Hell on wheels
Subtitle: wicked towns along the Union Pacific Railroad
By: Dick Kreck
Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 265
ISBN-13: 9781555919481
Subjects: Social life and customs; Union Pacific Railroad Company; Frontier and pioneer life; Railroad stations; Cities and towns; Local History; Biography; History
Description: The Wild West was more than just cowboys. It was also the raucous and unfettered railroad settlements that lined the tracks. Overnight settlements, better known as "Hell on wheels," sprang up as the transcontinental railroad crossed Nebraska and Wyoming. They brought opportunity not only for legitimate businesses but also for gamblers, land speculators, prostitutes, and thugs. Kreck tells their stories, along with those of the heroic individuals who managed, finally, to create permanent towns in the interior West.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Westward Ho!; title: A Woman's Place; title: Bullwhackers; title: Indians!; title: "A Great Purpose"; title: "The Grandest Enterprise Under God"; title: "Hell on Wheels"; title: Milepost 0.0 : Omaha; title: Milepost 291.0 : North Platte; title: Milepost 377.4 : Julesburg; title: Milepost 516.4 : Cheyenne; title: Milepost 572.8 : Laramie; title: Milepost 946.0 : Bear River City; title: Milepost 1056.6 : Corrine; title: Milepost 1084.4 : Promontory; title: Travel by Train; title: Epilogue.