"I SEE OVER MY OWN CONTINENT
"THE PACIFIC RAILROAD...
"SURMOUNTING EVERY BARRIER.
"I SEE CONTINUAL TRAINS OF CARS
"WINDING ALONG THE PLATTE,
CARRYING FREIGHT AND PASSENGERS."
"I HEAR THE LOCOMOTIVES RUSHING AND ROARING
"AND THE SHRILL STEAM WHISTLE.
"I HEAR THE ECHOES REVERBERATE
THROUGH THE GRANDEST SCENERY IN THE WORLD."
"LO, SOUL,
"SEEST THOU NOT GOD'S PURPOSE FROM THE FIRST--
"THE EARTH TO BE SPANNED,
"CONNECTED BY NETWORKS,
THE LANDS TO BE WELDED TOGETHER."
WALT WHITMAN.
IT HAD TAKEN THE BLOODSHED AND SACRIFICE OF THE CIVIL WAR
TO REUNITE THE NATION, NORTH AND SOUTH.
BUT WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER,
AMERICANS SET OUT WITH EQUAL DETERMINATION
TO UNITE THE NATION, EAST AND WEST.
TO DO IT, THEY WOULD BUILD A RAILROAD.
ITS COMPLETION WOULD BE ONE
OF THE GREATEST TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE AGE,
SIGNALING AT LAST, AS NOTHING ELSE EVER HAD,
THAT THE UNITED STATES WAS NOT ONLY A CONTINENTAL NATION,
BUT ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING A WORLD POWER.
AND WHEN THE RAILROAD WAS FINALLY BUILT,
THE PACE OF CHANGE WOULD SHIFT
FROM THE STEADY GAIT OF A TEAM OF OXEN
TO THE POWERFUL SURGE OF A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE.
THE WEST WOULD BE TRANSFORMED.
OVERNIGHT, THE RAILROAD WOULD TURN BARREN SPOTS OF EARTH
INTO RAUCOUS BOOM TOWNS--
NORTH PLATTE AND JULESBURG,
ABILENE, BEAR RIVER, WICHITA, AND DODGE.
THE RAILROAD WOULD ALLOW CIVIL WAR VETERANS,
POOR FARMERS FROM THE EAST,
AND LANDLESS PEASANTS FROM EUROPE
TO HAVE A FARM THEY COULD CALL THEIR OWN.
THERE THEY PLANTED FOREIGN STRAINS OF WHEAT
IN RICH, MATTED PRAIRIE SOIL
THAT HAD NEVER KNOWN ANYTHING BUT GRASS.
RAILROADS WOULD CARRY
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF WESTERN LONGHORNS
TO EASTERN MARKETS
AND TURN THE DUSTY, SADDLE-SORE MEN WHO HERDED THEM
INTO THE IDOLS OF EVERY EASTERN SCHOOLBOY.
AND RAILROADS WOULD BRING ONTO THE GREAT PLAINS
THE BUFFALO HUNTERS,
WHO WOULD DRIVE A MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL
THAT SYMBOLIZED THE WEST
TO THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION...
AND WITH IT, A WAY OF LIFE
WITH ROOTS REACHING BACK BEFORE RECORDED HISTORY.
THE RAILROAD WOULD DO ALL OF THAT...
BUT FIRST SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TO BUILD IT.
"THE GREAT PACIFIC RAILWAY IS COMMENCED.
"IMMIGRATION WILL SOON POUR INTO THESE VALLEYS.
"10 MILLION EMIGRANTS WILL SETTLE IN THIS GOLDEN LAND
"IN 20 YEARS.
THIS IS THE GRANDEST ENTERPRISE UNDER GOD!"
GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN.
RAILROADS HAD ALREADY TRANSFORMED LIFE IN THE EAST,
BUT AT THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR,
THEY STILL STOPPED AT THE MISSOURI RIVER.
FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY,
MEN HAD DREAMED OF BUILDING A LINE FROM COAST TO COAST.
NOW THEY WOULD ATTEMPT IT--
1,775 MILES OF TRACK FROM OMAHA TO SACRAMENTO.
IT WOULD HAVE TO BE CUT THROUGH MOUNTAINS
HIGHER THAN ANY RAILROAD BUILDER HAD EVER FACED,
SPAN DESERTS WHERE THERE WAS NO WATER ANYWHERE,
AND CROSS TREELESS PRAIRIES
WHERE ANXIOUS AND DEFIANT INDIANS
WOULD RESIST THEIR PASSAGE.
THEY KNEW FROM THE START THAT IF IT COULD BE COMPLETED,
AMERICANS WOULD HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING
NO OTHER PEOPLE HAD EVER EVEN ATTEMPTED.
"IN THE RIPENESS OF TIME,
"THE HOPE OF HUMANITY IS REALIZED.
"THIS CONTINENTAL RAILWAY WILL BIND THE TWO SEABOARDS
"TO THIS ONE CONTINENTAL UNION
"LIKE EARS TO THE HUMAN HEAD
"TO PLANT THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE UNION SO BROAD AND DEEP
"THAT NO POSSIBLE FORCE OR STRATAGEM
CAN SHAKE ITS PERMANENCE."
WILLIAM GILPIN.
THE WEST COULDN'T BE SETTLED WITHOUT RAILROADS,
AND A RAILROAD ACROSS THE WEST COULDN'T BE BUILT
WITHOUT THE GOVERNMENT.
THE DISTANCES WERE TOO GREAT,
THE COSTS TOO STAGGERING,
THE RISKS TOO HIGH FOR ANY GROUP OF BUSINESSMEN.
IT WAS ONLY THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT'S HELP
THAT ANYTHING OF THIS GARGANTUAN SIZE
COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED, MUCH AS LANDING ON THE MOON.
IT WAS NOT RUGGED INDIVIDUALISTS WHO BUILT THE RAILROAD.
IT WAS RUGGED CORPORATIONS WHO FORMED
AND FINANCED THEMSELVES AS ENTITIES.
IT WAS THE RUGGED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
THAT CAME UP WITH THE FEDERAL LOANS
AND THE LAND GRANTS
THAT ENABLED IT TO BE BUILT.
AMID ALL THE ROMANCE OF THE BUILDING OF THE RAILROAD,
WE TEND TO FORGET THAT IT WAS ONE OF
THE MAJOR INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES
OF ITS AGE.
IN 1862, CONGRESS GAVE CHARTERS
TO TWO COMPANIES TO BUILD IT.
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC WAS TO PUSH EASTWARD FROM SACRAMENTO
OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS.
THE UNION PACIFIC WAS TO START FROM THE MISSOURI,
CROSS THE GREAT PLAINS, AND CUT THROUGH THE ROCKIES.
BOTH COMPANIES WERE TO RECEIVE VAST LOANS
FROM THE TREASURY AS THEY WENT ALONG--
$16,000 PER MILE OF LEVEL TRACK,
$32,000 IN THE PLATEAUS,
AND $48,000 IN THE MOUNTAINS.
LOBBYISTS GOT THE RATES DOUBLED WITHIN A YEAR.
LELAND STANFORD, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA
AND PRESIDENT OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD,
PERSUADED A MALLEABLE GEOLOGIST, PROFESSOR JOSIAH WHITNEY,
TO DECLARE THE GENTLY SLOPING SACRAMENTO VALLEY
A MOUNTAINOUS REGION
SO THAT THE CENTRAL PACIFIC COULD COLLECT
THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE RATE FOR LAYING TRACK ACROSS IT.
A GRATEFUL CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE
LATER NAMED ITS HIGHEST PEAK MOUNT WHITNEY
IN THE PROFESSOR'S HONOR.
CONGRESS ALSO PROMISED EACH COMPANY
6,400 ACRES OF FEDERAL LAND
FOR EVERY MILE OF TRACK IT LAID.
THE RAILROADS GOT THE RIGHT OF WAY,
AND ALONG THE RIGHT OF WAY,
MILES AND MILES OF WHAT WAS THEN THE GOVERNMENT'S LAND.
WHEN YOU ADDED IT ALL TOGETHER,
IT WAS A GIFT OF ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF CALIFORNIA
PLUS MOST OF MONTANA.
IT WAS INCREDIBLE.
THE UNION PACIFIC AND CENTRAL PACIFIC
WERE SOON LOCKED IN A RACE
TO SEE WHO COULD LAY THE MOST TRACK
AND, THEREFORE, GET THE MOST LAND AND MONEY.
SOMEWHERE IN THE WEST, NO ONE KNEW EXACTLY WHERE,
THE TWO LINES WERE SUPPOSED TO MEET.
"IT IS A GRAND ANVIL CHORUS
"THAT THESE STURDY SLEDGES ARE PLAYING ACROSS THE PLAINS.
"IT IS IN TRIPLE TIME, 3 STROKES TO A SPIKE.
"21 MILLION TIMES ARE THEY TO COME DOWN
"WITH THEIR SHARP PUNCTUATION
"BEFORE THE GREAT WORK OF MODERN AMERICA
IS COMPLETE."
DR. WILLIAM A. BELL.
IN NEBRASKA, SOME 10,000 MEN
WERE AT WORK ON THE UNION PACIFIC,
HEADING WEST.
MOST WERE IMMIGRANTS
FROM IRELAND,
BUT THERE WERE ALSO
MEXICANS AND GERMANS,
ENGLISHMEN, EX-SOLDIERS, AND FORMER SLAVES--
AN ARMY OF WORKMEN MOVING ACROSS THE PLAINS
WITH MILITARY PRECISION.
THERE WAS NO TIME FOR REST.
A 20-CAR WORK TRAIN
HOUSED AND FED THE MEN WHO ROSE AT DAWN.
A SUPPLY TRAIN CARRIED EVERYTHING NEEDED THAT DAY--
RAILS, TIES, SPIKES, RODS--
ALL OF WHICH HAD TO BE LOADED ONTO FLATCARS
AND RUN UP TO THE RAILHEAD,
WHERE THE IRON MEN WERE ALREADY WAITING.
EACH RAIL WEIGHED 700 POUNDS.
IT TOOK 5 MEN TO LIFT IT INTO PLACE.
2 OR 3 MILES A DAY, EVERY DAY,
6 DAYS A WEEK,
WEEK IN AND WEEK OUT.
AS THE UNION PACIFIC CREWS WORKED THEIR WAY WESTWARD
ACROSS THE PRAIRIE,
HUNDREDS OF PROSTITUTES, PIMPS, GAMBLERS,
SALOON KEEPERS, GUNMEN FOLLOWED RIGHT BEHIND--
"A CARNIVOROUS HORDE," ONE MAN RECALLED,
"HUNGRIER THAN THE NATIVE GRASSHOPPERS"
AND EAGER TO DEVOUR THE MEN'S WEEKLY PAY.
THE SUCCESSION OF BASE CAMPS
THE UNION PACIFIC BUILT ROUGHLY 70 MILES APART
ALL HAD DIFFERENT NAMES--
ELKHORN, FREMONT, OGLALLA,
LARAMIE, GREEN RIVER, AND CHEYENNE.
