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Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow: The Epic Story of the Transcontinental Railroads
From the author of the best-selling Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown's classic account of the building of the transcontinental railroad.
In February 1854 the first railroad from the East reached the Mississippi; by the end of the nineteenth century five major transcontinental railroads linked the East Coast with the Pacific Ocean and thousands of miles of tracks criss-crossed in the West, a vast and virginal land just a few years before.
The story of this extraordinary undertaking is one of breathtaking technological ingenuity, otherwordly idealism, and all-too-wordly greed. The heroes and villains were Irish and Chinese laborers, intrepid engineers, avaricious bankers, stock manipulators, and corrupt politicians. Before it was over more than 155 million acres (one tenth of the country) were given away to the railroad magnates, Indian tribes were decimated, the buffalo were driven from the Great Plains, millions of immigrants were lured from Europe, and a colossal continental nation was built.
Woven into this dramatic narrative are the origins of present-day governmental corruption, the first ties between powerful corporations and politicians who "enjoyed the frequent showers of money that fell upon them from railroad stock manipulators, and gave away America." How the people of that time responded to a sense of disillusionment remarkably similar to our own adds a contemporary dimension to this story.
In February 1854 the first railroad from the East reached the Mississippi; by the end of the nineteenth century five major transcontinental railroads linked the East Coast with the Pacific Ocean and thousands of miles of tracks criss-crossed in the West, a vast and virginal land just a few years before.
The story of this extraordinary undertaking is one of breathtaking technological ingenuity, otherwordly idealism, and all-too-wordly greed. The heroes and villains were Irish and Chinese laborers, intrepid engineers, avaricious bankers, stock manipulators, and corrupt politicians. Before it was over more than 155 million acres (one tenth of the country) were given away to the railroad magnates, Indian tribes were decimated, the buffalo were driven from the Great Plains, millions of immigrants were lured from Europe, and a colossal continental nation was built.
Woven into this dramatic narrative are the origins of present-day governmental corruption, the first ties between powerful corporations and politicians who "enjoyed the frequent showers of money that fell upon them from railroad stock manipulators, and gave away America." How the people of that time responded to a sense of disillusionment remarkably similar to our own adds a contemporary dimension to this story.
311 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1977
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822 people want to read
About the author
Dee Brown
110 books417 followersAKA: Dee Alexander Brown
Dorris Alexander “Dee” Brown (1908–2002) was a celebrated author of both fiction and nonfiction, whose classic study Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is widely credited with exposing the systematic destruction of American Indian tribes to a world audience.
Brown was born in Louisiana and grew up in Arkansas. He worked as a reporter and a printer before enrolling at Arkansas State Teachers College, where he met his future wife, Sally Stroud. He later earned two degrees in library science, and worked as a librarian while beginning his career as a writer. He went on to research and write more than thirty books, often centered on frontier history or overlooked moments of the Civil War. Brown continued writing until his death in 2002.
Dorris Alexander “Dee” Brown (1908–2002) was a celebrated author of both fiction and nonfiction, whose classic study Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is widely credited with exposing the systematic destruction of American Indian tribes to a world audience.
Brown was born in Louisiana and grew up in Arkansas. He worked as a reporter and a printer before enrolling at Arkansas State Teachers College, where he met his future wife, Sally Stroud. He later earned two degrees in library science, and worked as a librarian while beginning his career as a writer. He went on to research and write more than thirty books, often centered on frontier history or overlooked moments of the Civil War. Brown continued writing until his death in 2002.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
January 30, 2024
4.5 stars
If you enjoyed Brown's better known book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, then you are likely to enjoy this one on the transcontinental railroads. It is written in much the same way and with a good deal of passion for the Native Americans who lost their land and witnessed the purposeful extermination of the bison , the workers who worked for peanuts and the settlers who were swindled into moving west. There was the usual contempt for a government who did the robber baron's work and of course for the railroad moguls themselves. The moguls became ridiculously wealthy from the excessive land grants given to them the largest of the shareholders. One railroad alone was granted an area of land far exceeding the size of New England. They promptly parceled it up and sold to unwitting immigrants.
The book does an excellent job of describing what life was like during the 1860s to 1880s expansion of the railroads through the American west. Extensive quotes from contemporary travelers made their experiences very tangible. In typical Brown fashion, most of the chapters leave the reader wanting to know a little more. This is probably the only criticism - the book is of a modest length while covering a pretty large timeline and half a dozen railroads.
