Near Omaha, Edward Creighton digs in the first pole of the final link in the trans-continental telegraph

Edward Creighton had earlier surveyed the route for his Transcontinental Telegraph linking Omaha, Nebraska with Sacramento, California.  With Western Union funding, he dug the first pole hole personally and less than four months later, on October 24, 1861, sent the first telegraph message coast to coast.  Creighton became the richest man in Nebraska and later endowed Creighton University in Omaha.  (By John Osborne)