SAY YOU'RE IN WYOMING,
SAY YOU'RE AT CITADEL ROCK ON THE GREEN RIVER IN WYOMING
AND YOU'RE LOOKING INTO THE DISTANCE,
AND THERE'S NOTHING,
AND BEHIND YOU, THERE'S TRACK GOING ALL THE WAY TO OMAHA.
THE DONKEY ENGINES COMING IN AND GETTING OUT,
HAULING IN MATERIALS, THE CLATTER AND THE BUSTLE
AND THE WORK AROUND YOU AT ALL TIMES,
THE CLANGING OF THE SLEDGEHAMMERS ON THE RAILS
ECHOING IN THE WILDERNESS
THAT HAD NEVER KNOWN ANYTHING LIKE THIS, EVER.
THE SOUNDS OF THE LOCOMOTIVES
BELCHING SMOKE INTO A PREVIOUSLY PRISTINE SKY--
THERE HAD NEVER BEEN A SOUND LIKE THIS EVER BEFORE.
"EVERYTHING THE KIOWAS HAD CAME FROM THE BUFFALO."
"THEIR TEEPEES WERE MADE OF BUFFALO HIDES.
"SO WERE THEIR CLOTHES AND MOCCASINS.
"THEY ATE BUFFALO MEAT.
"THEIR CONTAINERS WERE MADE OF HIDE
"OR OF BLADDERS OR STOMACHS.
"MOST OF ALL,
"THE BUFFALO WAS PART OF THE KIOWA RELIGION.
THE BUFFALO WERE THE LIFE OF THE KIOWAS."
OLD LADY HORSE.
OF ALL THE WEST'S NATURAL WONDERS,
NONE SURPASSED THE HUGE HERDS OF BUFFALO
THAT BLANKETED THE PLAINS--
PERHAPS ONCE AS MANY AS 30 MILLION OF THEM.
THEY HAD FRIGHTENED CORONADO'S HORSES BY THEIR SMELL
AND ASTONISHED LEWIS AND CLARK BY THEIR SHEER NUMBERS.
ONE WAGON TRAIN OF PIONEERS WAS BLOCKED FOR HOURS
BY A HERD 3 MILES WIDE AND 10 MILES LONG.
BUT FOR THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF THE PLAINS,
THEY REPRESENTED EXISTENCE ITSELF.
THE BUFFALO,
WHICH WAS THE ANIMAL REPRESENTATION OF THE SUN,
WAS THE SACRIFICIAL VICTIM OF THE SUN DANCE.
THE SUN DANCE WAS A GREAT CELEBRATION,
A GREAT SOCIAL OCCASION,
AND THE SUN DANCERS WERE EXPRESSING THEIR SPIRIT
IN ORDER TO GAIN CERTAIN POWER.
THEY WANTED TO BE VICTORIOUS IN WAR.
THEY WANTED TO GIVE THANKS
FOR SOMETHING GOOD THAT HAD COME TO THEM.
A BUFFALO BULL IS SACRIFICED,
AND ITS HEAD IS IMPALED IN THE SUN DANCE LODGE
OR NEAR IT,
AND IT'S PART OF THE RITUAL.
YOU CAN'T HAVE A SUN DANCE WITHOUT THE BUFFALO.
BY THE LATE 1860s,
THEIR NUMBERS HAD ALREADY DECLINED,
REDUCED BY DISEASE, COMPETITION FROM HORSE HERDS,
AND BY THE BUFFALO ROBE TRADE
THAT ENCOURAGED SOME INDIAN BANDS
TO KILL MORE THAN THEY NEEDED.
AND NOW THE UNION PACIFIC HIRED MEN TO HUNT BUFFALO
TO FEED THE HUNGRY RAILROAD CREWS
AS THEY BUILT THEIR IRON ROAD ACROSS INDIAN LANDS.
"WE SAW THE FIRST TRAIN OF CARS THAT ANY OF US HAD SEEN.
"WE LOOKED AT IT FROM A HIGH RIDGE.
"FAR OFF, IT WAS VERY SMALL,
"BUT IT KEPT COMING AND GROWING LARGER ALL THE TIME,
"PUFFING OUT SMOKE AND STEAM,
"AND AS IT CAME ON, WE SAID TO EACH OTHER
THAT IT LOOKED LIKE A WHITE MAN'S PIPE WHEN HE WAS SMOKING."
PORCUPINE.
THE CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO AND LAKOTA
RESENTED THE RAILROAD'S INTRUSION.
THEY DERAILED TRAINS, RANSACKED FREIGHT CARS,
FIRED ON SURVEYING CREWS.
THE UNION PACIFIC FELL BEHIND SCHEDULE.
ON JUNE 26, 1867,
AN ARMY DETAIL WAS OVERTAKEN BY A WAR PARTY.
ONE OF THOSE KILLED WAS FREDERICK WYLLYAMS,
WHO HAD COME ALL THE WAY FROM ENGLAND
IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURE.
ANOTHER ENGLISHMAN, AN AMATEUR ETHNOLOGIST,
PHOTOGRAPHED HIS COUNTRYMAN'S CORPSE.
"THE MUSCLES OF THE RIGHT ARM,
"HACKED TO THE BONE,
"SPEAK OF THE CHEYENNE, OR "CUT ARMS."
"THE NOSE SLIT DENOTED THE "SMELLER TRIBE," OR ARAPAHO.
AND THE THROAT CUT BEARS WITNESS THAT THE SIOUX WERE ALSO PRESENT."
"IT WAS EVIDENT FROM THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT DEVICES
"THAT WARRIORS FROM SEVERAL TRIBES
"HAD EACH PURPOSELY LEFT ONE
IN THE DEAD MAN'S BODY."
DR. WILLIAM A. BELL.
FINALLY, 5,000 TROOPS WERE SENT WEST
TO PROVIDE THE RAILROAD WORKERS WITH PROTECTION.
THE CREWS WENT BACK TO WORK.
WHILE THE UNION PACIFIC MOVED WEST AGAIN
ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS,
IN CALIFORNIA, THE CENTRAL PACIFIC,
AFTER A FAST START,
HAD GOTTEN STUCK IN THE SIERRA NEVADAS.
THE MOUNTAINS SEEMED IMPENETRABLE,
AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE,
CHARLES CROCKER, WHOSE JOB IT WAS TO BREAK THROUGH THEM,
COULD NOT SEEM TO HOLD ON TO HIS WORKERS.
3 OUT OF 5 STUCK WITH HIM JUST LONG ENOUGH
TO GET A FREE RIDE TO THE RAILHEAD,
THEN SET OUT ON THEIR OWN FOR THE NEVADA GOLD FIELDS.
HIS PLANS CALLED FOR A WORK FORCE OF 5,000.
HE HAD FEWER THAN 600.
DESPERATE, HE SUGGESTED TO HIS SUPERINTENDENT OF CONSTRUCTION,
JAMES STROBRIDGE,
THAT HE TRY THE CHINESE, WHO WERE EKING OUT A LIVING
WORKING THE GOLD AND SILVER TAILINGS
ABANDONED BY OTHERS.
STROBRIDGE WAS AGAINST IT.
HE THOUGHT THE CHINESE WERE TOO SMALL, TOO FRAIL.
THEY HAD NO EXPERIENCE BUILDING RAILROADS.
CROCKER TOLD STROBRIDGE TO GIVE THE CHINESE A CHANCE.
AFTER ALL, HE SAID,
THEY HAD BUILT THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
THE FIRST CHINESE BEGAN TURNING UP IN EARLY 1865,
EAGER TO WORK.
THEY WERE ALREADY ORGANIZED INTO WORK GANGS,
EACH WITH ITS OWN HEADMAN.
CROCKER EXPECTED THAT THESE FELLOWS
WOULD COME UP THERE IN ONES AND TWOS
LIKE THE OTHER NATIONALITIES,
AND HE FOUND THAT THE CHINESE SORT OF MARCHED UP THERE
AS ONE GROUP,
AND ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS TO DEAL WITH THE, UM...
THE FOREMAN OF THAT GROUP.
OF COURSE, HE WOULD BE THE CLAN LEADER.
BEFORE LONG,
11,000 CHINESE WERE AT WORK ON THE CENTRAL PACIFIC,
AND CROCKER WAS ADVERTISING FOR MORE IN CHINA.
BUT HARD WORK ALONE WAS NO MATCH FOR THE SIERRA NEVADAS.
STROBRIDGE WORRIED THAT HIS CENTRAL PACIFIC
WAS FALLING EVEN FURTHER BEHIND
IN THEIR RACE WITH THE UNION PACIFIC
AND SOON ARMED THE CHINESE WITH BLACK POWDER
TO BLAST THEIR WAY THROUGH.
IT TOOK 500 KEGS OF IT A DAY, WEEK AFTER WEEK,
TO CARVE CUTS THROUGH THE FOOTHILLS.
AND THEN THEY CAME UP AGAINST A FACE THEY CALLED CAPE HORN--
SOLID ROCK NEARLY STRAIGHT UP AND DOWN
2,000 FEET ABOVE A RAGING RIVER.
THERE WERE NO FOOTHOLDS,
BUT THE CHINESE WERE TOLD TO MAKE A LEDGE IN THE CLIFF
WIDE ENOUGH FOR A TRAIN.
MY GRANDFATHER WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE
THAT THEY PUT IN THE BASKETS
BECAUSE HE WAS SMALL AND LIGHT.
AND WHAT THEY DID WAS
THEY WOULD BE LOWERED OVER CLIFFS,
AND THEY WOULD DRILL HOLES,
AND THEN THEY'D SET THE DYNAMITE IN THEM,
AND THEN THEY'D LIGHT THE DYNAMITE,
AND THEN THEY'D PULL THEM UP BY THESE, UH...
BY THE BASKETS.
AND THEN THEY HAD TO GET OUT OF THERE
BEFORE THE DYNAMITE EXPLODED.
"HUGE MASSES OF ROCK AND DEBRIS
"WERE RENT AND HEAVED UP IN THE COMMOTION.
"THEN CAME THE THUNDERS OF THE EXPLOSION
"LIKE A LIGHTNING STROKE,
"REVERBERATING ALONG THE HILLS AND CANYONS
AS IF THE WHOLE ARTILLERY OF HEAVEN WAS IN PLAY."
BEFORE THE CENTRAL PACIFIC COULD GET THROUGH THE SIERRAS,
THE CREWS HAD TO GOUGE OUT 15 TUNNELS.
THEY WORKED IN SHIFTS AROUND THE CLOCK
BUT AVERAGED JUST 8 INCHES A DAY.
AND THEY HAD TO KEEP AT IT IN EVERY KIND OF WEATHER.
"SNOWSTORMS,
"44 IN NUMBER,
"VARIED IN LENGTH FROM A SHORT SNOW SQUALL
"TO A TWO-WEEK GALE.