Beyond the theft of Native American land and the abrogation of valid treaties, I am angered most by the pointlessness of it. Great swaths of the American West including much of Montana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming that have little economic benefit to the United States then and not much today. This was the by-product of the get rich quick schemes of the railroads and the financially insolvent politicians they influenced, including U.S. Grant. They all viewed Native Americans as subhuman with no rights to their lands. Get out of our way, we're coming through. Manifest Destiny - what a waste.
I once had a discussion with a park ranger at the U.S. Grant National Historic Site outside St. Louis and he became irritated when I pointed out Grant's abysmal record with Native Americans. I have seen this inability to acknowledge the dark side during the forming of our nation and it rarely goes over well at park sites amongst the front line interpreters.
If you enjoyed Brown's better known book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, then you are likely to enjoy this one on the transcontinental railroads. It is written in much the same way and with a good deal of passion for the Native Americans who lost their land and witnessed the purposeful extermination of the bison , the workers who worked for peanuts and the settlers who were swindled into moving west. There was the usual contempt for a government who did the robber baron's work and of course for the railroad moguls themselves. The moguls became ridiculously wealthy from the excessive land grants given to them the largest of the shareholders. One railroad alone was granted an area of land far exceeding the size of New England. They promptly parceled it up and sold to unwitting immigrants.
The book does an excellent job of describing what life was like during the 1860s to 1880s expansion of the railroads through the American west. Extensive quotes from contemporary travelers made their experiences very tangible. In typical Brown fashion, most of the chapters leave the reader wanting to know a little more. This is probably the only criticism - the book is of a modest length while covering a pretty large timeline and half a dozen railroads.
Beyond the theft of Native American land and the abrogation of valid treaties, I am angered most by the pointlessness of it. Great swaths of the American West including much of Montana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming that have little economic benefit to the United States then and not much today. This was the by-product of the get rich quick schemes of the railroads and the financially insolvent politicians they influenced, including U.S. Grant. They all viewed Native Americans as subhuman with no rights to their lands. Get out of our way, we're coming through. Manifest Destiny - what a waste.
I once had a discussion with a park ranger at the U.S. Grant National Historic Site outside St. Louis and he became irritated when I pointed out Grant's abysmal record with Native Americans. I have seen this inability to acknowledge the dark side during the forming of our nation and it rarely goes over well at park sites amongst the front line interpreters.
February 11, 2022
Amennyiben egy kalandvágyó bostoni polgár el akart jutni 1850-ben San Franciscóba, akkor járt a legjobban, ha vett egy hajójegyet valamelyik keleti-parti kikötőben, majd Dél-Amerikát alulról (honnan máshonnan? ekkor még nem volt Panama-csatorna) megkerülve szépen elkavirnyált odáig. Hónapokig tarthatott az út, de még mindig gyorsabban és biztosabban odaért, mintha ekhós szekéren döcögött volna keresztül sivatagon és hegyszurdokokon. Abszurd helyzet – tekinthető egyáltalán egyetlen országnak az, aminek a két végpontja ilyen nehezen áthidalható? A csodaszer, ami a tarthatatlan állapotot megszüntette, a transzkontinentális vasút volt, aminek jelentőségét nehéz volna túlbecsülni. Addig az áru és az ember legfeljebb a hajózható folyókon (tehát Észak-Dél irányban) áramolhatott nagyobb mennyiségben, a kincses nyugatra legfeljebb szivárogtak a pionírok. De aztán a féktelen amerikai vállalkozó kedv megszülte az ideát: fektessünk le síneket óceántól óceánig, vonjuk be a civilizációs vérkeringésbe a messzi távolt. Kössük össze az ország két felét, legyen belőle egy ország.
