Thousand Mile Tree

Coordinates: 41°03′11″N 111°31′45″W / 41.053055°N 111.529238°W / 41.053055; -111.529238

Thousand Mile Tree is a pine tree located in Weber Canyon near the community of Henefer, Utah along the Overland Route of the Union Pacific Railroad. In January 1869, graders of the railroad found a similar tree standing next to the line they were constructing, which by coincidence marked the western progress of exactly one thousand miles of road from Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa, the eastern terminus of the First Transcontinental Railroad.

The original Thousand Mile Tree was found standing along the Weber River, adjacent to the under-construction grade of the westbound Union Pacific section of the transcontinental line in what is known as Wilhemina Pass, at an elevation of 5,257 feet (1,602 m) above sea level. According to Utah rail historian and writer Don Strack, in his article Eastbound To Wahsatch—Union Pacific's Route Through Weber and Echo Canyons, about one week following 15 January 1869, the “tracks reached the site of a large tree, 90 feet (27 m) tall, that happened to be exactly 1,000 miles from Omaha, and soon a sign was hung from the tree clearly stating that fact.