Title: Hell on wheels
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.
Subjects: Social life and customs, Union Pacific Railroad Company, Frontier and pioneer life, Railroad stations, Cities and towns, Local History, Biography, History, Information technology, Information society, Communication and culture
Places: West (U.S.)
Time periods: 19th century