by september when the newspapers started, they had about 300 people living here. when the railroad arrived they had 3000 people. got the name it magic city. we are currently in the cheyenne depot building. it it was constructed in 1886 and 1887. a portion of the west wing has been converted to a railroad museum up. it is a historic structure in cheyenne. ofis the crown jewel cheyenne as a landmark. the railroad act was signed by abraham lincoln in 1862.

railroadfor pacific had been on the drawing boards for a number of years prior to that. the civil war came about. that delayed instruction of the railroad. there was a lot of political where the southern congressmen one of the route to go along the south and the northern congressmen wanted to go north. decided theoln central route would be the proper route to go. the terrain across wyoming construction.rly arrived inerrain 1867.

cheyenne was laid out in 1867 by general dodge. wasreason it was chosen based on the fact that we had a creek that went through here. water andource for they wanted to build a shop here also at that time. it was the base of the rocky mountains. there was nothing in cheyenne until the railroad came. the railroad is the cause for the development all the southernes in this part of wyoming. the first construction that occurred here in cheyenne went up to the military base. . it was not a base it was a military establishment. a militaryl was establishment where they

protected the railroad. they needed protection because of the indians. the indians were not fond of the iron horse coming. they knew this was going to bring civilization and it was affecto bring you -- their hunting grounds. which it did. transportation was so important. it was wonderful to be able to travel by train on a stagecoach was the only way across. the mail service was improved so much. bringing in supplies and material for the development of this region. the railroad responsible for that. shock industry was starting to develop. cattle was the main type of livestock.

it was the biggest industry that we had at that time. the livestock industry group. the railroad hauled all of that livestock off. it was important to have it. in 1889, the union pacific started a construction program and they built huge facilities here in cheyenne. because its selected went south to denver. it was intermediate between ogden and omaha. it was selected to handle freight switching and locomotive repairs. that was the beginning of the cheyenne boom.

shops. improved the that building was completed in 1919. even during the depression the man-hours of shops across the union pacific, cheyenne exceeded all of the shops with the man-hours. the railroad was a big employer. at one time the union pacific was the largest employer in cheyenne. railroad that , over the in cheyenne years it has been such an important history to cheyenne and wyoming. how you could think

about it any other way. it still is. -- run 100 trains a day through here. >> throughout the weekend, american history tv is featuring cheyenne, wyoming. the team recently traveled there to learn about its rich history. learn more about cheyenne and other stops on c-span cities tour. you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. >> next on american history tv, author william kristol discusses the advice gleaned from founding fathers' personal correspondence, and it's relevance, particularly advice past by alexander hamilton and john adams to their own families, and why that forged