"THE HEAVIEST STORM OF THE WINTER
"BEGAN FEBRUARY 18th AT 2 P.M.
"AND SNOWED STEADILY UNTIL 10 P.M. OF THE 22nd,
DURING WHICH TIME 6 FEET FELL."
JOHN R. GILLS.
CHARLES CROCKER HAD TO PUNCH THE LINE
THROUGH THE SIERRAS THAT WINTER,
THE WINTER OF '66.
AND THE CHINESE THEN HAD TO BUILD THE RAILROAD,
LAY THE TRACKS.
SO THEY BUILT THESE TUNNELS UNDER THE SNOW
TO KEEP ADVANCING THE LINE.
AND SOMETIMES THERE WOULD BE SNOWSLIDES,
AND ENTIRE CREWS OF CHINESE WOULD BE TRAPPED
UNDER TONS OF SNOW,
AND THEIR BODIES WOULD BE LEFT THERE
AND FOUND THE FOLLOWING SPRING.
SOMETIMES THE BODIES WERE FOUND
WITH THE PICKS AND THE SHOVELS STILL IN THEIR HANDS.
NO ONE KEPT A PRECISE COUNT,
BUT MORE THAN 1,200 CHINESE DIED DIGGING AND BLASTING
FOR CHARLES CROCKER AND THE CENTRAL PACIFIC.
WHEN SOMEBODY DIED,
YOU JUST DIDN'T DIG A GRAVE FOR HIM
AND PUT HIM DOWN IN THE GRAVE.
YOU WENT TO A LOT OF TROUBLE TO GET HIS REMAINS
BACK TO THE VILLAGE THAT HE CAME FROM
BECAUSE A CHINESE DOESN'T WANT TO BE BURIED ANYWHERE.
HE WANTS TO BE BURIED WHERE HIS ANCESTORS WERE BURIED
BECAUSE HE WANTS TO STICK TOGETHER.
FINALLY, IN 1868,
AFTER 3 LONG YEARS OF BACKBREAKING, DANGEROUS LABOR,
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC CREWS DID WHAT FEW HAD BELIEVED
ANYONE COULD DO--
THEY BROKE OUT OF THE HIGH SIERRAS.
"JOHN CHINAMAN WITH HIS PATIENT TOIL,
"DIRECTED BY AMERICAN ENERGY AND BACKED BY AMERICAN CAPITAL,
"HAS BROKEN DOWN THE GREAT BARRIER AT LAST
"AND OPENED OVER IT
"THE GREATEST HIGHWAY YET CREATED
"FOR THE MARCH OF COMMERCE AND CIVILIZATION
AROUND THE GLOBE."
"TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE."
THE HARDEST PART WAS BEHIND THEM.
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC WAS BACK IN THE RACE.
"WE HIDATSAS BELIEVE THAT ONLY MAN AND FIRST CREATOR
"SPLIT UP THE JOB OF CREATION.
"THEY MADE THE RIVER
AND THE PLAINS AND THE BADLANDS."
"TO POPULATE THEM,
"FIRST CREATOR MADE THE BUFFALO,
"BUT ONLY MAN CREATED A WHITE MAN
AND THE SPOTTED COWS THE WHITE MAN RAISED."
"WHEN FIRST CREATOR SAW WHAT ONLY MAN HAD DONE,
"HE SAID, 'YOU ARE FOOLISH TO MAKE THESE THINGS.
"'THE WHITE MEN ARE A QUEER KIND OF MEN,
"AND THEY WILL ALWAYS BE GREEDY.'
"'THAT IS SO,' SAID ONLY MAN,
"AND SO HE OPENED A HOLE IN THE EARTH
AND SENT ALL THE SPOTTED COWS DOWN UNDERGROUND."
"'BUT WHEN THE BUFFALO ARE ALL GONE,' HE SAID,
"'THE SPOTTED COWS WILL COME AGAIN
AND COVER THIS EARTH AS THE BUFFALOES DID.'"
"ABOVE ALL THINGS,
"THE PLAINSMAN HAD TO HAVE A SENSE,
"AN INSTINCT FOR DIRECTION.
"FEW MEN HAVE THIS INSTINCT.
"YET IN THE FEW,
"IT IS TO BE TRUSTED AS ABSOLUTELY
AS THE HOMING INSTINCT OF A WILD GOOSE."
"I NEVER HAD A COMPASS IN MY LIFE.
I WAS NEVER LOST."
CHARLES GOODNIGHT.
CHARLES GOODNIGHT WAS USED TO TOUGH TIMES.
A DIRT FARMER'S SON, HE HAD RIDDEN BAREBACK
ALL THE WAY FROM ILLINOIS TO TEXAS
AT THE AGE OF 9
AND HAD BEEN WORKING FULL-TIME TO SUPPORT HIS WIDOWED MOTHER
SINCE HE WAS 11.
AT 19, HE AND HIS BROTHER WENT INTO THE CATTLE BUSINESS.
STILL TOO POOR TO BUY THEIR OWN HERD,
THEY AGREED TO WATCH OVER SOMEONE ELSE'S,
RECEIVING EVERY FOURTH CALF AS PAY.
GOODNIGHT HAD MANAGED TO COLLECT 180 HEAD OF HIS OWN
BY THE TIME THE CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT,
BUT HE LEFT HIS CATTLE TO JOIN THE TEXAS RANGERS
AND FIGHT FOR THE CONFEDERACY.
WHEN HE RETURNED TO HIS RANCH AT THE END OF THE WAR,
HE FOUND THE CATTLE BUSINESS IN RUINS.
TEXAS HERDS HAD MULTIPLIED WILDLY
FROM 3.5 MILLION TO 6 MILLION--
SO MANY THAT BEEF PRICES FELL TO NEARLY NOTHING.
"IT LOOKED LIKE EVERYTHING WORTH LIVING FOR WAS GONE.
"THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WAS DEPRESSED.
THERE WAS NO HOPE."
THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE AS A CATTLEMAN,
GOODNIGHT DECIDED,
WAS TO TAKE HIS HERDS NORTH TO BETTER MARKETS--
THE INDIAN RESERVATIONS, COLORADO MINING CAMPS,
AND THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD CREWS
NOW WORKING THEIR WAY ACROSS WYOMING.
TO REACH THEM,
HE AND HIS PARTNER, OLIVER LOVING,
WITH 18 COWBOYS AND 2,000 CATTLE,
BLAZED A NEW TRAIL IN 1866.
AND WHEN THE LONG DRIVE WAS DONE,
THE PARTNERS CLEARED $24,000,
MORE THAN THEY HAD EVER DREAMED OF GETTING.
THEY HURRIED BACK TO TEXAS TO BUY MORE CATTLE,
THEN HEADED RIGHT BACK UP
THE NEWLY NAMED "GOODNIGHT-LOVING TRAIL"
BEFORE ANYONE ELSE COULD BEAT THEM TO IT.
"LOVING WAS A MAN OF RELIGIOUS INSTINCTS
"AND ONE OF THE COOLEST AND BRAVEST MEN
"I'VE EVER KNOWN...
BUT DEVOID OF CAUTION."
LOVING PUSHED ON AHEAD TO GET IN THE PARTNERS' BID
FOR NEW GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS,
BUT COMANCHES CAUGHT HIM ON THE OPEN PLAIN,
SHOT HIM IN THE WRIST AND SIDE,
AND CHASED HIM TO A RIVERBANK,
WHERE HE HELD THEM OFF FOR SEVERAL DAYS
BEFORE HE CRAWLED TO SAFETY IN THE NIGHT.
HE WAS PICKED UP BY A PASSING WAGON
AND TAKEN TO AN ARMY HOSPITAL,
BUT IT WAS TOO LATE TO SAVE HIM.
THE NIGHT LOVING DIED,
HE CALLED HIS PARTNER TO HIS SIDE.
"HIS MIND TURNED BACK TO TEXAS,
"AND AT LAST HE SAID,
"'I REGRET TO HAVE TO BE LAID AWAY
"IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY.'"
"I ASSURED HIM THAT HE NEED HAVE NO FEARS...
"THAT I WOULD SEE THAT HIS REMAINS
"WERE LAID IN THE CEMETERY AT HOME.
"HE FELT THIS WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE,
BUT I TOLD HIM IT WOULD BE DONE."
GOODNIGHT ORDERED HIS MEN TO FASHION A TIN CASKET
OUT OF FLATTENED CANS.
THEY PUT LOVING'S WOODEN COFFIN INSIDE,
COVERED IT WITH CHARCOAL, SEALED THE TOP,
AND PLACED IT IN A WAGON.
FLANKED BY A COWBOY ESCORT,
GOODNIGHT STARTED BACK SOUTH FOR TEXAS.
WORD OF THEIR PROFITS HAD SPREAD
THROUGHOUT CATTLE COUNTRY,
AND OTHER OUTFITS WERE ALREADY STREAMING NORTH,
HEADED NOW FOR THE NEAREST RAILHEADS
FROM WHICH THEY COULD SHIP THEIR STEERS EAST.
A NEW INDUSTRY HAD BEEN BORN.
BUT IN FEBRUARY OF 1868, CHARLES GOODNIGHT,
THE MAN WHO HAD HELPED START IT ALL,
WAS HEADED IN THE OTHER DIRECTION.
KEEPING HIS PROMISE TO HIS DEAD PARTNER,
HE WAS TAKING OLIVER LOVING HOME.
"RAILWAYS, MULTIPLIED AND SPANNING THE CONTINENT,
"ARE ESSENTIAL DOMESTIC INSTITUTIONS,
"MORE POWERFUL AND MORE PERMANENT THAN LAW
"OR POPULAR CONSENT OR POLITICAL CONSTITUTIONS
"TO THOROUGHLY COMPLETE THE GRAND SYSTEM
WHICH FRATERNIZES US INTO ONE PEOPLE."
WILLIAM GILPIN.
BY THE SPRING OF 1869,
THE COMPETITION BETWEEN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC
AND THE UNION PACIFIC
WAS CONVERGING ON NORTHERN UTAH.
RIVAL ARMIES OF RAILROAD MEN VIED TO COVER THE MOST GROUND
AND EARN THE MOST MONEY FOR THEIR EMPLOYERS
BEFORE THE TWO LINES FINALLY MET.
THEY TRIED TO OUTDO ONE ANOTHER,
FIRST LAYING 5 MILES OF TRACK IN A SINGLE DAY,
THEN 6, THEN 7, AND THEN 10 MILES--
A PACE OF RAILROAD-BUILDING
SUCH AS THE WORLD HAD NEVER SEEN.
NO FIXED RENDEZVOUS POINT HAD EVER BEEN ESTABLISHED.
GRADING CREWS FOR THE TWO COMPANIES,
WORKING FAR AHEAD OF THE TRACK LAYERS,
PASSED EACH OTHER IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS
AND PUSHED ON FOR HUNDREDS OF MILES...
