to join the conversation, like us on facebook. c-span is touring cities across the country exploring american history. asked, a look at our recent visit to cheyenne, wyoming. you are watching american history tv all weekend on c-span3. general dodge laid out cheyenne in 1867. when the newspaper started, they had about 300 people living here. when the railroad arrived, it increased to 3000 people. that is where it got the name magic city of the planeins. we are currently in the cheyenne depot building.

it was constructed in 1886 and 1887. a portion of the west wing has been converted to a railroad museum basically. it is a historic structure in cheyenne. it is the crown jewel of cheyenne as a landmark. the pacific railroad act was signed by abraham lincoln in july of 1862. the plan for pacific railroad had been on the drawing boards for a number of years prior to that. the civil war came about. that delayed construction of the railroad. there was a lot of political pressure where the southern congressmen wanted the route to go along the south and the northern congressmen wanted to go north.

abraham lincoln and general dodge decided together the central route would be the proper route to go. the terrain across wyoming allowed the early construction. a lot less problem than in some other areas. arrived inrain cheyenne in 1867. cheyenne was laid out in 1867 by general dodge. the reason cheyenne was chosen was based on the fact that we had a creek that went through here. it was a source for water and they wanted to build a shop here also at that time. it was the base of the rocky mountains. there was nothing in cheyenne or anywhere here in the west until the railroad came. the railroad is the cause for the development all the

communities along this southern 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. fort russell was a military establishment where they protected the railroad. they needed protection because of the indians. there were a lot of indian uprisings. the indians were not fond of the iron horse coming. they knew this was going to bring civilization and it was going to affect their hunting grounds. which it did. of course transportation was so , important. it was wonderful to be able to travel by train when previously 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 was responsible for that. in 1867, the livestock industry was starting to develop. cattle was the main type of livestock. it was the biggest industry that we had at that time. as the livestock industry gr ew, it was about 1867 when there was a terrible blizzard. the railroad hauled all of that livestock off. to market. it was important to have it. in 1889, the union pacific started a construction program and they built huge facilities here in cheyenne.

cheyenne was selected because it had a line that 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. as time went on, they improved the shops. like the shop building we have over here. it used to be a lot larger. they have reduced it. that building was completed in 1919. cheyenne had the largest shop on the system. 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.

i think the railroad that originated in cheyenne, over the years it has been such an important history to cheyenne -- important industry in cheyenne and wyoming. i don't know how you could think -- look at it any other way. the importance of the railroad it still is. , we 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 at www.c-span.org