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Zusatztext " Sunset Limited will undoubtedly assume a prominent and enduring place among the essential histories of . . . the American West." Informationen zum Autor Richard Orsi is Professor Emeritus of History at California State University, Hayward, coauthor of The Elusive Eden: A New History of California (third edition, 2002), and editor of the California History Sesquicentennial Series. Klappentext "An extraordinary book by a master historian! Orsi demonstrates that the Southern Pacific was not simply a predatory corporation obsessed with maximizing its profits and political power; it had a strong sense of the public good and a devotion to building stable, prosperous communities. This superb book should be required reading for all historians of the West, business, and the environment."—Donald J. Pisani, author of Water and American Government “This deep and extensive examination of the Southern Pacific's development activities in California will encourage readers to look beyond the overblown rhetoric of the railroad's many political enemies and see afresh its many positive economic accomplishments as it worked to build the Twentieth-Century West. Orsi’s presentation is as luminous as it is impressive”—Carlos Schwantes, author of Going Places: Transportation Redefines the Twentieth Century West “This brilliantly researched and beautifully written study of one of America's greatest railroads offers wonderful insights into both transportation and Western history. Orsi places the early history of the Southern Pacific Railroad in proper focus by skillfully untangling the long-standing Octopus myth. This work deserves to be called a landmark in the field.”—H. Roger Grant, author of Follow the Flag: A History of the Wabash Railroad Company " Sunset Limited illuminates not only the workings and ambitions of the Southern Pacific railroad but teaches us a great deal about the late nineteenth and early twentieth century American West as well. This is a wonderful scholarly study: remarkably thorough, ambitious, and gracefully rendered."—William Deverell, author of Railroad Crossing: Californians and the Railroad, 1850-1910 Zusammenfassung Explores the railroad's development and influence - especially as it affected land settlement, agriculture, water policy, and the environment - and offers a fresh perspective on the tremendous, often surprising, role the company played in shaping the American West. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments PART I: FOUNDATIONS 1. "These Mountains Look Too Ugly and I See Too Much Work Ahead": Building the Southern Pacific Company! 1850-1930 2. Men of Vision: Southern Pacific Leaders! Land! Agriculture! and the Development of California and the West PART II: LAND SETTLEMENT 3. "Stand on the Rights of the Company and Make a Square Fight of It": Land-Grant Myths! Conflicts with Government! and Squatterism 4. The Mussel Slough Affair 5. A Land of "Well-tilled Little Farms": Land-Grant Development 6. Promoting the Far West PART III: WATER 7. "The Satisfactory Supply Is Yet Undiscovered": The Southern Pacific as a Pioneer Water Developer 8. Private Irrigation 9. "This Splendid Country Is to Be Reclaimed": Public Irrigation 10. "The Government Is Hard to Deal With": Federal Reclamation PART IV: AGRICULTURE 11. Promoting Scientific Agriculture 12. "The Damndest Railroading You Ever Heard Of": Marketing the Produce of Western Farms PART V: CONSERVATION 13. "Shall This Destruction Proceed?": Wilderness Preservation 14. Conserving Forest and Rangeland Resources Epilogue A Note on Manuscript Sources Notes Abbreviations for Collections and Repositories...
