:54:14
North Platte Nebraska
Territory April, 1867
:54:16
Once north platte had only been an
empty prairie 300 miles from omaha.
:54:21
Ambitious men like daniel wheeler had
turned the wilderness into a boom town.
:54:26
Carnivorous swarms followed the
railroad workers every step of the way,
:54:30
devouring their weekly pay
faster than grasshoppers.
:54:34
Jackson.
:54:37
Jackson!
:54:38
Comin', pa!
:54:44
Sure is flush times.
:54:45
Hell on wheels.
:54:47
You should've seen this
place before we civilized it.
:55:02
I don't mind telling you, wheeler,
:55:04
the union pacific finds the very presence
of a sinkhole like this a noxious affront.
:55:12
I'd like to see you try
to stop it, casement.
:55:15
You'd have a mutiny on your hands.
:55:17
Might be wiser for you to start
thinking of us as informal partners.
:55:21
You appropriated railroad land
:55:22
for illicit purposes and then sold it
to other speculators at 5 times its value.
:55:26
Don't bellyache to me if the union pacific
:55:29
swells couldn't see the potential
of their own right-of-way.
:55:32
Do not presume to lecture me
on what's good for the railroad.
:55:34
No. That's for you.
:55:37
You masters back east
don't need any lessons.
:55:40
Government bonds
:55:41
16,000 a mile for flatlands
graded and tracked.
:55:45
32,000 a mile for foothills,
:55:48
64,000 a mile for mountains.
:55:50
Tell me, casement,
:55:52
how many so-called mountains
:55:54
has the union pacific climbed thus far?
:55:58
Ha ha ha!