Summary of Stephen E. Ambrose's Nothing Like It In The World

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 In 1859, Grenville Mellen Dodge, a railroad engineer, was asked by Lincoln, a politician from Illinois, what the best route for a Pacific railroad would be. Dodge replied that it would be from Council Bluffs out the Platte Valley.

#2 The transcontinental railroad was a dream of America, and it was made possible by the American engineers who were able to think outside the box and come up with new ways to deal with old problems.

#3 The transcontinental railroad was the greatest building project of the nineteenth century. It was built by Dodge and Lincoln, and it was designed to run almost straight out the forty-second parallel from Omaha, alongside the Platte Valley until it reached the Rocky Mountains and then over the mountains to meet the railroad coming east from California.

#4 Lincoln was one of the greatest railroad lawyers in the West. He was interested in the idea of a railroad that would connect the East Coast with the territories in the West.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Feb 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669351559

IRB Media

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Insights on Stephen E. Ambrose's Nothing Like It in the World

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

In 1859, Grenville Mellen Dodge, a railroad engineer, was asked by Lincoln, a politician from Illinois, what the best route for a Pacific railroad would be. Dodge replied that it would be from Council Bluffs out the Platte Valley.

#2

The transcontinental railroad was a dream of America, and it was made possible by the American engineers who were able to think outside the box and come up with new ways to deal with old problems.

#3

The transcontinental railroad was the greatest building project of the nineteenth century. It was built by Dodge and Lincoln, and it was designed to run almost straight out the forty-second parallel from Omaha, alongside the Platte Valley until it reached the Rocky Mountains and then over the mountains to meet the railroad coming east from California.

#4

Lincoln was one of the greatest railroad lawyers in the West. He was interested in the idea of a railroad that would connect the East Coast with the territories in the West.

#5

Lincoln was a strong supporter of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, as well as the Alton and Sangamon Railroad. He was also a huge fan of the railroad system, and wanted the federal government to let the states use the proceeds from the sale of public lands to fund them.

#6

Lincoln was one of the foremost railroad lawyers in the West, and he worked on many cases regarding the rights of railroads to build bridges over rivers. He won the case in 1857, and the Supreme Court later upheld the decision.

#7

In 1859, Lincoln met Dodge in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the IC was the largest rail system in the world. The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was running trains to the Missouri River and laying tracks on the other side.

#8

The Pacific railroad surveys did the opposite of what Congress said it wanted. They presented a much more favorable picture of Western climate and resources than had previously been assumed. What was thought of as The Great American Desert was actually suitable for farming.

#9

In 1852, Dodge went to work for the IC. The railroad drove up the price of lands per acre from $1. 25 to $6 in 1853, and to $25 by 1856, the year it was completed. But the twenty-one-year-old Dodge was more interested in the Rock Island’s construction to the west than in the IC headed south.

#10

Dodge led a party of fourteen men, including a cook and a hunter. He hoped to make the Missouri before the snow fell. His expenses ran