Western Union

by Zane Grey

Young Harvard man Wayne Cameron travels west and meets his destiny. There, he falls in with a brave group of Westerners struggling to fulfill a dangerous, desperate and thrilling dream - to carry through a thousand miles of dangerous wilderness a single strand of iron wire for a company called the Western Union. This wire will complete a telegraph line linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Along the way they will have to contend with Indians, a bleak winter and those against them. On this life changing journey Cameron also meets Kit Sunderlund and in doing so finds a place he wants to settle down in, should the wire reach Ft. Bridger at all.

Genres: Westerns, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Adventure

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Pearl Zane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the rugged Old West. As of June 2007, the Internet Movie Database credits Grey with 110 films, one TV episode, and a series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater based loosely on his novels and short stories.

Reviews

[Susan Kattwinkel · Rating 3 out of 5]

So now I've read a Zane Grey novel. It was actually quite entertaining, despite the racism and casual, unjustified violence and sexism. It moves along like a good adventure tale. It's interesting how old stories can seem so innocent even while they are so casual about a high level of violence. The attitude of the men toward the women is innocent; their treatment of each other is high-minded and innocent, and yet they'll casually gun down a man who irritates them and not think twice about it. The best parts were the encounters with nature - the fire, the river crossing, the heat, the cold, the mountains. I really have no idea how much Zane Grey accurately reflects the attitudes of the time he writes about, but he paints a beautiful picture of the nature of the old west.

[Allison Wonderland Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

zane grey has long been the favorite author of my great uncle and grandma (they used to read his stories printed in the paper after the came home from school ;) and honestly I can see why! he writes so beautifully and his descriptions of the countryside and prairie is absolutely wonderful. while some of his writing is outdated, and I am not going to try to excuse it, I must say that I understand why his books were so popular and loved by so many.

[Bob Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author brings up Ed Creighton who was the Western Union boss that was responsible for completing the cross continent telegraph. Of course the Mormons Brigham Young was instrumental in getting the wire from Salt Lake City to the last strand from the Omaha, Nebraska line. The Mormons sure have benefited us, and I use their Family Search genealogy site all the time, and it's free.

Actually the crew in the book will meet workers coming out of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Though a fiction book, Ed Creighton and a couple others are true people.

If you love the technology of the 19th century, this book is good in understanding some of the problems the pioneers faced installing the telegraph wire across the American part of the North American Continent.

[Abby Russo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a quintessential Western novel, which though lots of fun, includes quite bit of othering and outdated viewpoints.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fictiona story about running the line across the US. It's amazing the kinds of things that were done to get us to modern day!

[Mark Luongo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story filled with the strong flavor of the West and the author's skill at describing the immense landscape that challenges the telegraph builders at every turn. The floods, the buffalo, the Native Peoples (not overly sympathetic), the outlaws and "soiled doves" play their role in the story. The author pulls it all together!
Now, don't be disappointed. The book, like so many, isn't the same as the 1940s movie of the same name. But if you are a fan of the movie it is easy to see Randolph Scott as "Vance Shaw", Robert Young as "Wayne Cameron" (though his name is "Blake" in the movie), and Dean Jagger as "Edward Creighton". Hollywood changed the ending. It usually does.
Picked up this edition at an antiques dealer. Good purchase.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dedication in this book says, "Dedicated to a single strand of iron wire." When I first read that, I thought it was curious, but by the end of the book it becomes fully appropriate. The book is not so much about the people as it is about the accomplishment of extending the first telegraph wire across the continent. The human characters are all types -- cowboys with near-supernatural abilities and impeccable morals, sleazy outlaws, murderous redskins, etc. The women characters in particular are mere McGuffins who do almost nothing except get rescued. Still, the book is an often exciting dramatization of the sorts of problems faced by workers stringing a wire across the plains.

[GaP · Rating 4 out of 5]

A straight ahead traditional type of Western. A Boston tenderfoot Harvard dropout, Wayne Cameron comes out West to seek his fortune and falls in with two honest-to-God cowboys from Texas...former Rangers...Vance and Lowden. They all join a crew to erect poles for the telegraph wire out to Oregon. And along the way, romance for Cameron and Vance, a torrential rainstorm, encounters with a couple Indian nations, a hellish prairie fire, and corrupt mining bosses. When the last pole is erected and the first official telegraph is sent, you can almost hear a Dmitri Tomkin score rising to a crescendo. You went out West, you entered a different world and you WORKED.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoiler Alert...

