by Celia Yeary
The construction of the first American transcontinental railroad is a familiar story we learned in high school history.
The tracks were laid from Sacramento, California to Council Bluffs, Iowa during the years of 1863 to 1869. The Union Pacific laid down 1,087 miles of track, starting in Council Bluffs, Iowa and moved west. The Central Pacific laid down 690 miles of track, starting in Sacramento, California. After many problems and battles, the two sections finally met at Promontory Summit in the Utah Territory.
Irish laborers, veterans of both the Union and Confederate armies, and Mormons, and emancipated slaves laid down the eastern section, while Chinese immigrants performed most of the work on the western section.
Using the history of this railroad, AMC has filmed a new western series titled Hell on Wheels. The premiere is Sunday, November 6 at 10/9c.
Hell on Wheels tells the epic story of post-Civil War America, focusing on a Confederate soldier, Cullen Bohannon, who sets out to exact revenge on the Union soldiers who killed his wife. His journey and quest for vengeance takes him west to Hell on Wheels, a dangerous, raucous, melting-pot of a town that travels with and services the construction of the first trans-continental railroad. Bohannon is played by Anson Mount.
Elam Fergerson is an emancipated slave, half black, half white. Elam and Cullen's fates are bound together during the building of the railroad. Elam is played by Common.
Lily Bell is a newly widowed woman trying to survive in a man's world. She worries that the approaching railroad will despoil the West forever. Lily is played by Dominique McElligott.
The series documents the engineering and construction of the railroad, as well as institutionalized greed and corruption, the immigrant experience, and the plight of the newly emancipated African-Americans during Reconstruction.
Hell on Wheels chronicles this turning point in our nation's history and how uncivilized the business of civilization can be.
Hell on Wheels chronicles this turning point in our nation's history and how uncivilized the business of civilization can be.
Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
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