Iowa crews began laying the first railroad rails in 1854, and a year later the first locomotive was shipped across the Mississippi River by ferry. As with the Pacific line, the U.S. government helped fund railroad construction in Iowa. The Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska Railroad, later the Chicago and North Western Railway Co., was the first company to span the state, and completion of the C&NW into Council Bluffs made it possible for Union Pacific to receive supplies by rail instead of by the earlier steamboat or wagon route from St. Joseph, Mo., to Council Bluffs. That flow of supplies supported major construction advances from 1867 to 1869. In western Iowa, changing elevation also shaped railroad stops in Carroll and Crawford Counties during the early steam locomotive era, when water stops were needed every 7-10 miles. The railroad named stops East Side, Tip-Top, and West Side to reflect the rise and descent in the land. Over time, Tip-Top became the town of Arcadia and West Side became Westside, while East Side faded as steam engines grew more efficient and could travel farther without stopping. The same change in elevation created a divide in western Iowa, with rivers east of it flowing to the Mississippi River and rivers west of it flowing to the Missouri River, which eventually joins the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri.