Insulator collecting is starting to mature and many collectors are seeking information on the manufacturers and users of these artifacts., This article is an attempt to bring together both historical and descriptive material concerning one of the most important telegraph links ever built.

On August 10, 1857, Hiram Sibley, then a director of the fledgling Western Union Telegraph Company, presented the idea of a transcontinental telegraph to the North American Telegraph Association meeting. The project was well received but nothing further was accomplished until 1860 when Mr. Sibley presented his thoughts to Congress. The plan was enthusiastically supported, probably because of the unifying effect that a rapid communication link between east and vest could provide. Things moved rapidly and on June 16, 1860 a bill was passed authorizing a government subsidy of $40,000 per year for ten years for the line. On September 22, Sibley's offer to build the line was accepted by Secretary of the Treasury Cobb and a contract was signed on November 1. Major points of the Sibley contract were:

1. Construction to be completed within ten years after July 319 1860.

2. Government to have preferential use with a subsidy payment of $40,000 per year for ten years. Usage in excess of the subsidy amount to be paid for at ordinary rates.

3. Tariff between Brownsville (Neb.) on the Missouri River and San Francisco not to exceed $3 per ten words.

4. Messages to be sent free for the Smithsonian Institution, Coast Survey, and National Observatory during the subsidy period.

At the same time in California the recently consolidated California State Telegraph Company showed interest in building the western portion of the line and on April 27, 1860 the California Legislature granted $100,000 aid. At about this time it was decided that the Construction from the east and west would join at Salt Lake City.

On January 11, 1861, the legislature of the Territory of Nebraska incorporated the Pacific Telegraph Company with a capital of $1,000,000; this company represented the interest of Western Union and was assigned the Sibley contract. Jeptha H. Wade was elected president and Sibley vice-president. Similarly, the Overland Telegraph Company was organized by the California State Telegraph Company with a capital of $1,250,000 with construction under the direction of James Gamble. During the winter of 1860 Edward Creighton, a prominent line contractor, had surveyed a route as follows: Omaha - Fort Kearney - Julesburg - Scotts Bluff - Fort Laramie - South Pass Fort Bridger - Salt Lake City - Fort Churchill - Carson City Sacramento - San Francisco. His findings were reported on April 12, 1861 and the route adopted. Creighton offered to build the eastern portion of the line.

Various details were then worked out by the two companies. The Morse and Hughes patent rights were acquired and jointly held. An agreement was reached on splitting tariffs-and the subsidy. General line specifications were:

1. not less than 25 poles per mile.

2. best quality iron wire to be used.

3. line to be insulated in the best manner known.

4. Hicks or Farmer and Woodman repeaters to be used.

5. construction to be completed by July 31, 1862.

Work was started on July 4. 1861 with the Pacific Telegraph Company effort being represented by W.H. Stebbins building east from Salt Lake City for 400 miles and Creighton handling the remainder of the eastern line. The Overland Telegraph Company started a crew west from Salt Lake City and one east from Carson. The section of new line probably was built only from Julesburg to Carson with connection to the east via the Missouri and Western Telegraph Company line and to the west via existing California State Telegraph Company lines.

The eastern line was completed to Salt Lake City on October 24, 1861, and the western section two days later. The lines were connected and transcontinental messages were transmitted on November 15. The line was very profitable from the start. The construction had taken only four months and eleven days and the most hostile and desolate section of the continent had been traversed. During construction four crews worked as a team: one surveyed the route, one dug holes for the poles, one cut and set poles, and one strung the single iron wire; 10 - 12 miles of advance were made per day.

After construction the Overland Telegraph Company was absorbed into its parent the California State Telegraph Company and on March 17, 1864 the Pacific Telegraph Company merged with Western Union. On June 12, 1866, Western Union purchased control of the California State Telegraph Company, thus gaining control of the entire line.

With completion of the transcontinental railroad in May 1869, lines were moved along the right-of-way and large portions of the original line were probably abandoned. Some sections serving military forts remote from the railroad were undoubtedly kept in use for a number of years longer.

We have retraced portions of the line in western Wyoming between Fort Bridger and Fort Stambaugh; this was a section kept in use after the coming of the railroad and we feel that it was not abandoned until about 1880. Across this high desert country it is still possible in places to follow the line from pole stub to pole stub. It is a credit to the engineers who constructed the line that 108 years later it is still possible to follow their alignment and pace the regular distance between poles.

We have found three types of unembossed threadless insulators as well as three types of embossed threaded insulators along the line. The threadless ones are illustrated and the threaded are described only by their Tibbitts and/or Woodward number. (View Picture)

Like Tibbitts 2-102. Wood covered. The glass was cemented to both the pin and the cover with pitch. The wood appears to have been treated with a preservative. The glass is deep aqua.

The manufacturer is unknown. Some collectors refer to these as "Wade" insulators, referring to J.P. Wade, president of the Pacific Telegraph Company. There are no mold seams evident and it appears as if these insulators were made in a one-piece mold; there is some evidence that they were twisted slightly when they were removed from the

Threadless No. 2

Also dubbed a "Wade" insulator This one was wood covered with pitch being used as the cement as with No. 1. This is a more complex insulator with a series of dot and dash protuberances on the outer surface and a series of dot punctuation The pin hole; there is also a continuous ridge around the lower portion of the insulator. The purpose of-these adornments was no doubt to allow a better grit) to the wood on either side of the glass. There is a mold seam up each side of the glass at these vanish at the top, suggesting a three-part mold. The punctuations inside the pin hole must have been added with a separate tool after the plunger had been removed. These, too, are a deep aqua glass The manufacturer is unknown but a pattern of three dots and two dashes is repeated twice around the circumference of the insulator. This translates to S.M. or possibly S. McKee. No. 1 and No. 2 insulators occur with about the same frequency and there is no direct evidence that one preceded the other, although No. 2 appears to be an improved design. Fine complete specimens of No.2 can be seen in the museum at Fort Bridger, Wyoming.

Threadless No. 3

This is the "Compromise" style of threadless which did not come into being until about 1865 so it post dates No. 1 and No. 2. It was made in a three-part button mold similar to those used by the S. McKee & Co. in Pittsburgh during this period. Again the glass is deep aqua. Resembles Woodward's CD 131.

Threaded No. 1 (not illustrated)

This is Tibbitts #1-135.

Threaded No. 2 (not illustrated)

This is like Tibbitts #2-285 except embossing reads: Dome front: W.U.T. Co./CAUVET'S PAT/W. BROOKFIELD Dome rear: FEB. 22, 1870/NO 55 FULTON ST NY

Threaded No. 3 (not illustrated)

This is like Woodward's CD 133. Embossing reads: Dome front: PATENT/DEC. 19 1871 Dome rear: 2

This was made in a three-part mold characteristic of early insulators bearing this patent date.