Hell Gate of the Mississippi, the Effie Afton Trial and Abraham Lincoln's Role in It

For fifteen days in September, 1857, the attention of both the United States and Europe turned to a rundown Chicago courtroom. The steamboat Effie Afton had crashed into a pier of the first railroad bridge thrown across the Mississippi River at Rock Island, Illinois. The controversial lawsuit that followed promised to change the economy and the social fabric of the vast Mississippi River Valley. Some of the sharpest legal minds practicing in what was called at that time the Far West tried the test case. One of those lawyers was Abraham Lincoln. Hell Gate of the Mississippi puts you in the jury box for an up-close, firsthand look at this highly charged trial. Full of background information, the book examines the reasons why the litigation became an explosive issue for both the steamboat and railroad factions. In a year that saw such highly emotional and important events, such as the Dred Scott decision, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, false reports of "Indian" uprisings in Iowa, Walker in Nicaragua, and the sinking of the gold ship SS Central America, the Chicago lawsuit continually filled front page headlines on newspapers across the United States and Europe. Was the jury "stacked" against the river men and women who wanted the bridge torn down? Was Abraham Lincoln the lead council for the railroad promoters? Was he in charge of a compromised trial? These questions and more are answered in Hell Gate of the Mississippi. Copyright 2007