A vasút az USA legendáriumának elidegeníthetetlen része, a Vadnyugat-mítosz egyik tartópillére, és egyben az eszköz, ami lassan felszámolta azt. Érrendszer, amin keresztül a bevándorlók és szerencselovagok hada benépesíthette a szűzföldeket. Nélküle Amerika nem lenne az, ami. Persze ami az egyiknek áldás, a másiknak átok. Az indiánok és a bölények például biztosan szívesen megvétózták volna az egész projektet, de hát utóbbiak véleményét senki sem kérdezte, és előbbiekkel is csak azért kötöttek mindenféle szerződéseket, hogy ezekre hivatkozva kitelepítsék őket a peremvidékekre. Csak hát pont ez a vasút lényege: hogy ami addig peremvidék volt, az közelebb kerüljön általa a középponthoz, lerövidüljön tehát a tér és az idő. Így aztán szegény sziúk és társaik folyton azon kapták magukat, hogy az általuk éppen csak belakott földön egyszer csak megjelentek a sínépítő kulik, aztán maga a Tüzes Ló, ők meg hiába hivatkoztak a szerződésekre, egyre sivárabb és sivárabb vidékekre űzték őket. Ilyen ez a fehér ember: csalárd. Ráadásul fehér.
Ez az egész téma tényleg káprázatosan gazdag. Meg lehet közelíteni onnan, hogy milyen gazdasági átrendeződésekkel járt ez az egész mizéria, hogyan hatott a kereskedelemre, az urbanizációra, satöbbi. Lehetett volna az egész ökológiai hatásait is vizsgálni, az erdőirtásokat, amit a talpfák iránti igény idézett elő, vagy a hirtelen megnövekedett népsűrűség hatásait az élővilágra. Ám Dee Brownt nem ezek érdeklik. Hanem a „vasútbárók”, akik a semmiből a vasút hasznát lefölözve az ország új elitjévé váltak. Tőről metszett Jockey Ewingok ők, csupa galád, gátlástalan mocsadék, akik kisajtolják a kormányzatból a támogatásokat, zsebre rakják, aztán bónuszként még az utazóközönséget is megvágják. Ők azok, akik kispórolják a zúzalékkövet a töltésből, a rosszabb minőségű talpfát teszik a sín alá (de a jobbikat számlázzák ki), ezzel halálos vasúti szerencsétlenségeket okozva – de közben büszkén verik a mellüket, hogy ők a nemzeti tőkésosztály, az ország szíve és lelke, és aki kétségbe vonja becsületüket, az Gyurcsány... ja, nem, az később lesz.
No most én szívesen olvasok például Átlátszót, amiben szakszerűen utánajárnak, mit követtek el honatyáink, és biza látám, hogy van, ami örök: a feneketlen korrupció. Azt is tudom (mert már tapasztaltam), hogy Dee Brown meglehetősen progresszív alapállásból közelíti meg a történelmet, folyton a kisemmizettek (indiánok, csődbe ment földművesek, kizsákmányolt vasúti dolgozók) pártjára állva – amit elméletben helyeslek is. Ugyanakkor erre a kötetre túlságosan rátelepedett a szándék, hogy rég holt kapitalistákra legyen ráhúzva a vizes lepedő. Csak úgy hemzsegnek benne az anekdoták arról, hogy X. milyen részvényekkel simliskedett, Y. pedig mely kongresszusi képviselőket kente meg – ezek viszont érzésem szerint egy idő után a hasznos szöveg elől veszik el a helyet. Értem és megértem a szerző pártos indulatát, csak jobban kellett vón kontrollálni. Akkor lett volna ez a könyv olyan, amit a téma megérdemel: egyszerre színes és hasznos olvasmány.
Ui.: Göncz Árpád (Isten megáldja!) mondta volt, hogy a fordító maradjon észrevétlen a szöveg mögött. Nos, Tandori Dezsőnek (akit továbbra is imádok) ez ezúttal sem jött össze.
May 5, 2008
I stumbled upon this book a few weeks ago in the basement of a used bookstore, and was excited to see something else by Dee Brown (Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.) And though I would have like Brown to be a little more caustic at times, he does a really thorough job of explaining the trans-continental railroad with an analysis that covers the major categories I wanted it to: railroads as a main form of controlling, devastating and modernizing the west; Indian resistance to railroads; the robber barons who scammed small towns across the west, got paid about $30,000 a mile while the best paid workers only made $1 (when the owners had money left over from bribing senators to actually pay the workers0; the way desperate immigrant laborers (Irish, Chinese, former slaves) were pitted against one another to the benefit of the owners; how desperate famers in other countries were told of the rich cornicopia of the plains only to spend their life savings getting their to have it all turn to dust, etc. etc.
Even the boring parts about Pullman upgrading to fancier dining cars and how smoke stacks differed in the US vs. Europe, Brown managed to make somewhat fascinating and pretty easily readable.