SOMETIMES WORKING SO CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER
THAT EXPLOSIONS SET OFF BY ONE WORK GANG
SPATTERED ITS RIVALS WITH DIRT.
FINALLY, THE GOVERNMENT INTERVENED
AND PICKED PROMONTORY SUMMIT, 56 MILES WEST OF OGDEN,
AS THE PLACE WHERE THE TWO LINES WOULD MEET.
THE RACE ACROSS THE WEST WAS COMING TO A CLOSE AT LAST.
ON MAY 10, 1869, EVERYTHING WAS READY.
A TELEGRAPHER STOOD BY
TO SIGNAL TO BOTH COASTS AND ALL POINTS IN BETWEEN
THE DRIVING OF THE FINAL SPIKE.
"TO EVERYBODY, KEEP QUIET.
"WHEN THE LAST SPIKE IS DRIVEN
"AT PROMONTORY POINT,
"WE WILL SAY, 'DONE!'
"DON'T BREAK THE CIRCUIT,
"BUT WATCH FOR THE SIGNALS
OF THE BLOWS OF THE HAMMER."
"WE UNDERSTAND.
ALL ARE READY IN THE EAST."
4 SPIKES-- TWO GOLD, ONE SILVER,
AND THE FOURTH A BLEND OF GOLD, SILVER, AND IRON--
WERE TO BE TAPPED GENTLY INTO POSITION
WITH A SILVER MAUL TO MARK THE OCCASION,
AND THEN A FINAL SPIKE--
AN ORDINARY ONE, BUT WIRED TO THE TELEGRAPHER'S KEY--
WAS TO BE HAMMERED INTO THE GROUND.
"ALMOST READY."
"O FATHER..."
"HATS OFF. PRAYER IS BEING OFFERED."
"WE DESIRE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THY HANDIWORK
IN THIS GREAT WORK."
"THE SPIKE WILL SOON BE DRIVEN."
"...AND THAT MIGHTY ENTERPRISE MAY BE UNTO US
"AS THE ATLANTIC OF THY STRENGTH
"AND THE PACIFIC OF THY LOVE,
THROUGH JESUS THE REDEEMER, AMEN."
"WE HAVE GOT DONE PRAYING.
THE SPIKE IS ABOUT TO BE PRESENTED."
THE FINAL SPIKE WAS SLID INTO PLACE.
LELAND STANFORD OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC
WAS TO HAVE THE HONOR OF DRIVING IT HOME.
"THE SIGNAL WILL BE 3 DOTS
FOR THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE BLOWS."
STANFORD SWUNG THE HAMMER HIGH ABOVE HIS HEAD,
BROUGHT IT DOWN--
AND MISSED.
THE TELEGRAPHER CLOSED THE CIRCUIT ANYWAY.
"DONE!"
IN WASHINGTON, A GREAT CHEER WENT UP
FROM THE BIG CROWD IN FRONT OF THE TELEGRAPH OFFICE,
AND AN ILLUMINATED BALL DROPPED FROM THE DOME OF THE CAPITOL.
AT INDEPENDENCE HALL IN PHILADELPHIA,
THE LIBERTY BELL WAS RUNG--
GINGERLY, SO THAT ITS CRACK WOULD NOT WORSEN--
AND IN SAN FRANCISCO,
A HUGE BANNER WAS UNFURLED THAT PROCLAIMED,
"CALIFORNIA ANNEXES THE UNITED STATES."
THE VAST DISTANCES OF THE WEST HAD AT LAST BEEN CONQUERED.
A JOURNEY THAT HAD ONCE TAKEN MONTHS
COULD NOW BE ACCOMPLISHED IN A MATTER OF DAYS.
ONCE THE RAILS WERE JOINED AT PROMONTORY,
I THINK YOU CAN SAY
THAT WE BEGAN FOR THE FIRST TIME TRULY
TO THINK OF OURSELVES AS A CONTINENTAL NATION.
IT WAS A KIND OF A REACH OF THE NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS
INTO A PLACE
THAT HAD ONCE ONLY BEEN OCCUPIED
BY DREAMS AND MYTHS AND IMAGINATION,
AND HERE WAS THE GREAT TECHNOLOGICAL MARVEL
OF ITS TIME
CRASHING THROUGH THOSE MYTHIC BARRIERS
AND GOING INTO A VERY REAL PLACE.
THAT MOMENT AT PROMONTORY POINT
IS A MOMENT OF TREMENDOUS SIGNIFICANCE
BECAUSE ON EITHER SIDE OF THAT MOMENT
WERE VASTLY DIFFERENT WORLDS, RADICALLY DIFFERENT WORLDS.
IT FORETOLD THE WHOLE STORY OF TECHNOLOGY,
THE COMING OF THE MACHINE,
AND WHAT COULD BE MORE SYMBOLIC OF THAT NEW AGE,
YOU KNOW, THAN THE COMPLETION OF THE RAILROAD
AND THE DRIVING OF THE GOLDEN SPIKE?
NOTHING WOULD EVER BE THE SAME IN THE WEST.
♪ OUR CAMP IS UNITED, WE ALL LABOR HARD ♪
♪ AND IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, WE'LL GAIN OUR REWARD ♪
♪ OUR LEADER IS WISE AND A GREAT LEADER, TOO ♪
♪ AND ALL THINGS HE TELLS US, WE'RE RIGHT GLAD TO DO ♪
♪ HOORAY, HOORAH, THE RAILROAD'S BEGUN ♪
♪ THREE CHEERS FOR OUR CONTRACTOR ♪
♪ HIS NAME'S BRIGHAM YOUNG ♪
♪ HOORAY, HOORAH, WE'RE LIGHTHEARTED AND GAY ♪
♪ JUST THE RIGHT KIND OF BOYS TO BUILD A RAILWAY ♪
BRIGHAM YOUNG HAD BROUGHT HIS MORMON PEOPLE WEST
IN SEARCH OF SANCTUARY FROM THE REST OF THE UNITED STATES,
BUT THE NEW TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
NOW RAN RIGHT THROUGH UTAH,
AND IT BEGAN BRINGING THOUSANDS OF NEW SETTLERS
INTO YOUNG'S KINGDOM--
NONBELIEVERS WHO THREATENED HIS AUTHORITY
AND DEPLORED THE MORMON PRACTICE OF PLURAL MARRIAGE, POLYGAMY.
THE MORMONS MUST HAVE VIEWED
THE COMPLETION OF THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
WITH AN INCREDIBLE AMBIGUITY.
ON THE ONE HAND, THEY WERE A VERY COMMERCIAL PEOPLE.
THEY UNDERSTOOD PRECISELY HOW IMPORTANT
THE RAILROAD WAS GOING TO BE
TO THE GROWTH OF BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY IN UTAH.
ON THE OTHER HAND,
BEING ABLE TO SUSTAIN THEIR WAY OF LIFE
DEPENDED ALMOST ABSOLUTELY ON A POWERFUL DEGREE OF ISOLATION.
THE RAILROAD DESTROYED THAT.
THE RAILROAD OPENED UP THE GATES.
THE RAILROAD LET THE WORLD IN
AND SOMETIMES LET THE MORMONS OUT,
AND IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN A TERRIBLE BLOW
TO THE BASE OF THE SOCIETY'S CONFIDENCE IN ITSELF.
IN 1870, SOME 5,000 MORMON WOMEN HELD AN "INDIGNATION MEETING"
IN THE SALT LAKE TABERNACLE.
THEY WERE PROTESTING AGAINST THOSE NONBELIEVERS
WHO HAD DARED CRITICIZE PLURAL MARRIAGE.
"THE WORLD SAYS
"POLYGAMY MAKES WOMEN INFERIOR TO MEN.
"WE THINK DIFFERENTLY.
"POLYGAMY GIVES WOMEN MORE TIME FOR THOUGHT,
"FOR MENTAL CULTURE,
"MORE FREEDOM OF ACTION,
"A BROADER FIELD OF LABOR,
"AND LEADS WOMEN MORE DIRECTLY TO GOD,
THE FOUNTAIN OF ALL TRUTH."
EMMELINE WELLS.
ONE OF THE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AT THE RALLY
WAS A DETERMINED, HARD-WORKING WOMAN NAMED EMMELINE WELLS.
BORN IN MASSACHUSETTS
AND GRADUATED FROM A SELECT GIRLS SCHOOL,
WELLS HAD CONVERTED TO MORMONISM AND MOVED TO NAUVOO, ILLINOIS,
WHERE SHE LOST HER FIRST CHILD
AND WAS ABANDONED BY HER HUSBAND--
ALL BEFORE THE AGE OF 16.
A SECOND HUSBAND DIED.
THEN SHE BECAME THE SEVENTH WIFE OF DANIEL WELLS,
THE MAYOR OF SALT LAKE CITY.
NOW SHE LIVED IN HER OWN SMALL HOUSE
AND HELPED TO SUPPORT HERSELF AND HER FAMILY
WHEN WELLS' FINANCES SUFFERED.
"I HAVE NO STRONG ARM TO LEAN UPON,
NO PROTECTION OR COMFORT IN MY HUSBAND,"
SHE WROTE PRIVATELY IN HER DIARY,
AND YET HER COMMITMENT TO PLURAL MARRIAGE WAS UNSHAKABLE.
I ACTUALLY THINK
THAT SOME OF THE GREAT FEMINISTS WERE WOMEN IN POLYGAMY.
MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER IS AMONG THEM.
IF THERE WAS A WOMAN WHO EXCELLED IN TEACHING,
YOU KNOW, SHE HAD HER OWN LIFE.
IF THERE WAS ANOTHER WOMAN WHO EXCELLED
IN COOKING OR FARMING, SHE HAD HER LIFE,
AND EVERYONE HAD KIND OF THEIR OWN FOCUS.
THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS SENSE OF SISTERHOOD,
AND IN MANY WAYS, THE MEN WERE IMMATERIAL.
THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES,
WOMEN WERE DENIED THE RIGHT TO VOTE,
AND WELLS, AS THE OUTSPOKEN EDITOR
OF A POPULAR MORMON NEWSPAPER FOR WOMEN,
WANTED TO CHANGE THAT.
""THE WOMAN'S EXPONENT," VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1.
"MILLIONS OF INTELLIGENT WOMEN
"ARE DEPRIVED OF THE VOTE
"SIMPLY BECAUSE NATURE QUALIFIED THEM
"TO BECOME MOTHERS AND NOT FATHERS OF MEN.
"THEY MAY OWN PROPERTY, PAY TAXES,
"ASSIST IN SUPPORTING THE GOVERNMENT,
"REND THEIR HEART-STRINGS IN GIVING FOR ITS AID
"THE CHILDREN OF THEIR AFFECTIONS,
"BUT THEY ARE DENIED ALL RIGHT TO SAY
"WHO SHALL DISBURSE THOSE TAXES,
"HOW THAT GOVERNMENT SHALL BE CONDUCTED,
"OR WHO SHALL DECIDE
"ON A QUESTION OF PEACE OR WAR,
"WHICH MAY INVOLVE THE LIVES OF THEIR SONS,
BROTHERS, FATHERS, AND HUSBANDS."
