Overland Telegraph Company

(The section of line between the eastern United States and Salt Lake City had been completed by the Pacific Telegraph Company a few days prior.)

At 5:13 pm (Salt Lake City time), James Street sent the first message to California from Utah Territory.

It was addressed to company president Horace Carpentier, advising him the line was complete and to go to the nearby telegraph office.

Also addressed to Carpentier, this congratulatory message received a response, resulting in the first back-and-forth communication between San Francisco and Salt Lake City.

Shortly thereafter, a message was forwarded to San Francisco informing them that Colonel Edward D. Baker—a former politician in California—had been killed at the Battle of Ball's Bluff a few days prior.

[10] Then, in May 1867, the California State Telegraph Company ceased operating with the public and its lines became part of Western Union's Pacific Division.