The transcontinental railroad was joined at Promontory, Utah in 1869. The railroad played a major role in employing African-Americans. Approximately 300 African-Americans were employed on the Union Pacific's work crews in 1865, but numbers would later grow as they were employed as porters and waiters. While there were few African-American rail workers present at the "Last Spike" ceremony at Promontory, there were African-American soldiers on hand. Here, three companies of the U.S. Army's Twenty-first Infantry enroute to San Francisco are shown.

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