IN HER PUSH FOR THE VOTE IN UTAH,
WELLS FOUND A MOST UNLIKELY ALLY--
THE MORMON PATRIARCH HIMSELF, BRIGHAM YOUNG.
HE WAS CERTAIN THAT ADDING MORMON WOMEN
TO THE VOTERS' ROLLS
WOULD ONLY STRENGTHEN HIS HOLD ON UTAH.
ON FEBRUARY 12, 1870, WITH YOUNG'S BACKING,
THE UTAH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE GRANTED WOMEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
TWO DAYS LATER, THEY EXERCISED IT.
YOUNG'S NIECE VOTED FIRST,
FOLLOWED BY ONE OF HIS DAUGHTERS.
EVENTUALLY, EMMELINE WELLS JOINED THE LEADERSHIP
OF THE NATIONAL SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT,
DETERMINED TO WIN FOR ALL AMERICAN WOMEN
THE RIGHT NOW ENJOYED IN UTAH,
BUT SHE NEVER STOPPED LOBBYING FOR ANOTHER CAUSE
JUST AS PRECIOUS TO HER--
THE RIGHT TO REMAIN A PLURAL WIFE.
"ALL HONOR AND REVERENCE TO GOOD MEN,
"BUT THEY AND THEIR ATTENTIONS
"ARE NOT THE ONLY SOURCE OF HAPPINESS ON THE EARTH
"AND NEED NOT FILL UP EVERY THOUGHT OF WOMAN,
"AND WHEN MEN SEE THAT WOMEN CAN EXIST
"WITHOUT THEIR BEING CONSTANTLY AT HAND,
"IT WILL PERHAPS TAKE A LITTLE OF THE CONCEIT
OUT OF SOME OF THEM."
EMMELINE WELLS.
FOLLOWING THE LEAD OF THE UNION PACIFIC
AND CENTRAL PACIFIC,
OTHER RAIL LINES SOON SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WEST--
THE KANSAS PACIFIC, NORTHERN PACIFIC,
AND DENVER PACIFIC,
THE TEXAS AND PACIFIC, THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE,
THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA, AND SANTA FE.
AND AS THE RAILROADS MOVED ONTO THE GREAT PLAINS,
THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM PEOPLE WHO HAD NEVER SEEN THE WEST
OR ITS MOST MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL, THE BUFFALO.
AT FIRST, THEY SHOT THE BUFFALO FOR SPORT,
BANGING AWAY AT THE HUGE HERDS
FROM THE WINDOWS OF PASSENGER CARS.
ONE CHURCH GROUP FROM LAWRENCE, KANSAS,
ORGANIZED A TWO-DAY HUNTING EXCURSION
TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE CONGREGATION.
300 PEOPLE SIGNED UP.
"WHEN THE WHITE MEN WANTED TO BUILD RAILROADS
"OR WHEN THEY WANTED TO FARM OR RAISE CATTLE,
"THE BUFFALO STILL PROTECTED THE KIOWAS.
"THEY TORE UP THEIR RAILROAD TRACKS
"AND THEIR GARDENS.
"THEY CHASED THE CATTLE OFF THE RANGES.
"THE BUFFALO LOVED THEIR PEOPLE
AS MUCH AS THE KIOWAS LOVED THEM."
"THEN THE WHITE MEN HIRED HUNTERS
TO DO NOTHING BUT KILL THE BUFFALO."
OLD LADY HORSE.
"THE BUFFALO DIDN'T BELONG TO ANYBODY.
"IF YOU COULD KILL THEM,
"WHAT THEY BROUGHT WAS YOURS.
THEY WERE WALKING GOLD PIECES."
FRANK H. MAYER.
FRANK MAYER WAS HANGING AROUND DODGE CITY, KANSAS,
IN THE HEART OF BUFFALO COUNTRY,
LOOKING FOR WORK,
WHEN HE MET TWO HUNTERS
WHO OFFERED TO SHOW HIM THEIR BRAND-NEW TRADE.
"I WAS YOUNG.
I NEEDED ADVENTURE," HE REMEMBERED.
"HERE WAS IT."
THE NEW RAIL LINES MEANT
THAT BUFFALO ROBES AND BUFFALO MEAT
COULD BE TAKEN TO EASTERN MARKETS
IN GREATER NUMBERS AT LOWER COSTS,
AND MANUFACTURERS HAD PERFECTED TECHNIQUES
FOR TURNING STIFF BUFFALO HIDES INTO SOFT LEATHER,
IDEAL FOR SHOES, CUSHIONS, CARRIAGE TOPS,
AND THE BELTS THAT TURNED MACHINERY IN EASTERN FACTORIES.
FRANK MAYER WAS DETERMINED TO BE AMONG THE FIRST
TO PROFIT FROM THE BUFFALO BOOM.
HE SANK EVERYTHING HE OWNED INTO A HUNTING OUTFIT--
WAGONS, MULES, CAMP EQUIPMENT, AND FIREARMS.
THEN HE HEADED OUT ONTO THE PLAINS.
"WHEN I WENT INTO THE BUSINESS,
"I SAT DOWN AND FIGURED
"THAT I WAS INDEED ONE OF FORTUNE'S CHILDREN.
"JUST THINK--
"THERE WERE 20 MILLION BUFFALO,
"EACH WORTH AT LEAST $3.00...
"60 MILLION.
"AT THE VERY OUTSIDE,
"CARTRIDGES COST 25 CENTS EACH,
"SO EVERY TIME I FIRED ONE,
"I GOT MY INVESTMENT BACK
"12 TIMES OVER.
"I COULD KILL 100 A DAY.
"THAT WOULD BE $6,000 A MONTH,
"OR 3 TIMES WHAT WAS PAID,
"IT SEEMS TO ME,
"THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
"WAS I NOT LUCKY THAT I DISCOVERED
"THIS QUICK AND EASY WAY TO FORTUNE?
I THOUGHT I WAS."
FRANK H. MAYER.
"WE HAD A MOTLEY ARRAY OF NEIGHBORS.
"ON ONE SIDE, A GERMAN WHO COULD
"SCARCE SPEAK ENGLISH,
"MARRIED TO A BOHEMIAN WHO COULD SPEAK LITTLE ENGLISH
"AND NO GERMAN.
"ON ANOTHER SIDE, A FAMILY OF SWEDES
"FRESH FROM THE OLD COUNTRY.
"ON AN ADJOINING FARM,
"A SCOTSMAN WITH A MISSOURI WIFE.
"NEARBY, A FAMILY FROM IOWA.
"ANOTHER FAMILY FROM ILLINOIS.
"SOME OLD, SOME YOUNG,
"SOME ILLITERATE, SOME WELL-EDUCATED,
YET ALL ENGAGED IN THE SAME ENTERPRISE."
AS MORE AND MORE RAILROADS
EXPANDED INTO THE WEST,
AN INTENSE COMPETITION BETWEEN THEM BEGAN.
SETTLERS WERE SOUGHT
WHO WOULD PROVIDE BUSINESS FOR THEIR FREIGHT TRAINS
AND BUY THE LAND THE RAILROADS HAD BEEN GIVEN
AS GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES.
"YOU CAN LAY TRACK TO THE GARDEN OF EDEN,"
SAID THE HEAD OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC,
"BUT WHAT GOOD IS IT
IF THE ONLY INHABITANTS ARE ADAM AND EVE?"
WESTERN STATES ALSO CONTENDED WITH ONE ANOTHER
FOR NEW RESIDENTS.
THE HOMESTEAD ACT PROMISED 160 ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND
TO ANY PERSON WHO FILED A CLAIM, PAID A $10 FEE,
AND AGREED TO WORK THE PROPERTY
FOR 5 YEARS.
IN THE 1870s, KANSAS GREW
BY MORE THAN HALF A MILLION PEOPLE.
NEBRASKA'S POPULATION QUADRUPLED.
200 SCOTTISH FAMILIES SETTLED ON THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BORDER.
THE HEBREW IMMIGRANT AID SOCIETY LURED JEWS FROM EASTERN EUROPE
TO OREGON, COLORADO, KANSAS, THE DAKOTAS.
GERMAN-RUSSIAN MENNONITES, SWEDISH, DUTCH,
FRENCH, BOHEMIAN, IRISH,
AND NORWEGIAN FAMILIES WERE SOON SCATTERED ACROSS THE PLAINS.
IN THE VILLAGES OF EUROPE,
YOU MIGHT BE ONLY A FEW STEPS AWAY FROM YOUR NEIGHBORS,
CERTAINLY WITHIN HEARING DISTANCE.
YOU COULD HEAR THE VILLAGE'S CHURCH BELLS
RINGING ON A SUNDAY MORNING.
SUDDENLY, HERE THEY WERE ISOLATED,
MANY MILES FROM NEIGHBORS AND FROM VILLAGES,
WITH LONG PERIODS OF TIME BETWEEN ANY KIND OF INTERACTION.
THEY HAD "WIND SICKNESS," THEY CALLED IT,
FROM THE CONSTANT BLOWING OF THE WIND.
THEY PLANTED TREES AROUND THEIR HOUSES
NOT SIMPLY FOR THE SHADE OR FOR THE BEAUTY
BUT TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE IMMENSITY OF THE LANDSCAPE.
THEY STARTED TOWNS
LIKE LINDSBORG AND HOFFNUNGSTHAL,
NEW ALEXANDERWOHL AND DANNEBROG--
SOME WITH THE SAME STREET PLANS
AS THEIR OLD VILLAGES IN EUROPE.
AND THEY PLANTED WHEAT THEY HAD BROUGHT ALONG
FROM AS FAR AWAY AS RUSSIA.
IT FLOURISHED AS NO OTHER DOMESTIC CROP EVER HAD BEFORE
ON THE SEMI-ARID PLAINS
AND WOULD ONE DAY HELP MAKE THE UNITED STATES
THE AGRICULTURAL WONDER OF THE WORLD.
THE MEN HAD FARMED, IN MANY CASES,
MOST OF THEIR LIVES.
THEY'D HAD TO STRUGGLE AGAINST ROOTS AND ROCKS
AND ALL THESE THINGS THAT MADE FARMING DIFFICULT.
THEY LOOKED AROUND THEM HERE, AND THERE WERE THOUSANDS,
TENS OF THOUSANDS, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ACRES
WITHOUT A ROOT OR A ROCK.
THEY COULD PUT THEIR PLOW IN THE GROUND
AND GO MILES AND MILES STRAIGHT AHEAD
WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT A HILL.
THIS WAS GRASS, GROUND, EARTH
THAT HAD NEVER BEEN TURNED IN ALL OF HISTORY,
EXCEPT MAYBE BY A BUFFALO'S HORN.
