Silk ribbon printed in black. 15x5.5 cm (5¾x2").

Rare piece of ephemera commemorating the establishment of the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad. As described in the San Francisco Call of October 6, 1896, the railroad freed the denizens of the "Raisin City" and San Joaquin County "from a bondage of high railroad tariffs. Just as the slave snaps his shackles and steps forth a free man, so Fresno broke the chains that have for many years linked her to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company... People from San Francisco went to Stockton by train and boat the evening before to catch this train. Among them were the directors and President Claus Spreckels, whose individual subscription of $500,000 after the project had several times failed made the Valley road not only a possibility but the welcome reality that it is to-day, open and ready for business..."