Part 5-Transcontinental Railroad-Last Mountain, Last Battle: Legends of the Old West
- Matthew Kerns
- 14 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Episode 5 of 6 in a series on The Transcontinental Railroad I wrote for Legends of the Old West.
Episode 5, “Last Mountain, Last Battle” hurtles listeners into the turbulent final stretch of America’s greatest engineering feat. With Promontory Summit in sight, the Union Pacific must first reckon with one last explosion of violence in Bear River City—a Hell on Wheels town that erupts into an all-out street war between vigilantes, railroad men, and an angry mob. In the chaos, one man emerges a legend: Marshal Thomas “Bear River” Smith, who defends the town with grit and gunfire before vanishing into the history books.
As the rails cross into Utah, a new and unlikely force steps into the story: the Mormons. Brigham Young, ever the strategist, trades isolation for opportunity, offering up thousands of faithful laborers to carve a path through Echo and Weber Canyons. These Mormon crews bring order where chaos once reigned, building trestles, blasting tunnels, and battling both nature and suspicion to push the railroad forward. Their role in shaping the final route—and their fraught relationship with Union Pacific officials—adds a surprising new layer to the closing drama.
But geography remains a relentless foe. The Union Pacific slogs through narrow red-rock gauntlets, floods, and engineering failures as Grenville Dodge and the Casement brothers push men and machines to the brink. Every mile becomes a desperate race—not just against time, but against their western rivals, the Central Pacific. When Crocker’s crews lay ten miles of track in a single day, Union Pacific morale craters, and their once-proud pace devolves into a mad dash for the finish line.
This episode is a blistering ride through firelit towns, scorched canyons, and the final days of the frontier’s wildest railroad camps. It’s not just the story of laying track—it’s the story of what it cost, who was left behind, and who claimed the last stake in America’s great race west.
🎧 Listen now to "Last Mountain, Last Battle" on your favorite podcast platform.
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