THEY SAID THE FIRST TIME A PLOW WENT THROUGH THAT GROUND,
IT SOUNDED LIKE THE OPENING OF A GIANT ZIPPER
FROM THE GRASS ROOTS TEARING AS THE PLOW WENT THROUGH IT.
TO THEM, THIS WAS A DREAM COME TRUE.
WE SELDOM STOP TO THINK
HOW DESPERATELY LONELY IT WAS.
ONE OF THE TALES I LIKE THE BEST
WAS ABOUT A WOMAN WHO LIVED OUT WEST TEXAS.
SHE SELDOM SAW ANYBODY UP IN THE PANHANDLE.
A COWBOY CAME THROUGH ONE TIME
AND BROUGHT HER A SACK THAT HAD 3 CHICKENS IN IT,
AND SHE COULD NOT BRING HERSELF TO KILL THOSE CHICKENS.
SHE SAID, "YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT GOOD COMPANY THEY WERE."
THERE WAS SOME CORE OF THAT WOMAN
THAT EMBRACED THIS RAW COUNTRY,
BUT, YOU SEE, IT WAS HER LOT.
HER HUSBAND GOES OFF TO ROUND UP THE CATTLE,
OR WHATEVER ADVENTURE THAT HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ON,
AND IT WAS HER LOT TO KEEP THE HOMESTEAD,
TO RUN THE RANCH, TO CARE FOR HIS FAMILY,
AND SO I THINK OF THAT WOMAN OFTEN
WITH THOSE 3 CHICKENS, HEH,
AND I BET THEY WERE GOOD COMPANY.
"SURELY THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE
"MUST BE IN THIS,
"AS IT SEEMS THIS DESERT--
"AS IT HAS BEEN TERMED SO LONG--
"HAS BEEN SPECIALLY RESERVED
"FOR THE POOR OF OUR LAND,
"WHERE THEY CAN FIND A HOME
"FOR THEMSELVES AND FAMILIES
"AND WHERE THEY CAN ENJOY
"THE COMPANIONSHIP OF THEIR LOVED ONES,
"UNDISTURBED BY THOSE THAT HAVE HERETOFORE
HELD THEM UNDER THE MOST EXCLUSIVE CONTROL."
URIAH OBLINGER.
IN THE SUMMER OF 1872,
A UNION VETERAN NAMED URIAH WESLEY OBLINGER
LEFT HIS RENTED FARM IN ONWARD, INDIANA,
AND SET OUT WITH HIS BROTHER AND TWO BROTHERS-IN-LAW
FOR NEBRASKA
TO CLAIM THE HOMESTEAD
TO WHICH HIS MILITARY SERVICE ENTITLED HIM.
HIS WIFE MATTIE AND INFANT DAUGHTER ELLA
WERE TO WAIT AT HOME UNTIL HE SENT FOR THEM.
"OCTOBER 6, 1872.
"DEAR WIFE AND BABY,
"WELL, I SUPPOSE THE FIRST QUESTION
"YOU WOULD ASK ME NOW
"WOULD BE, 'HOW DO YOU LIKE NEBRASKA?'
"WIFE, YOU CAN SEE
"JUST AS FAR AS YOU PLEASE HERE,
"AND ALMOST EVERY FOOT IN SIGHT
"CAN BE PLOWED.
"THE LONGER I STAY HERE, THE BETTER I LIKE IT.
"THERE ARE MOSTLY YOUNG FAMILIES
"JUST STARTING IN LIFE, THE SAME AS WE ARE,
"AND I FIND THEM VERY GENEROUS, INDEED.
"WE'LL ALL BE POOR HERE TOGETHER.
"I AM HUNTING A HOME FOR US
"WHERE WE CAN ENJOY OURSELVES
"WITHOUT BEING BOTHERED DOING AS OTHER PEOPLE SAY.
"I CAN GET ALONG WELL ENOUGH THROUGH THE WEEK,
"BUT WHEN SUNDAY COMES,
"I FEEL A LITTLE LONESOME WITHOUT YOU.
"GIVE BABY A KISS-- YES, TWO OF THEM--
AND TAKE ONE YOURSELF."
AFTER MORE THAN A YEAR OF SEPARATION,
URIAH OBLINGER'S LONG WAIT ENDED.
HIS WIFE MATTIE AND DAUGHTER ELLA,
ALONG WITH A CRATE CONTAINING ALL THEIR WORLDLY GOODS
AND ANOTHER FILLED WITH LIVE CHICKENS,
FINALLY ARRIVED ABOARD THE MORNING TRAIN.
URIAH TOOK THEM TO THEIR NEW HOME,
BUILT FROM PRAIRIE SOD WITH HIS OWN HANDS,
TO BEGIN THEIR NEW LIFE.
"DEAR MOTHER AND FATHER,
"AT HOME IN OUR HOUSE-- AND A SOD, AT THAT!
"WE MOVED IN LAST WEDNESDAY,
"URIAH'S BIRTHDAY.
"IT IS NOT QUITE SO CONVENIENT
"AS A NICE FRAME,
"BUT I WOULD AS SOON LIVE IN IT
"AS THE CABINS I HAVE LIVED IN.
"I RIPPED OUR WAGON SHEET IN TWO,
"HAVE IT AROUND THE SIDES
"AND HAVE SEVERAL PAPERS UP.
"IT LOOKS REAL SWELL.
"THE ONLY OBJECTION I HAVE
IS THAT WE HAVE NO FLOOR YET."
MATTIE OBLINGER.
"WHAT A PLEASURE IT IS TO WORK
"ON ONE'S OWN FARM,
"FOR YOU CAN FEEL THAT IT'S YOURS
"AND NOT FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
"I WOULD RATHER LIVE AS WE DO
"THAN HAVE TO RENT
AND HAVE SOMEONE BOSSING US AND..."
"WELL, WE HAVE JUST COME IN FROM THE TRUCK PATCH
"AND FOUND THE GOPHERS HAD ABOUT CLEANED THE PEAS
"OFF ALL THE VINES,
"BUT OUR SQUASH VINES ARE FULL OF BLOOM.
"WE BROUGHT IN BEETS JUST NOW
"THAT MEASURED ONE FOOT IN CIRCUMFERENCE,
AND POTATOES ALMOST AS LARGE..."
"DEAR GRANDPA,
"I HAVE LEARNED MY LETTERS
"AND CAN SPELL "AX" AND "CAT" AND "DOG" AND "GIRL."
"I BOTHER MA AND PA CONSIDERABLE
"TO GET THEM TO LEARN ME.
"I'M LEARNING 'TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR.'
LOTS OF LOVE AND KISSES, ELLA."
"URIAH IS REPAIRING THE MINUTES
"OF THE LAST LITERARY SOCIETY,
"WHICH WAS HELD LAST SATURDAY NIGHT.
"THEY HAVE SOME BIG TIMES DEBATING.
"I GO ONCE IN A WHILE TO HEAR THEM SPOUT.
"WE HAD RATHER A NICE TIME OVER THE HOLIDAYS.
WE HAD A CHRISTMAS TREE AT THE SCHOOLHOUSE..."
"WE ALL WENT TO A CHRISTMAS TREE
"ON CHRISTMAS EVE,
"AND EACH OF US GIRLS GOT A NEW RED DRESS
"AND A DOLL
"AND A STRING WITH CANDY AND RAISINS ON IT.
FROM YOUR GRANDCHILD, ELLA."
"I SUPPOSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW
"IF WE HAVE BEEN GRASSHOPPERED AGAIN.
"THEY WERE HERE SEVERAL DAYS PRETTY THICK
"AND INJURED THE CORN CONSIDERABLE.
"NEBRASKA WOULD HAVE HAD A SPLENDID CROP
IF THE GRASSHOPPERS HAD STAYED AWAY AWHILE."
MATTIE OBLINGER.
THE OBLINGERS HAD TWO MORE DAUGHTERS--
STELLA AND MAGGIE,
BUT AFTER 6 YEARS ON THE PRAIRIE,
THINGS HAD NOT GOTTEN EASIER,
AND BY 1879, MATTIE WAS PREGNANT AGAIN.
"SHE WAS CONFINED TUESDAY EVENING ABOUT 4:00,
"AND ABOUT 8:00, SHE TOOK A FIT VERY SUDDEN
"AND NEVER SPOKE AFTER THE FIRST ONE.
"THE DOCTORS WERE COMPELLED TO PERFORM A SURGICAL OPERATION
"BY RELIEVING HER OF THE CHILD.
"THE LORD CALLED FOR SISTER MATTIE
"THIS EVENING AT 4:15 O'CLOCK,
"AND SHE IS NOW RESTING WITH THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN.
"THE CHILD IS ALSO DEAD
"AND WILL BE BURIED WITH HER SOMETIME SUNDAY.
"URIAH SAID HE COULD NOT STAND TO WRITE NOW.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT HE WILL DO YET.
"IT'S LEFT HIM AND HIS 3 LITTLE GIRLS
IN A SAD CONDITION... WITHOUT A MOTHER."
GILES S. THOMAS.
"DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER,
"I TRY TO BEAR THE TROUBLE CHEERFULLY,
"THOUGH THE TASK IS HARD AT TIMES.
I HARDLY KNOW HOW TO MANAGE."
URIAH EVENTUALLY TOOK THE TRAIN
BACK EAST TO MINNESOTA AND REMARRIED,
BUT HE NEVER GAVE UP HIS DREAM.
HE RETURNED TO THE PLAINS TO START OVER--
NEBRASKA, THEN KANSAS, THEN NEBRASKA AGAIN.
HE SPENT THE LAST FEW MONTHS OF HIS LIFE
BEING CARED FOR BY HIS DAUGHTER ELLA,
THE SAME GIRL--NOW GROWN--
HE HAD ONCE BEEN SO ANXIOUS
TO BRING OUT TO NEBRASKA WITH HER MOTHER.
"HERE WAS ALL THESE CHEAP LONG-HORNED STEERS
"OVERRUNNING TEXAS,
"AND HERE WAS THE REST OF THE COUNTRY
"CRYING OUT FOR BEEF,
"AND NO RAILROADS TO GET THEM OUT,
"SO THEY TRAILED THEM OUT,
ACROSS HUNDREDS OF MILES OF WILD COUNTRY."
TEDDY BLUE ABBOTT.
FROM THE SOUTHERNMOST TIP OF TEXAS,
CATTLE TRAILS POINTED NORTH--
THE SHAWNEE, THE CHISHOLM,
THE WESTERN, THE GOODNIGHT-LOVING.
THEY ALL LED TO RAILHEADS,
WHERE THE CATTLE WERE LOADED INTO FREIGHT CARS
BOUND FOR EASTERN MARKETS.
IN LESS THAN TWO DECADES,
6 MILLION STEERS AND COWS WERE HERDED NORTH--
SO MANY, ONE TRAIL DRIVER SAID,
THAT IN PLACES THE DUST WAS KNEE-DEEP TO THE CATTLE.
