A Great & Shining Road

by Williams, John Hoyt

• ISBN13: 9780803297890
• ISBN10: 0803297890
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-12-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

"Williams tells this rousing tale with verve and gusto. For all the railroad buffs and those who savor the lore of the Old West."-Library Journal. Williams has "done a marvelously imaginative job of writing. . . . He manages to capture the romance and color."-Choice. "Highly readable . . . because both text and illustrations have a human and humane touch about them. . . . [An] ebullient portrayal of the people and personalities involved in this great engineering accomplishment."-Christian Science Monitor. The Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads were officially joined on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah, with the driving of a golden spike. This historic ceremony marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. Spanning the Sierras and the "Great American Desert," the tracks connected San Francisco to Council Bluffs, Iowa. A Great and Shining Road is the exciting story of a mammoth feat that called forth entrepreneurial daring, financial wizardry, technological innovation, political courage and chicanery, and the heroism of thousands of laborers. John Hoyt Williams, a professor of history at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, is the author of Sam Houston.

Author Biography

John Hoyt Williams, a professor of history at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, is the author of Sam Houston.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(3)
America, the Machine, and the Idea Whose Time Had Come	6	(14)
Understanding the Void	20	(9)
``Crazy'' Judah, the Big Four, and the Pacific Railroad Act	29	(20)
The First, Faint Stirrings	49	(20)
Scheming in the Wild East	69	(24)
The Chinese Factor and the Indian Threat	93	(26)
The UP Gets an Army; the CP Gets a Race	119	(27)
War Whoops on the Plains and the Octopus Is Born	146	(24)
Into Darkest Wyoming and the Sierras Surrender	170	(19)
Backstabbing Across the Plains and Blessedly Flat Nevada	189	(26)
The Union Pacific Does Not Bear Scrutiny Well	215	(21)
Carving Through Nevada	236	(8)
Crocker's Wager and the Golden Spike	244	(25)
Judgment Day	269	(19)
Acknowledgments	288	(1)
Notes	289	(36)
Bibliography	325	(7)
Index	332