Sunset limited the Southern Pacific Railroad and the development of the American West, 1850-1930 - Orsi, Richard J. (University of California Press, 2005)
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002
Includes bibliographical references (pages 409-588) and index
Foundations: "These mountains look too ugly and I see too much work ahead": building the Southern Pacific Company, 1850/1930; Men of vision: Southern Pacific leaders, land, agriculture, and the development of California and the West -- Land settlement: "Stand on the rights of the Company and make a square fight of it": land-grant myths, conflicts with government, and squatterism; The Mussel Slough affair; A land of "well-tilled little farms": land-grant development; Promoting the far West: 1860s-1900s -- Water: "The satisfactory supply is yet undiscovered": the Southern Pacific as a pioneer water developer; "A great encouragement for others": private irrigation; "This splendid country is to be reclaimed": public irrigation; "The government is hard to deal with": federal reclamation -- Agriculture: "Evangel train": scientific agriculture; "The damndest railroading you ever heard of": marketing the produce of western farms -- Conservation: "Shall this destruction proceed?": wilderness preservation; "Putting our properties on the most conservative and scientific basis": resource conservation -- Epilogue -- A note on Southern Pacific Company manuscript sources
The only major US railroad built from west to east, the Southern Pacific played a major role in the shaping of the West & the development of southern California in particular. 'Sunset Limited' explores the corporate strategy over time to reveal how the company saw its place in the world