THE MEN WHO BROUGHT THEM TO THE RAILROADS
WERE GIVEN A NEW NAME-- COWBOYS.
THEY WERE A MIXED GROUP--
FORMER CONFEDERATE CAVALRYMEN
AND IMMIGRANTS WHO HAD ONLY RECENTLY LEARNED TO RIDE.
THERE WERE INDIAN COWBOYS, AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS...
AND MEXICAN VAQUEROS,
WHOSE ANCESTORS HAD INTRODUCED CATTLE
TO THE WEST CENTURIES EARLIER.
A COWBOY, ONE WESTERNER OBSERVED,
IS "JUST A PLAIN, BOWLEGGED HUMAN
WHO SMELLED VERY HORSEY AT TIMES."
"IN PERSON, THE COWBOYS
"WERE MOSTLY MEDIUM-SIZED MEN...
"QUICK AND WIRY,
"AND AS A RULE, VERY GOOD-NATURED.
"IN FACT, IT DID NOT PAY TO BE ANYTHING ELSE.
IN CHARACTER, THEIR LIKE NEVER WAS OR WILL BE AGAIN."
TEDDY BLUE ABBOTT.
EDWARD C. ABBOTT
WAS BORN IN CRANWICH, ENGLAND,
AND BROUGHT TO THE WEST BY HIS PARENTS AS A BOY.
HOPING THE OPEN AIR WOULD IMPROVE HIS FRAIL HEALTH,
HIS FATHER LET HIM HELP DRIVE A HERD OF CATTLE
FROM TEXAS TO NEBRASKA WHEN HE WAS JUST 10 YEARS OLD.
THE EXPERIENCE, ABBOTT SAID LATER,
"MADE A COWBOY OUT OF ME.
NOTHING COULD HAVE CHANGED ME AFTER THAT."
"MY FAMILY AND I WENT SEPARATE WAYS,
"AND THEY STAYED SEPARATE FOREVER AFTER.
"MY FATHER WAS ALL FOR FARMING,
"AND ALL MY BROTHERS TURNED OUT FARMERS EXCEPT ONE,
"AND HE ENDED UP THE WORST OF THE LOT--
A SHEEPMAN AND A REPUBLICAN."
THE COWBOYS' AVERAGE AGE WAS 24.
THEY WERE PAID SO BADLY AND WORKED SO HARD
THAT 2/3 OF THEM MADE ONLY ONE TRAIL DRIVE
BEFORE FINDING SOMETHING BETTER TO DO.
THEY OWNED THEIR SADDLE, BUT NOT THE HORSE THEY RODE,
AND THEY RODE IT DAY AND NIGHT.
"FOR A MAN TO BE STOVE UP AT 30
"MAY SOUND STRANGE TO SOME PEOPLE,
"BUT MANY A COWBOY HAS BEEN SO BUNGED UP
"THAT HE'S HAD TO QUIT RIDING THAT EARLY IN LIFE.
"MY ADVICE TO ANY YOUNG MAN OR BOY
"IS TO STAY AT HOME AND NOT BE A RAMBLER,
AS IT WON'T BUY YOU ANYTHING."
JAMES EMMIT McCAULEY.
"IF A STORM COME
"AND THE CATTLE STARTED RUNNING,
"YOU'D HEAR THAT LOW RUMBLING NOISE ALONG THE GROUND.
"THEN YOU'D JUMP FOR YOUR HORSE
"AND GET OUT THERE IN THE LEAD,
"TRYING TO HEAD THEM AND GET THEM INTO A MILL
"BEFORE THEY SCATTERED TO HELL AND GONE.
"IT WAS RIDING AT A DEAD RUN IN THE DARK
"WITH CUT BANKS AND PRAIRIE DOG HOLES ALL AROUND YOU,
"NOT KNOWING IF THE NEXT JUMP
WOULD LAND YOU IN A SHALLOW GRAVE."
♪ I RIDE AN OLD PAINT ♪
♪ AND I LEAD AN OLD DAN ♪
♪ I'M GOING TO MONTANA TO THROW THE HOULIHAN, THEY FEED... ♪
"THE SINGING WAS SUPPOSED TO SOOTHE THE CATTLE,
"AND IT DID.
"THE TWO MEN ON GUARD WOULD CIRCLE AROUND
"WITH THEIR HORSES ON A WALK
"IF IT WAS A CLEAR NIGHT
"AND THE CATTLE WAS BEDDED DOWN AND QUIET,
"AND ONE MAN WOULD SING A VERSE OF A SONG,
"AND HIS PARTNER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HERD
"WOULD SING ANOTHER VERSE,
"AND YOU'D GO THROUGH A WHOLE SONG THAT WAY.
"I HAD A CRACKERJACK OF A PARTNER IN '79.
"I'D SING, AND HE'D ANSWER,
"AND WE'D KEEP IT UP LIKE THAT FOR TWO HOURS,
BUT HE WAS KILLED BY LIGHTNING."
AFTER UP TO 4 STRAIGHT MONTHS IN THE SADDLE,
OFTEN IN THE SAME CLOTHES EVERY DAY,
EATING EVERY MEAL AT THE CHUCK WAGON,
DRINKING NOTHING BUT COFFEE AND WATER,
THE COWBOY'S JOB WAS FINALLY DONE.
HE WAS PAID FOR HIS WORK AND TURNED LOOSE IN TOWN.
♪ NOW COME ALONG, BOYS, AND LISTEN TO MY TALE ♪
♪ AND I'LL TELL YOU OF MY TROUBLES ON THE CHISHOLM TRAIL ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YI YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ I STARTED UP THE TRAIL OCTOBER 23rd ♪
♪ LEFT OLD TEXAS WITH TWO NEW HERDS ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YI YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YAY ♪
"I BOUGHT SOME NEW CLOTHES AND GOT MY PICTURE TAKEN.
"I HAD A NEW WHITE STETSON HAT THAT I PAID $10 FOR
"AND NEW PANTS THAT COST $12
"AND A GOOD SHIRT AND FANCY BOOTS.
"LORD, I WAS PROUD OF THOSE CLOTHES.
"WHEN MY SISTER SAW ME, SHE SAID,
"'TAKE YOUR PANTS OUT OF YOUR BOOTS
"AND PUT YOUR COAT ON. YOU LOOK LIKE AN OUTLAW.'"
"I TOLD HER TO GO TO HELL,
AND I NEVER DID LIKE HER AFTER THAT."
COWBOYS WERE BIG SPENDERS,
BUT WHILE BUSINESSES PROFITED,
ALL THE COWTOWNS SOON BECAME WILDER
THAN THEIR PERMANENT RESIDENTS LIKED.
""ABILENE CHRONICLE."
"THE MARSHAL HAS POSTED UP PRINTED NOTICES,
"INFORMING ALL PERSONS THAT THE ORDINANCE
"AGAINST CARRYING FIREARMS OR OTHER WEAPONS IN ABILENE
"WILL BE ENFORCED.
"THAT'S RIGHT.
"THERE'S NO BRAVERY IN CARRYING REVOLVERS
IN A CIVILIZED COMMUNITY."
GUN-CONTROL ORDINANCES WERE COMMON.
COWBOYS WHO INSISTED ON CARRYING THEIR SIX-SHOOTERS IN TOWN
RISKED FINES AND IMPRISONMENT.
TO MAKE SURE THE LAWS WERE OBEYED,
SOME COWTOWNS RESORTED TO HIRING NOTORIOUS GUNMEN--
WYATT EARP, BAT MASTERSON, AND WILD BILL HICKOK--
TO KEEP THE PEACE.
"MORALLY, AS A CLASS,
"COWBOYS ARE FOULMOUTHED, BLASPHEMOUS, DRUNKEN,
"LECHEROUS, UTTERLY CORRUPT.
"USUALLY HARMLESS ON THE PLAINS WHEN SOBER,
"THEY ARE DREADED IN THE TOWNS,
FOR THEN LIQUOR HAS AN ASCENDANCY OVER THEM."
"CHEYENNE DAILY LEADER."
ONE BY ONE,
THE COWTOWNS WOULD DECLARE THEMSELVES OFF-LIMITS
TO THE TEXAS HERDS
AND THE COWBOYS WHO CAME WITH THEM.
"THEN I WENT HOME.
"AFTER I GOT HOME, MY FATHER SAID TO ME ONE NIGHT,
"'YOU CAN TAKE OLD MORGAN
"AND PLOW THE WEST RIDGE TOMORROW.'
"LIKE HELL I'D PLOW THE WEST RIDGE,
"AND WHEN MY FATHER WOKE UP NEXT MORNING,
TEDDY WAS GONE."
"I CROSS THE LARAMIE PLAINS.
"I SEE IN GLIMPSES AFAR OR TOWERING IMMEDIATELY ABOVE ME
"THE GREAT MOUNTAINS.
"I SEE THE WIND RIVER AND THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS.
"I SEE THE MONUMENT MOUNTAIN AND THE EAGLE'S NEST.
"I PASS THE PROMONTORY. I ASCEND THE NEVADAS.
"I SEE THE CLEAR WATERS OF LAKE TAHOE.
"I SEE FORESTS OF MAJESTIC PINES.
"MARCHING THROUGH THESE AND AFTER ALL,
"IN DUPLICATE SLENDER LINES,
"BRIDGING THE 3,000 OR 4,000 MILES OF LAND TRAVEL,
"TYING THE EASTERN TO THE WESTERN SEA,
THE ROAD BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA."
WALT WHITMAN.
FROM THE TIME OF COLUMBUS,
EXPLORERS HAD SEARCHED IN VAIN FOR A PASSAGE
THAT WOULD CONNECT THE ATLANTIC WITH THE PACIFIC.
THE CENTURIES-OLD DREAM HAD FINALLY COME TRUE.
NO SUCH PASSAGE EXISTED,
SO THE AMERICANS HAD BUILT ONE.
IF YOU WERE LOOKING FOR THE DEFINITIVE SYMBOL
OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE CULTURES
THAT HAD EXISTED IN THE AMERICAN WEST
FOR AT LEAST 10,000 YEARS AND MAYBE LONGER,
AND THE CULTURE THAT WAS JUST A BUILDING
EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER,
THIS CULTURE OF TECHNOLOGY, OF COMMERCE,
OF GRASPING AFTER TOMORROW BEFORE IT ARRIVES,
YOU COULDN'T COME UP WITH TWO MORE POWERFUL SYMBOLS
THAN THE RAILROAD AND THE BUFFALO,
BECAUSE WHEN THE RAILROAD MET THE BUFFALO,
THE IRON AGE MET THE STONE AGE...
THE MACHINE ARRIVED IN THE GARDEN...
AND THE WEST WAS CHANGED FOREVER.
"THERE WAS A MAN
"WHO KILLED A BUFFALO BULL TO NO PURPOSE,
"ONLY HE WANTED ITS BLOOD ON HIS HANDS.
