Westward to Promontory: Building the Union Pacific across the Plains and Mountains, A Pictorial Documentary

Dust jacket notes: "A PICTORIAL DOCUMENTARY: From the century-old, 10 x 13-inch, wet-plate collodion negatives of A. J. Russell - chronicler of the building of the Union Pacific Railroad, one of the greatest engineering feats of the day. 'The Great Work of the Age!' it was hailed by the politicians, journalists, promoters, and philosophers of America and Europe. This was the Union Pacific, the continent-shrinking streak of gleaming iron, speculative dollars, and human sweat and ingenuity that bound together the nation that was to lead the world into the twentieth century. The men who built the U.P. knew they were making history, and they had the foresight and insight to document their work in the imperishable images of an outstanding practitioner of the nascent art of photography - A. J. Russell, who stood next to the great Matthew Brady as a keen interpreter of great events. Now, for the first time, his marvelous original negatives are reproduced in expensive double-plate printing on quality paper. This great documentary of one of America's epic adventures is interpreted and highlighted by the narrative of Barry B. Combs, who combines his intimate knowledge of the history of the Union Pacific Railroad with a long and thorough study of the original photographs. His knowledgeable introduction and detailed, perceptive captions provide a sparkling and informative narrative for one of the most beautiful photographic collections the nineteenth century West ever produced."