If you could run into anything in the Wild West, this book runs into the middle of it. Saloon shoot outs, Prairie fires, Indian attacks, Lightning storms, bandits, floods, oh, and...a buffalo stampede (naturally, as one does). The main characters are always, of course, dead center, and the star cowboy always saves the day. Except at the end when he doesn't even get to rescue his girl...It's the other guy, who's engaged to someone else, who does all the rescuing!

The book was really just worth a speed read so I can say I've read a Zane Grey.

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m definitely interested in reading more westerns and I see why people like this but it just wasn’t for me. It’s very cliche and cheesy. A lot of stuff happens in this, but none of it felt super earned or interesting to me because it feels like things just happen because the book needs them too, and the violence in this book feels very gratuitous because of that. I did kind of enjoy the romance and some of the cowboy shenanigans so I’ll give it that.

[Christopher Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthwhile read if you like westerns. Main themes include changing times and the influence of technology on what is otherwise untouched land. Perhaps not as polished as e.g. Riders of the Purple Sage, but very enjoyable.

[Amber Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Zane Grey and western. Such a story! Cowboy cliches and machoism all over the place! How else would that line have got through?!

[Molly Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Zane Grey book and it was wonderful! There was a new adventure every ten pages! Gunfights, buffalo stampedes, Indian attacks, prairie fires and more!

[Tpendleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes, you just need to read a good old fashioned Western with strong characters who know how things should be. This is one of my favorite Zane Grey books.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

for young readers

[Ike Standifird · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be the best Western I have read.

[Andy2302 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tale of a young Easterner looking for adventure in 1861 west. He befriends 3 other men to join the team building the telegraph line from Omaha to Montana. Dated language & social attitudes might offend some readers but this is how it was a century ago. I know because I'm almost as old as the book.
Plenty of action, a little romance and a some history make a fine read.

[Daniel Healy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book The Western Union by Zane Grey is a historical-fiction book based around the western front during the Western Expansion. It tells the struggle of a man by the name of Cameron who works on the Western Union. Cameron is from Boston and works for a telegraph company that wanted to expand its reach to the western front. He works out of Gothenburg to work on telegraph lines. He finally realized that he did not fit in and changed his line of work. In order to fit in he became a cowboy. He changed from a telegraph worker to a cowboy and protected convoys that set out to expand the western front. He got accustomed to the new area he was working in with the help of Jack Lowden, who he met at a bar the first night he was in town. Jack Lowden is a cowboy who is always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. An example of him doing this is when Cameron is new in town and gets in trouble with the wrong people in the bar. Jack was able to clear the mess between Cameron and a nameless character who got into a fight. There are no other characters besides Lowden that stuck around. I really liked the fast paced and action packed book. The characters coming and going was a nice touch to add realism because Cameron was always moving. It is also what I dislike about the book. There are a lot of characters to learn a lot about but they get thrown out of the way when ever Cameron moves to different locations. So if you like a fast pace action packed book and don’t want to be attached to characters too long then this is for you.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grey does a pretty good job here of conveying the difficulty and hardships experienced by those who laid the telegraph poles across the frontier. Of course, he adds some romance and a few mysterious characters into the mix. His writing is descriptive and that allows me to overlook the formulaic plots. I especially liked the passages describing an electrical storm, a river crossing, and a buffalo stampede.

[Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iconic western with the predictable characters. An easterner signs up to help build the 1st transcontinental telegraph line. He grows as a westerner, learns the gun code of the west, survives wild fires, buffalo stampedes, Indian attacks, and floods. The bad guys get it in the end and he and his side-kick/mentor get their girls and settle down to raise cattle and kids.

[Mojca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[Odetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this story of a man from the East working for the Western Union when they stretched the telegraph wire from Nebraska to Wyoming. I spent the entire day glued to the tape player.

[Prakash Shastri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Velice oddechové čtení :)

[CAG_1337 · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK book. I can see why he was so popular, but this really wasn't my cup of tea.