4.0
Even the boring parts about Pullman upgrading to fancier dining cars and how smoke stacks differed in the US vs. Europe, Brown managed to make somewhat fascinating and pretty easily readable.
4.0
May 2, 2023
Yes it is an epic story but not of the kind described by the Hollywood mythology about the West. Film makers never displayed the enormous social costs associated with the building of transcontinental railroads. Iron horse promoters gained control over politicians to get funding from the state, a typical case of the collectivity paying for the costs while a few moguls and corrupt officials pocketed the profits. It was a national corruption scheme which went on for decades. Collateral damages were huge: tribes were eliminated or unjustly compensated, immigrants defrauded, buffaloes were brought to a state of extinction, taxpayers deprived of value for their money. This was among the first cases of monopolies gaining control over society, a cycle which would be repeated again when new technologies would change the economic landscape. So this was not an exception but rather part of a pattern; the author was among the first historians to bring these facts to the american public when he wrote this classic essay.
July 11, 2018
A remarkable story, told by Dee Brown with energy and empathy. The push to span the continent with railroads was a national obsession, a source of great pride, and a tremendous engineering accomplishment. The dreamers, schemers, and dilettantes, the hard-bitten engineers, Civil War veterans, cowboys, and workers from around the world all make their appearance here, as do the shills who raised the money and the feuding cabals of owners. They are all described with clarity and plenty of interesting detail. The author’s heart, however, is with the little people, the workmen, farmers, and immigrants who laid the tracks or moved west with the rails to try to make a living on the unforgiving soil. Brown seethes with contempt – and it is well deserved contempt – for the financiers, swindlers, corrupt politicians, and speculators who repeatedly stole land from the Native Americans, plundered the taxpayers for subsidies, ruled like feudal lords over the people who needed the rails to move goods, and looted their own companies. The hedge fund bloodsuckers of today are the heirs of these robber barons, who cared for nothing and no one except what would enrich them.
May 10, 2013
A good history, as long as one is prepared for the author's political/social views sometimes obscuring the narrative (and I share these views almost completely, but it was still a lot). A revisionist story, but at a time when that was even more necessary than it is now. Plus, what else would one read for a short one-volume history of the American railroads? Stephen Ambrose? Please. GTFO with that mess.
March 8, 2010
Great history of the crossing of the American West by railroad builders, either a great triumph for the industrial world or a great tragedy for the natural world. Brown judges it as neither, merely telling the story with all its literal and figurative twists and turns.
January 6, 2016
In a striking case of honesty, the back cover text tells us most of what we would need to know about the book’s approach. It reads: “In February 1854 the first railroad from the East reached the Mississippi. By the end of the nineteenth century, five major transcontinental railroads linked the East Coast with the Pacific Ocean, and thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossed the West, a vast and virginal land just a few years before. The building of America’s transcontinental railroads is a story of breathtaking ingenuity, otherworldly idealism, and all-too-worldly greed. The heroes and villains were Irish and Chinese laborers, intrepid engineers, avaricious bankers, stock manipulators, and corrupt politicians. Before it was over, more than 155 million acres—one tenth of the country—were given away to the railroad magnates, Indian tribes were decimated, the buffalo were driven from the Great Plains, millions of immigrants were lured from Europe, and a colossal continental nation was built.” There is enough wrong with this text alone to write thousands of words, but given that it is a book review I will attempt to be brief. The author makes no attempt to restrain from continual moralizing, of dubious veracity. The land of the American West had been settled by hundreds of thousands of immigrants—we call them “Native Americans” and it was hardly “virginal” land, which makes the building of the railroads sound like a rape. Immigrants were not “lured” to the West—they were overcrowded in Europe and hardly needed to be seduced by the opportunity to own land free and clear free of the tyranny and poverty they faced in Europe. The volk ohne raum [1] of Germany and Eastern Europe hardly needed to be seduced to move to western Kansas or Nebraska or the Dakotas or the rest of the rural West, indeed. And on and on it goes. Here is an author that lacks an apparent Christian mindset but feels entirely free using the language of hellfire and brimstone messages to condemn the greed of the people who saw profit in the dream of connecting the East Coast to the West Coast, and clearly takes the side of the overwhelmed tribes who were unable to defeat the technology and drive of the United States of America once the Civil War no longer delayed the progress of the transcontinental railroad. That Dee Brown is also well known for his book Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee makes his advocacy plain.
