The Deschutes River Railroad War

ISBN: 097456866X

Author: Leon Speroff

Condition: New

Tracing the geological and railroad history of the Pacific Northwest, Leon Speroff uniquely evokes the Age of the Railroad in his newst book, The Deschutes River Railroad War. With intricate detail, expert understanding and amusing anedotes, he brings to life this facinating true tale of the race to expand railroad service from the Columbia River up the Deschutes River to Bend, Oregon. When the two railroad barons, James J. Hill of the Great Northern and Edward H. Harriman of the Union Pacific, both set their sights on the Deschutes River Canyon for building a railway to Bend, neither man could have foreseen the massive expenditure of money, time, energy and human lives that characterized their mad rush to the finish. At the heart of this gripping story is the essence of the American West and the magnates, workers, immigrants and settlers whose impact on the region would usher the age of railroad transportation into the Twentieth century.