Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental RailroadAfter the Civil War, the building of the transcontinental railroad was the nineteenth century's most transformative event. Beginning in 1842 with a visionary's dream to span the continent with twin bands of iron, Empire Express captures three dramatic decades in which the United States effectively doubled in size, fought three wars, and began to discover a new national identity. From self--made entrepreneurs such as the Union Pacific's Thomas Durant and era--defining figures such as President Lincoln to the thousands of laborers whose backbreaking work made the railroad possible, this extraordinary narrative summons an astonishing array of voices to give new dimension not only to this epic endeavor but also to the culture, political struggles, and social conflicts of an unforgettable period in American history. |
Contents
An Uninhabited and Dreary Waste | |
Raise the Money and I Will Build Your Road | |
There Comes Crazy Judah | |
The Marks Left by the Donner Party | |
The Napoleon of Railways | |
We Swarmed the Mountains with Men | |
Until They Are Severely Punished | |
Nitroglycerine Tells | |
Our Future Power and Influence | |
They All Died in Their Boots | |
There Are Only Five of Us | |
More Hungry Men in Congress | |
The Most Difficult Country Ever Conceived | |
We Have Drawn the Elephant | |
Speculation Is as Fatal to It as Secession | |
I Have Had a Big Row and Fight | |
First Dictator of the Railroad World | |
Dancing with a Whirlwind | |
Trustees of the Bounty of Congress | |
The Great Cloud Darkening the Land | |
If We Can Save Our Scalps | |
Vexation Trouble and Continual Hindrance | |
Other editions - View all
Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad David Haward Bain No preview available - 2000 |
Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad David Haward Bain No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
April Asa Whitney Blickensderfer bonds Browning California cars Casement Central Pacific Central Pacific Railroad Central Pacific’s Charley Crocker Cheyenne Collis Huntington committee Congress congressman construction contract contractors Council Bluffs Crédit Mobilier Creek Crocker to Huntington December directors Doctor Dodge Papers Dodge’s Durant’s Dutch Flat E. B. Crocker east February feet grading Grenville Dodge Hopkins to Huntington Humboldt hundred Ibid Indians Iowa iron January Jenny Reed Judge Crocker June laborers Laramie later letter Lincoln locomotive March miles Missouri mountains Nevada NSHS Oakes Ames October Oliver Ames Omaha Pacific Railroad party Pawnee President rails Reed River road route Sacramento Union Salt Lake City San Francisco Senate September Seymour Sherman Sierra Sioux snow Snyder Stanford Strobridge summit T. D. Judah Theodore Judah told track train Truckee tunnel Union Pacific Union Pacific Railroad USPRRC Utah Valley wagon Washington weeks Whitney wrote York