In terms of its contents and organization, this is clearly the result of someone who has read a lot of material. There are citations of numerous travel diaries and letters and the behavior of Congress, showing a grasp of the relevant evidence, whatever polemical aim it is turned to. The structure of the book is both partly chronological as well as mostly topical in nature, demonstrating the author's primary intent to write social history, where chronology and narrative are of less importance than properly discussing people by some sort of supposed class origin. Here people are divided both by socioeconomic status as well as profession, and so the book discusses train engineers and brakemen separately from the financiers and land-grabbers, and both of them separately from the elite passengers and then the less elevated immigrants, including the Crimean Mennonite and other German ancestors of at least two of the notable families in my local congregation at church who ended up settling on the Great Plains, as I found out when I spoke to them one night at a memorable dinner party after services. Although the topical organization of the book hinders the narrative flow someone, the author is so transparently obvious about his perspective but so vivid in his writing that little harm is done by the suboptimal organization of the book.
This is a book that a reader will know whether they like or not based on how willing they are to put up with the book's consistent and strident tone of hostility towards the capitalists who ran the railroad companies as well as the corrupt politicians who let them do it the way they did it. Yet all too often the author's clear advocacy for treating the railroads like a public trust fall short with the author's invective against Amtrak on the one hand and the fact that the author's critique of generations of American politicians demonstrates that he lacks faith in the ability of our government to successfully manage any kind of public trust. Where, then, are ethical people who are capable in acting in the public good to be found? If we cannot trust private enterprise because the urge for greedily profiting and setting up restrictive monopolies or oligarchies harms the level of care and concern that is supposed to be provided for people, if partnerships between government and private enterprise cannot be trusted to handle utilities effectively and efficiently, and if our government is so full of venality and corruption that our elected leaders cannot be trusted, where then are trustworthy people to be found and placed in positions where they may exercise the trust held in them to honorably and decently and justly manage railroads or any other sort of system within our country (like health care or education, for example). This paradox, that the author demands public control because of a bias against business despite being all too aware of the flaws and crony capitalism practiced by our political elite, gives the author's prescriptions an air of unreality. It is easy to complain about the past, but given the author's unwarranted claims that the west was "virignal" before the white man came and given that he has no means of ensuring that even public control of transportation systems or anything else would lead to those resources being used for the public good by people who were honorable and competent, the author has no solutions for the problems he bewails. Ultimately, this book is a lengthy but pointless complaint about the history of the Transcontinental railroads, without any prescription for improving the matter now.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
In terms of its contents and organization, this is clearly the result of someone who has read a lot of material. There are citations of numerous travel diaries and letters and the behavior of Congress, showing a grasp of the relevant evidence, whatever polemical aim it is turned to. The structure of the book is both partly chronological as well as mostly topical in nature, demonstrating the author's primary intent to write social history, where chronology and narrative are of less importance than properly discussing people by some sort of supposed class origin. Here people are divided both by socioeconomic status as well as profession, and so the book discusses train engineers and brakemen separately from the financiers and land-grabbers, and both of them separately from the elite passengers and then the less elevated immigrants, including the Crimean Mennonite and other German ancestors of at least two of the notable families in my local congregation at church who ended up settling on the Great Plains, as I found out when I spoke to them one night at a memorable dinner party after services. Although the topical organization of the book hinders the narrative flow someone, the author is so transparently obvious about his perspective but so vivid in his writing that little harm is done by the suboptimal organization of the book.
This is a book that a reader will know whether they like or not based on how willing they are to put up with the book's consistent and strident tone of hostility towards the capitalists who ran the railroad companies as well as the corrupt politicians who let them do it the way they did it. Yet all too often the author's clear advocacy for treating the railroads like a public trust fall short with the author's invective against Amtrak on the one hand and the fact that the author's critique of generations of American politicians demonstrates that he lacks faith in the ability of our government to successfully manage any kind of public trust. Where, then, are ethical people who are capable in acting in the public good to be found? If we cannot trust private enterprise because the urge for greedily profiting and setting up restrictive monopolies or oligarchies harms the level of care and concern that is supposed to be provided for people, if partnerships between government and private enterprise cannot be trusted to handle utilities effectively and efficiently, and if our government is so full of venality and corruption that our elected leaders cannot be trusted, where then are trustworthy people to be found and placed in positions where they may exercise the trust held in them to honorably and decently and justly manage railroads or any other sort of system within our country (like health care or education, for example). This paradox, that the author demands public control because of a bias against business despite being all too aware of the flaws and crony capitalism practiced by our political elite, gives the author's prescriptions an air of unreality. It is easy to complain about the past, but given the author's unwarranted claims that the west was "virignal" before the white man came and given that he has no means of ensuring that even public control of transportation systems or anything else would lead to those resources being used for the public good by people who were honorable and competent, the author has no solutions for the problems he bewails. Ultimately, this book is a lengthy but pointless complaint about the history of the Transcontinental railroads, without any prescription for improving the matter now.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
September 28, 2019
This was the summer of the steam trains for me. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, Union Pacific had been running an old, restored steam engine.
