Northern Pacific had made impressive strides before…

Northern Pacific had made impressive strides before a terrible stumble in 1873.

Rails from the east had reached the Missouri River on June 4.

After several years of study, Tacoma, Washington, had been selected as the road's western terminus on July 14.

However, for the past three years, the financial house of Jay Cooke and Company has been throwing money into the construction of the Northern Pacific.

As with many western transcontinentals, the staggering costs of building a railroad into a vast wilderness have been drastically underestimated.

For a variety of reasons, led by the costs of constructing the railroad itself, Cooke and Company had closed its doors on September 18.

Soon, the Panic of 1873 had engulfed the United States, ushering in a severe recession that will drag on for several years.

The Northern Pacific, however, survives bankruptcy this year, due to austerity measures put in place by President Cass.

In fact, working with last-minute loans from Director John C. Ainsworth of Portland, the Northern Pacific completes the line from Kalama to Tacoma, one hundred and ten miles (one hundred and eighty kiloemters), before the end of the year.

On December 16, the first steam train arrives in Tacoma.