eight in the morning
Cheers were given , the Sioux and Pawnees performed an imitation Indian battle , fireworks were let off , and the first number of the Rail-way Pioneer was printed by a press brought on the train . Thus was celebrated the inauguration of this great railroad , a mighty instrument of progress and civilization , thrown across the desert , and destined to link together cities and towns which do not yet exist . The whistle of the locomotive , more powerful than Amphion 's lyre , was about to bid them rise from American soil . Fort McPherson was left behind at eight in the morning , and three hundred and fifty-seven miles had yet to be covered before reaching Omaha . The road followed the capricious windings of the southern branch of the Platte River , on its left bank . At nine the train stopped at the important town of North Platte , built between the two arms of the river , which rejoin each other around it and form a single artery -- a large tributary whose waters empty into the Missouri a little above Omaha . The one hundred and first meridian was passed .