I live near that locomotive's home, so I've seen a lot of it and have developed an interest in it. I decided it was time to learn more than I was getting from UP's public relations department, so I picked up this book. It went beyond anything that I ever expected. The first half of the book is about the construction of the railroad and the shady dealings of the robber barons at the time. The second half is more focused on how the railroads affected the settlement/colonization of the western US. Spoiler: the settlers got screwed and so did the Native Americans.
The book is a little dated; it was written in the 1970s. It's well researched and full of the kind of depressing reality that this author is known for. It's a good read. I learned a lot.
I live near that locomotive's home, so I've seen a lot of it and have developed an interest in it. I decided it was time to learn more than I was getting from UP's public relations department, so I picked up this book. It went beyond anything that I ever expected. The first half of the book is about the construction of the railroad and the shady dealings of the robber barons at the time. The second half is more focused on how the railroads affected the settlement/colonization of the western US. Spoiler: the settlers got screwed and so did the Native Americans.
The book is a little dated; it was written in the 1970s. It's well researched and full of the kind of depressing reality that this author is known for. It's a good read. I learned a lot.
May 7, 2020
This is a light overview history of the building of the railroads in the western United States. Warning, it is also very slanted with plenty of opinions which takes away some from the content. Other authors have covered individual railroads covering the same issues, but without the overbearing preaching at times that occurs in this book.
I have also posted my review on Goodreads, Amazon and my review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.
I have also posted my review on Goodreads, Amazon and my review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.
December 30, 2017
super interesting book on the transcontinental railroad. How it came to be, and facts/details on building it.
December 25, 2017
An excellent read and very complete story of the Transcontinental Railroads. I learned a lot about the Railroads and how they were formed. An Excellent reference book. Enjoy!
February 19, 2012
It's the 1860s and the West is just opening up: there are gold-digging settlements in California, the odd ranching town, but essentially the huge sweep of the mid-West remains home "only" to Native Americans and buffalo. Control and settlement of this vast country urgently requires infrastructure, to enable faster, safer and higher-volume transport than can be achieved by wagon train or long shipping routes. The land is ripe for the picking when the railroad men step in, hastily throwing down thousands of miles of track and picking up, in return, enormous government subsidies and eye-popping land grants that extend tens of miles to either side of their lines.
Brown spends the first half of the book describing how the first transcontinental line was laid: the engineering challenges, the savage competition between the companies building from opposite ends, the outright disregard for native rights, and most of all the shameless swindling of the public purse by the scoundrels at the top. For bribed politicians and ruthless railway tycoons alike, the railroad was only the means to an end - not of conquering the land, but of making themselves immensely rich by scandalous financial arrangements, to which building and running railways was merely an afterthought, a minor legal hoop to jump through. Consequently the lines were poorly and rapidly built, taking routes chosen not for speed or safety but to maximise the rewards from completing the miles:
Notwithstanding these distasteful machinations, there is a spirit of adventure in these escapades and a true sense of achievement, albeit tempered by the job being done badly for greed instead of well for progress. The two sides of this coin are perfectly symbolised when the tracks from the east and west are to be joined by a golden spike: executives from both companies, concerned only with finance and not at all with engineering, swing their sledgehammers and miss!
After this first conquest, the book explores other aspects of the railroads' impact: the experiences of travellers, the Hell On Wheels towns that followed the construction teams, the southern and northern lines, the conning of migrants into buying worthless land and their further exploitation through high freight-rates for their meagre produce. The picture is colourful but not pretty, and Brown shows how the outrageous huckstering and profiteering led to the miserable, vestigial railways that drearily cross the USA today, undermaintained, underdeveloped and underused - yet paid for by public taxes several times over.
