Sunset Limited: The Southern Pacific Railroad and the Development of the American West, 1850–1930 (review)

The product of thirty years of meticulous research and thoughtful reflection, Richard J. Orsi’s long-awaited magnum opus delivers a powerful climax to a distinguished scholar’s career. Boasting over 400 pages of clearly written text backed by nearly 200 pages of detailed endnotes, Sunset Limited offers a massive and compelling reinterpretation of the mighty Southern Pacific Railroad during its late nineteenth and early twentieth century glory days. A truly landmark work, Sunset Limited will undoubtedly assume a prominent and enduring place among the essential histories of California and the American West.

It has been a long time coming. Beginning in 1975, Orsi, a professor of history at California State University, East Bay, and a longtime editor of California History, began a prolonged assault on what he calls the “Octopus Myth,” the anti-corporate Progressive Era paradigm that dominated both popular and scholarly interpretations of Southern Pacific history for most of the twentieth century. Following the influential leads of novelist Frank Norris and the early historian Matthew Josephson, the great majority of railroad commentators have invariably condemned the Southern Pacific as a grasping “Octopus” and vilified its owners, the so-called Big Four, as diabolical “Robber Barons.”

Although the much-maligned Big Four have always managed to attract their share of admirers and defenders, none have proven more dedicated or persuasive than Orsi. In a series of trenchant articles and a pair of chapters in his hugely successful California history textbook, The Elusive Eden (first edition, 1988), Orsi has persistently and tirelessly built up the pro-railroad case he now presents fully for the first time in Sunset Limited.

Significantly, however, while he consistently refers to the “Octopus Myth,” it remains clear to any careful reader that the Octopus was, in fact, no myth after all, despite Orsi’s obvious exasperation with that still popular perception. Only on occasion does Orsi directly challenge any of the numerous allegations that have been leveled against the Southern Pacific throughout its very controversial history. Indeed, most of the manifold sins and transgressions of the railroad are too well documented to be refuted. Accordingly, Orsi’s revisionism depends much more heavily on balancing the books rather than purging the debit side of the historical ledger.

Conceding or simply ignoring most of the points scored by previous critics, Orsi’s innovative approach is to leave old arguments behind and to explore new, and more positive, ground. Building on the insights of pioneering business historian Alfred D. Chandler, Orsi reminds readers of the obvious but overlooked fact that the Southern Pacific Railroad was not a simple partnership owned by four Sacramento merchants named Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins. On the contrary, the Southern Pacific evolved rapidly into a sprawling corporate empire that comprised a bewildering number of subsidiary companies, all coordinated by a huge and complex modern bureaucracy staffed by well educated and powerful salaried managers.

Indeed, one of the most striking and refreshing aspects of Sunset Limited is the relative lack of attention devoted to the Big Four who, along with their successor Edward H. Harriman, frequently fade into the background of Orsi’s analysis. Taking their accustomed place is a cadre of fascinating but previously unheralded men whom Orsi escorts to center stage as representatives of the talented and energetic lieutenants who filled the SP’s mid-level ranks.

Chief among them are the three dynamic individuals who headed the railroad’s land division and administered the vast acreages granted to the corporation by the federal government: Benjamin B. Redding (1865–1882), William H. Mills (1883–1907), and Birdsall A. McAllaster (1909–1933). Along with immigration commissioner Isaac N. Hoag, land agent Jerome Madden, advertising director James Horsburgh, and exposition manager Charles Turrill, these men comprise what might be termed Orsi’s “Big Seven.”

By focusing on the truly impressive and wide ranging activities of these seven men and other railroad...