SCENE BEFORE DRIVING THE LAST SPIKE—PROMONTORY POINT, UTAH, MAY 10, 1869 333 John Duff in front, immediately beneath engine. Sidney Dillon at his left. The Reverend Doctor Todd asking a blessing. Photograph by C. R. Savage for the Union Pacific Railway. THE AMES MONUMENT—UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY 334 Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh. DRIVING THE LAST SPIKE, 3.05 P.M. (NEW YORK TIME), MAY 10, 1869 335 Locomotive "Jupiter" of the Central Pacific, and "119" of the Union Pacific about to meet when last spike is driven. Photograph by C. R. Savage for the Union Pacific Railway. THE LAST TIE 336 Union Pacific Railway, 1869. Made of California laurel polished, and with a silver plate on the side. THE LAST SPIKE 337 Union Pacific Railway. Made of gold. A MODERN FAST TRAIN 337 From _Wonderland_, 1901, Northern Pacific Railway. THE MORMON TEMPLE—SALT LAKE CITY 338 Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh. CANADA LYNX 361 From _Wonderland_, 1904, Northern Pacific Railway. [Illustration] BREAKING THE WILDERNESS [Illustration] CHAPTER I Extent of the Wilderness—The First White Man—The Backbone of the Continent—A Vanished Sea and a Petrified Ocean—The Biggest Trees—The Spike of Gold. The natural habitat of man is the wilderness. No matter how civilised he may become, his heart turns with longing to the woods, to the sea, and to the mountains. There he is unconventional; animals are his compeers, the forest his friend, the free-flowing stream nectar to his lips. Civilised peoples, after all, are but wanderers driven from the Garden of Eden by the sword of necessity. Of the virtues they claim, a large proportion is imperative, the result of conflicting numbers—society's effort to preserve itself. Men are no better, no worse, in the wilderness or in civilisation; nor does race or colour appear exactly to define quality. By noting this at the outset we may be inclined to be more sympathetic; and therefore may better understand the superb wilderness which forms the subject of this work.