Although his milieu is the 19th-century, Dee Brown's books teach political lessons that seem ageless. If reading them is sobering, it is nonetheless most certainly educational: we can't learn these things often enough. - Oh, and it's a rollicking good read too.
Brown spends the first half of the book describing how the first transcontinental line was laid: the engineering challenges, the savage competition between the companies building from opposite ends, the outright disregard for native rights, and most of all the shameless swindling of the public purse by the scoundrels at the top. For bribed politicians and ruthless railway tycoons alike, the railroad was only the means to an end - not of conquering the land, but of making themselves immensely rich by scandalous financial arrangements, to which building and running railways was merely an afterthought, a minor legal hoop to jump through. Consequently the lines were poorly and rapidly built, taking routes chosen not for speed or safety but to maximise the rewards from completing the miles:
As for Dr. Durant and his cronies, there is no record of what they sang as they collected the $16,000 per mile from the government for the track laid by the workmen, the $25,000 per mile of excess profits from Credit Mobilier, the 12,800 acres of land per mile, and whatever else they were able to divert from the sales of stocks and bonds.
[A government examiner's] report to Congress, however, like most honest reports that might interfere with the exploitation of the public, was filed away and quickly forgotten by the people's representatives in Washington.
Notwithstanding these distasteful machinations, there is a spirit of adventure in these escapades and a true sense of achievement, albeit tempered by the job being done badly for greed instead of well for progress. The two sides of this coin are perfectly symbolised when the tracks from the east and west are to be joined by a golden spike: executives from both companies, concerned only with finance and not at all with engineering, swing their sledgehammers and miss!
After this first conquest, the book explores other aspects of the railroads' impact: the experiences of travellers, the Hell On Wheels towns that followed the construction teams, the southern and northern lines, the conning of migrants into buying worthless land and their further exploitation through high freight-rates for their meagre produce. The picture is colourful but not pretty, and Brown shows how the outrageous huckstering and profiteering led to the miserable, vestigial railways that drearily cross the USA today, undermaintained, underdeveloped and underused - yet paid for by public taxes several times over.
Although his milieu is the 19th-century, Dee Brown's books teach political lessons that seem ageless. If reading them is sobering, it is nonetheless most certainly educational: we can't learn these things often enough. - Oh, and it's a rollicking good read too.
August 28, 2017
Dee Brown, best known as the author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, predictably drives home the message that railroad robber barons colluded with politicians, ripping off the government and the people to gain wealth and power. He emphasizes the role of the railroads as an incentive for and an instrument of the mistreatment and annihilation of native Americans. This theme of technological change threatening the livelihood and well being of the common people has obvious parallels in current events. "The locomotive is a great centralizer....It kills little towns and builds up great cities, and in the same way kills little businesses and builds up great ones." "This feudal treatment by the railroad corporations created among the Western settlers a disillusionment with the American political system. Switching from Republican to Democratic or Democratic to Republican candidates did not seem to change anything." I suspect that there are other stories to be told as well. He portrays the immigrant settlers as dupes of the railroad interests, yet linking the East and West Coasts did unite the nation and the agricultural production of the heartland supplied (and continues to supply) the commerce of the coastal cities. Landless immigrants, often from persecuted minorities in their homelands, found opportunities. I would have appreciated a more nuanced analysis.
August 30, 2016
This is a little bit of a cheat to say I read this book specifically. My local library only had a version pared down for younger readers (say, maybe junior high level) and Goodreads did not have that version listed. Even considering that, this is a terrific read especially for folks interested in the old west. Dee Brown, like in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (the full version), knows how to present historical facts and anecdotes in a clear, entertaining manner; free of the academic clutter that plagues some nonfiction. The race that the two companies building the transcontinental railroad partake in, disregarding workers' safety, is ridiculous, although one might say, typical. There's also a lot of good pictures, one of someone's actual scalped hair.
October 19, 2015
While this non-fiction tale of the early railroads in the west was dry at times, I found it a fascinating read. I especially enjoyed how the author wove politics and western expansion into the story. It was a bit dated (my copy was from 1979), yet reminded me of the Koch brothers of today. I would have appreciated more insight into how the railroads fared during the 20th century when autos and airplanes took over, as well as the realities of the lasting impacts in contemporary times (especially in relation to taxation and legislation).
