Author: Alton Pryor
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781494953577
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 202
Get Book
Book Description
The Big Four, Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford, and Charles Crocker, ruled California government for 30 years. The southern Pacific Railroad was the single largest corporation in California and controlled 85 percent of the state's railroad tracks. Huntington handed out bribes to legislators, local police and government officials with impunity. At political conventions, agents of the railroad freely circulated the convention floor and dominated the smoke-filled rooms, arranging the nomination of pro-railroad candidates.
Author: Richard Rayner
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393333612
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 233
Get Book
Book Description
A true-life tale of ruthless ambition, staggering greed, and the making of a nation. Four men--Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins--rose from their position as middle-class merchants to become the force behind the transcontinental railroad.
Author: Roland De Wolk
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520973569
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 344
Get Book
Book Description
The rags to riches story of Silicon Valley's original disruptor. American Disruptor is the untold story of Leland Stanford – from his birth in a backwoods bar to the founding of the world-class university that became and remains the nucleus of Silicon Valley. The life of this robber baron, politician, and historic influencer is the astonishing tale of how one supremely ambitious man became this country's original "disruptor" – reshaping industry and engineering one of the greatest raids on the public treasury for America’s transcontinental railroad, all while living more opulently than maharajas, kings, and emperors. It is also the saga of how Stanford, once a serial failure, overcame all obstacles to become one of America’s most powerful and wealthiest men, using his high elective office to enrich himself before losing the one thing that mattered most to him – his only child and son. Scandal and intrigue would follow Stanford through his life, and even after his death, when his widow was murdered in a Honolulu hotel – a crime quickly covered up by the almost stillborn university she had saved. Richly detailed and deeply researched, American Disruptor restores Leland Stanford’s rightful place as a revolutionary force and architect of modern America.
Author: Michael Hiltzik
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
ISBN: 0544770315
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 453
Get Book
Book Description
From Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Hiltzik, the epic tale of the clash for supremacy between America's railroad titans.
Author: Derek R. Whaley
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781508570738
Category : California
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Get Book
Book Description
Once there was an endless redwood wilderness, populated by only the hardiest of people. Then, the sudden blast of a steam whistle echoed across the canyons and the valleys-the iron horse had arrived in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Driven by the need to transport materials like lumber and lime to the rest of the world, the railroad brought people seeking out new ways of living, from the remote outposts along Bean and Zayante Creeks to the bustling towns of Los Gatos and Santa Cruz. Bridges and tunnels marked the landscape, and each new station, siding and spur signaled activity: businesses, settlements, and vacation spots. Summer resorts in the mountains evolved into sprawling residential communities which formed the backbone of the towns of the San Lorenzo Valley today. Much of the history of the locations along the route has since been forgotten. This is their story. Third Revision (February 2016) Addenda available at http://www.whaleyland.com/downloads/addenda1.3.pdf Exclusive CreateSpace Discount: Enter MU236Q6V into the coupon code field and get this book for $5.00 off! Offer only valid through CreateSpace. Review this book at GoodReads (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25144919)
Author: Fred Glass
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520288408
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 542
Get Book
Book Description
There is no better time than now to consider the labor history of the Golden State. While other states face declining union enrollment rates and the rollback of workersÕ rights, California unions are embracing working immigrants, and voters are protecting core worker rights. WhatÕs the difference? California has held an exceptional place in the imagination of Americans and immigrants since the Gold Rush, which saw the first of many waves of working people moving to the state to find work. From Mission to Microchip unearths the hidden stories of these people throughout CaliforniaÕs history. The difficult task of the stateÕs labor movement has been to overcome perceived barriers such as race, national origin, and language to unite newcomers and natives in their shared interest. As chronicled in this comprehensive history, workers have creatively used collective bargaining, politics, strikes, and varied organizing strategies to find common ground among CaliforniaÕs diverse communities and achieve a measure of economic fairness and social justice. This is an indispensible book for students and scholars of labor history and history of the West, as well as labor activists and organizers.Ê
Author: Stephen E. Ambrose
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9780743203173
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 468
Get Book
Book Description
The story of the men who build the transcontinental railroad in the 1860's.
Author: Burton W. Folsom
Publisher: Young Americas Foundation
ISBN: 0963020315
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 185
Get Book
Book Description
In his book The Myth of the Robber Barons, Folsom distinguishes between political entrepreneurs who ran inefficient businesses supported by government favors, and market entrepreneurs who succeeded by providing better and lower-cost products or services, usually while facing vigorous competition.
Author: Richard O'Connor
Publisher: Penguin Adult HC/TR
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Get Book
Book Description
Author: Aimée Crocker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1784979848
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 261
Get Book
Book Description
With the world at her feet and Californian railroad fortunes in her purse, Aimée had a tale or two to tell. Here, she boldly delivers her hilarious memoirs of escaping headhunters in Borneo, avoiding poisoning in Hong Kong and outwitting murder in Shanghai. Not remotely cowered by her skirmishes with sin, shame or vice, Aimée celebrates her quintet of unfortunate husbands including a Russian prince almost forty years her junior and King Kalakaua of Hawaii, emboldened by her forcefulness to hold sway over the faint of heart. Aimée was a woman of means, not always a lady and never what you might call 'proper'. In this laugh-out-loud story of her life, she recounts her adventures with flair, invincibility and unapologetic gusto.
