrations surrounding the telegraph's completion. Later that evening, messages were also sent from California to

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, President of the United States at the time. The transcontinental telegraph led to the immediate demise of the

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...

Acquisition

The Overland Telegraph Company was absorbed into the California State Telegraph Company in November 1861, (as the officers of the two companies were the same, it was said the companies were "substantially the same concern"). In 1866, the Western Union Telegraph Company acquired a controlling interest in California State Telegraph Company. Then, in May 1867, the California State Telegraph Company ceased operating with the public and its lines became part of Western Union's Pacific Division.

References

External links

Contemporary account of the construction of the transcontinental telegraph

History of the first transcontinental telegraph

Western Union History of telecommunications in the United States Telegraph companies of the United States American companies established in 1861 Telecommunications companies established in 1861 1861 establishments in the United States Defunct telecommunications companies of the United States {{telecom-company-stub