2.5 million acres of federal land to help finance its construction. On April 21st, the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River was constructed between Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. On August 24, a drop in grain prices and the over-production of U.S. manufactured goods in an atmosphere of renewed land speculation set off another panic. The resulting depression lasted two years. In 1858, the Butterfield Overland Mail began service to California. On March 30th, Hyman Lipman patented the first pencil with an eraser. In July, gold was discovered near present-day Denver, Colorado, which initiated the Pikes Peak Gold Rush and the white settlement of Colorado. (Chronicle of America; American Eras) ...
