By the mid-1880s thousands of miles of railroad tracks crisscrossed the American West, making travel somewhat easier for the people who lived there.

During the previous two decades the U.S. government had financed the building of four so-called “transcontinental” railways that connected the eastern sections of the country to western states and territories.

In addition, several smaller privately owned and operated railroads brought numerous smaller communities into the rapidly expanding American rail network.

These thoroughfares aided the country’s economy by sending western raw materials, natu...