"IT WAS A GREAT, OLD, NOBLE BEAST,
AND IT WAS A LONG TIME BLOWING ITS LIFE AWAY."
"ON THE EDGE OF THE NIGHT,
"THE PEOPLE GATHERED THEMSELVES UP
"IN THEIR GRIEF AND SHAME.
"AWAY IN THE WEST, THEY COULD SEE
"THE HUMP AND SPINE OF THE HUGE BEAST
"WHICH LAY DYING ALONG THE EDGE OF THE WORLD.
"THEY COULD SEE ITS BRIGHT BLOOD RUN INTO THE SKY,
"WHERE IT DRIED, DARKENING,
AND WAS AT LAST FLECKED WITH FLAKES OF LIGHT."
"THE THING WE HAD TO HAVE, WE BUSINESSMEN WITH RIFLES,
"WAS ONE-SHOT KILLS.
"WE BASED OUR SUCCESS
"ON THE OVERWHELMING STUPIDITY OF THE BUFFALO,
"UNQUESTIONABLY THE STUPIDEST GAME ANIMAL IN THE WORLD.
"IF YOU WOUNDED THE LEADER,
"THE REST OF HER HERD, WHETHER IT WAS 3 OR 30,
WOULD GATHER AROUND HER AND STUPIDLY MILL."
"ALL YOU HAD TO DO
WAS PICK THEM OFF ONE BY ONE."
"I ONCE TOOK 269 HIDES WITH 300 CARTRIDGES."
"ADVENTUROUS?
"NO MORE THAN SHOOTING A BEEF CRITTER IN THE BARNYARD.
"IT WAS A HARVEST.
WE WERE THE HARVESTERS."
FRANK H. MAYER.
FRANK MAYER
AND THOUSANDS OF OTHER BUFFALO HUNTERS
SWARMED ONTO THE PLAINS.
SOME STOPPED SHOOTING JUST LONG ENOUGH
TO COOL THEIR OVERHEATED RIFLE BARRELS
WITH CANTEENS OF WATER.
WHEN THE WATER RAN OUT,
THEY URINATED DOWN THE BARREL AND KEPT SHOOTING.
"UP AND DOWN THE PLAINS, THOSE MEN RANGED.
"BEHIND THEM CAME THE SKINNERS WITH THEIR WAGONS.
"THEY PILED THE HIDES AND BONES INTO THE WAGONS
"UNTIL THEY WERE FULL
"AND THEN TOOK THEIR LOADS TO THE NEW RAILROAD STATIONS
"TO BE SHIPPED EAST TO MARKET.
"SOMETIMES THERE WOULD BE A PILE OF BONES
"AS HIGH AS A MAN
STRETCHING A MILE ALONG THE RAILROAD TRACK."
OLD LADY HORSE.
32 MILLION POUNDS OF BUFFALO BONES
MADE THEIR WAY FROM THE PLAINS TO EASTERN FACTORIES,
WHERE THEY WERE GROUND INTO FERTILIZER.
BUFFALO HORNS WERE TURNED INTO BUTTONS, COMBS, KNIFE HANDLES.
HOOVES BECAME GLUE.
ALL ACROSS WESTERN KANSAS,
THE SLAUGHTER WENT ON--
PERHAPS AS MANY
AS 3 MILLION BUFFALO KILLED
IN THE TWO YEARS SINCE
THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD.
"WHERE THERE WERE MYRIADS OF BUFFALO THE YEAR BEFORE,
"THERE WERE NOW MYRIADS OF CARCASSES.
"THE AIR WAS FOUL WITH A SICKENING STENCH,
"AND THE VAST PLAIN, WHICH ONLY A SHORT TWELVEMONTH BEFORE
"TEEMED WITH ANIMAL LIFE,
WAS A DEAD, SOLITARY, PUTRID DESERT."
COLONEL RICHARD IRVING DODGE.
MANY AMERICANS GREW ALARMED
AT THE EXTENT OF THE SLAUGHTER.
IN THE SPRING OF 1874,
CONGRESS PASSED A LAW TO PROTECT THE BUFFALO,
BUT PRESIDENT ULYSSES S. GRANT REFUSED TO SIGN IT,
AND THE KILLING CONTINUED.
HUNTERS HAD ALREADY MOVED SOUTH OF KANSAS,
ONTO HUNTING GROUNDS RESERVED BY TREATY FOR THE INDIANS.
THE GOVERNMENT DID NOTHING TO STOP THEM
AND EVEN PROVIDED THE HUNTERS WITH FREE AMMUNITION.
"YOU WHITE PEOPLE MAKE A BIG TALK AND SOMETIMES WAR
"IF AN INDIAN KILLS A WHITE MAN'S OX
"TO KEEP HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN FROM STARVING.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK MY PEOPLE OUGHT TO SAY AND DO
"WHEN THEY THEMSELVES SEE
"THEIR BUFFALO KILLED BY YOUR RACE
WHEN YOU ARE NOT HUNGRY?"
LITTLE ROBE.
"THE INDIANS SENSED
"THAT WE WERE TAKING AWAY THEIR BIRTHRIGHT
"AND THAT WITH EVERY BOOM OF A BUFFALO RIFLE,
"THEIR TENURE ON THEIR HOMELAND BECAME WEAKENED
"AND THAT EVENTUALLY THEY WOULD HAVE NO HOMELAND
"AND NO BUFFALO.
"SO THEY DID WHAT YOU AND I WOULD DO
"IF OUR EXISTENCE WERE JEOPARDIZED--
THEY FOUGHT."
IN THE SUMMER OF 1874,
THE KIOWAS, COMANCHES, ARAPAHOS, AND SOUTHERN CHEYENNE
ROSE UP AND DROVE OUT THE HUNTERS
AND ANY OTHER WHITES THEY CAME ACROSS.
GENERAL PHILIP SHERIDAN ORDERED A MASSIVE CAMPAIGN,
DEPLOYING 5 COLUMNS OF TROOPS
TO PURSUE THE INDIANS RELENTLESSLY
DURING THE SUMMER AND FALL,
DEPRIVING THEM OF REST OR THE OPPORTUNITY TO HUNT.
BY THE NEXT SPRING,
VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE RESISTING BANDS ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,
DESPERATE NOW FOR FOOD,
HAD BEEN DRIVEN BACK ONTO THE RESERVATIONS.
THE BUFFALO HUNTERS WENT RIGHT BACK TO WORK.
WITHIN A YEAR, THE HERD ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
HAD VIRTUALLY DISAPPEARED.
"ONE BY ONE, WE PUT UP OUR BUFFALO RIFLES
"AND LEFT THE RANGES,
"AND THERE SETTLED OVER THEM A VAST QUIET.
THE BUFFALO WAS GONE."
"MAYBE WE SERVED OUR PURPOSE IN HELPING ABOLISH THE BUFFALO.
"MAYBE IT WAS OUR RUTHLESS HARVESTING OF HIM
"WHICH TELESCOPED THE CONTROL OF THE INDIAN
"BY A DECADE OR MAYBE MORE...
"OR MAYBE I AM JUST RATIONALIZING.
"MAYBE WE WERE JUST A GREEDY LOT
"WHO WANTED TO GET OURS,
"AND TO HELL WITH POSTERITY, THE BUFFALO, OR ANYONE ELSE,
"JUST SO WE KEPT OUR SCALPS ON
"AND OUR MONEY POUCHES FILLED.
I THINK MAYBE THAT IS THE WAY IT WAS."
FRANK H. MAYER.
IT WOULD BE HARD TO IMAGINE
ANYTHING MORE DEEPLY HURTFUL
THAN THE LOSS OF... OF SOMETHING INEFFABLY SACRED.
ONE CAN ONLY GUESS AND IMAGINE.
WE CAN'T, UH, WE CAN'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS, UH, NOW.
BUT CERTAINLY CONFUSION, FIRST OF ALL, I SUPPOSE.
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?
"WHY ARE YOU KILLING THE BUFFALO?
"WE DO THAT, OF COURSE,
"BUT WE DO IT IN ORDER TO SURVIVE,
AND WE DO IT IN A SACRED MANNER."
BUT THIS WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER
MUST HAVE BEEN FIRST CONFUSING
AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, A DEVASTATION,
A WOUND IN THE-- IN THE HEART
THAT, UH, WE CANNOT CONCEIVE OF NOW.
"THE BUFFALO SAW THAT THEIR DAY WAS OVER.
"THEY COULD PROTECT THEIR PEOPLE NO LONGER.
"SADLY, THE LAST REMNANT OF THE GREAT HERD
"GATHERED IN COUNCIL
AND DECIDED WHAT THEY WOULD DO."
"ONE YOUNG WOMAN GOT UP VERY EARLY,
"AND PEERING THROUGH THE HAZE,
"SHE SAW THE LAST BUFFALO HERD APPEAR
LIKE IN A SPIRIT DREAM."
"STRAIGHT TO MOUNT SCOTT THE LEADER OF THE HERD WALKED.
"BEHIND HIM CAME THE COWS AND THEIR CALVES
"AND THE FEW YOUNG MALES WHO HAD SURVIVED.
"AS THE WOMAN WATCHED,
"THE FACE OF THE MOUNTAIN OPENED.
"INSIDE MOUNT SCOTT, THE WORLD WAS GREEN AND FRESH,
"AS IT HAD BEEN WHEN SHE WAS A SMALL GIRL.
"THE RIVERS RAN CLEAR, NOT RED.
"INTO THIS WORLD OF BEAUTY THE BUFFALO WALKED,
NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN."
♪ NOW, COME ALONG, BOYS, AND LISTEN TO MY TALE ♪
♪ AND I'LL TELL YOU OF MY TROUBLES ON THE CHISHOLM TRAIL ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YI YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ I STARTED UP THE TRAIL OCTOBER 23rd ♪
♪ LEFT OLD TEXAS WITH TWO NEW HERDS ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YI YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ OH, A TEN-DOLLAR HORSE ♪
♪ AND A FORTY-DOLLAR SADDLE ♪
♪ I'M A-GOOD AT PUNCHING ♪
♪ THEM LONG-HORNED CATTLE ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YI YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ WOKE UP ONE MORNING ON THE CHISHOLM TRAIL ♪
♪ WITH A ROPE IN MY HAND AND A COW BY THE TAIL ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YI YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ WELL, WE ROUNDED 'EM UP, AND WE PUT 'EM ON THE CARS ♪
♪ AND THAT WAS THE LAST OF THE OLD TWO BARS ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YI YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ THEN I WENT TO THE BOSS FOR TO DRAW MY ROLL ♪
♪ HE HAD IT FIGURED NINE DOLLARS IN THE HOLE ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YI YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YAY ♪
YEE-HOO!
♪ SO I SOLD OLD BOLLY, AND I HUNG UP MY SADDLE ♪
♪ AND I BID FAREWELL TO THE LONG-HORNED CATTLE ♪
♪ COME A TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YI YIPPY YAY ♪
♪ TI YI YIPPY YIPPY YAY ♪