First published 1977
The Union Pacific Railroad pushes westward through territories where Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Sioux peoples have lived for generations. Steel rails cut through the Rocky Mountains and stretch across rolling plains as the company drives toward completion of the transcontinental line. Native warriors resist the invasion of their hunting grounds while homesteaders and land speculators flood in behind the construction crews. The railroad brings jobs and opportunity to some, displacement and violence to others. Each new mile of track changes the landscape forever. Towns spring up at water stops and rail yards. Traditional ways of life crumble under the weight of industrial progress. Yet individuals on all sides of this transformation show remarkable courage as they fight for survival and search for belonging in a rapidly changing world.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: displacement, resistance, survival
Setting: West (U.S.)
Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century
311 pages · Hardcover · Holt, Rhinehart and Winston