Lyr Add: The Pacific Railroad (George F. Root)

Subject: Lyr Add: The Pacific Rail Road (George F. Root)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 08:40 PM

Lyr. Add: THE PACIFIC RAIL ROAD
(George F. Root, May 10, 1869)

1
Ring out, oh bells! let cannons roar,
In loudest tones of thunder,
The iron bars, from shore to shore,
Are laid, and nations wonder.
Thro' deserts vast, and forest deep;
Thro' mountains grand and hoary,
A path is open'd for all time,
And we behold the glory.

Chorus-
Ring out, oh bells! let cannons roar,
In loudest tones of thunder,
The iron bars from shore to shore,
are laid, are laid, are laid,
are laid, and nations wonder.

2
We who but yesterday appear'd
As settlers of the border,
Where only savages were rear'd
Mid chaos and disorder-
We wake to find ourselves mid-way
In continental station,
And send our greetings either way,
Across the mighty nation.

3
We reach out to'ard the Golden Gate,
And eastward to the oceans;
The tea will come at light'ning rate,
And likewise Yankee notions.
From spicy islands of the West,
The breezes now are blowing,
And all the world will do its best,
To keep the cars a-going.

In 1862 the Pacific Railway Act was passed. In 1869, the route across the nation was completed. The Union Pacific and the Central Pacific met at Promontory Point, Utah.
George Root wrote this song to celebrate the completion.

Lyrics and musical score, pp. 4-5, in Frederic. W. Root & James R. Murray, 1869, "The Pacific Glee Book: A Collection of Secular Music; ...," 304 pp., The John Church Co., Cinncinnati, Chicago, New York.

Not in Cohen, "Long Steel Rail."