PROMONTORY – Crowds of people decked in clothing from 1869 – prairie dresses, top hats and long-coat suits – are celebrating a monumental event in Utah.
And they’re bracing for next year’s even bigger celebration.
Michael Kwan imagines his great-great-grandfather’s backbreaking work building the transcontinental railroad.
“I am so lucky to have had him come to the United States, and he certainly benefitted all the generations that followed,” he said.
Kwan became Utah’s first Chinese-American judge. He’s also president of the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association.
Norm Nelson, president of the Golden Spike Assn., says the railroad changed America.
“That took away a six-month trip from east coast to west coast,” Nelson said. “It was down to ten days. It was a miracle.”
Box Elder County Commissioner Stan Summers invited President Trump for next year’s 150th anniversary.
“John Wayne was at the 100th year anniversary, and I looked at him and said, ‘How am I supposed to ‘trump’ that?’” Summers recalled.
One year from today, organizers expect 20,000 people to celebrate at Promontory.