May 24, 2017
I am on a history reading bender lately, this one about the railroads, but really about the corruption in US politics after the Civil War and up to end of that century. It ties to my genealogy research as it explains some of what was driving the immigrants to settle the midwest and west. Its a good read, but can get a little long in its seemingly endless parade of crooked rail people. But also very interesting parts such as the discussion of the "Harvey" girls, what the travel experience was like for the rich and poor, and so on. Worth reading.
December 30, 2009
This book chonicles not only the Trancontinental Railroad building but also various other railroading efforts and has touches of what travel was like on these lines for both the wealthy and the poor. Interesting and fun history that sometimes takes you right there.
August 5, 2010
Some books by their very name create an aura that, when read, is completely dispelled to reveal a new reality. This book reveals how U.S. politics and business was created. All we need now is volume two revealing where all the politics an business went.
October 20, 2010
Like an underpowered locomotive, it started strong and then ground to a halt. The opening chapters pertinent to the laying down of the western railways are solid, workmanlike, and riveting. The last three are a dismal screed with minimal attention to detail.
September 25, 2020
Extremely historical fact, not storytelling. The engagement was really dry and clearly the author is disgusted at the roberbarrons and corrupt politicians behind the construction of the railroad. He hides no disdain
May 2, 2007
Dowdy title, but the writing is breezy and irreverent. Tells it like it was. Think Howard Zinn, only this guy isn't a total idiot.
May 13, 2012
Largely negative and critical account of the building of America's railroads, revealing the financial cheating, political corruption, and general mismanagement that led to their completion.
October 26, 2013
Love this book on transcontinental railroad. You think big biz runs the country now ... Jeez.
August 11, 2014
Slow starting book but learned much on the history of the railroads in the USA and how the taxpayers overpaid and the politicians and Railroad companies profited.
December 28, 2024
I really enjoy Dee Brown's writing about the West. The research is phenomenal and in my opinion (others will argue) a reasonably unbiased account, or should I say balanced account of the development of the Railroads in the USA.
The history of the construction of the railroads and its impact on the land, the peoples, and those involved from all over the world is riveting. I have now travelled the Santa Fe route from Chicago. Sadly it only goes to Lamy, never made it to this important trading town. However, the station has the original station ....
Will continue my adventures in the West of the USA with the help and knowledge of Dan Brown.
The history of the construction of the railroads and its impact on the land, the peoples, and those involved from all over the world is riveting. I have now travelled the Santa Fe route from Chicago. Sadly it only goes to Lamy, never made it to this important trading town. However, the station has the original station ....
Will continue my adventures in the West of the USA with the help and knowledge of Dan Brown.
June 13, 2023
The rise of the Robber-Baron railroads
The title, "Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow", evokes one image. The actual book presents a far different image. It tells a compelling story, but it's a story of an evil empire of Robber-Barons created by the federal government, who then enrich themselves, buy control of Washington and the state governments, and then build shoddy, dangerous roads while absconding with the money.
If there was any good to be found, the author didn't find it.
The title, "Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow", evokes one image. The actual book presents a far different image. It tells a compelling story, but it's a story of an evil empire of Robber-Barons created by the federal government, who then enrich themselves, buy control of Washington and the state governments, and then build shoddy, dangerous roads while absconding with the money.
If there was any good to be found, the author didn't find it.
May 20, 2020
Detailed history of the rise and consolidation of railroads in America, especially in the South and West. Frank, direct account of the politics, power and manipulation that drove the railroads, balanced against the immense role the railroad played in settling the West. It is also a tale of how politics and power are politics and power. A lesson that anyone who believes that politicians or the wealthy are inherently altruistic is likely very naive.
January 7, 2021
corruption worse than most of us imagined
If the average American then it now could read and realize how the greed of individuals and government could Rob our citizens, they too would be astounded. Socialism won't stop the robbery because the same actors will just wear different hats under the guise of government oversight!and
If the average American then it now could read and realize how the greed of individuals and government could Rob our citizens, they too would be astounded. Socialism won't stop the robbery because the same actors will just wear different hats under the guise of government oversight!and
September 19, 2024
I really enjoyed the book. I've been interested in the transcontinental railroads for 70 years (I'm 81). Never did I realize the crookedness of the builders or how much the building of the railroads wiped out the American 'Indians' and such an incredible amount of wildlife, especially the American bison. A good read, go for it.
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