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

For more than two decades, many of us have eagerly anticipated Richard Orsi's study of the Southern Pacific Railroad's impact on the West. The wait has been well worth it, as this is an extraordinary volume that seriously undermines the hoary myth of the S.P. as The Octopus. Orsi demonstrates that while the railroad exercised enormous political and economic power, in California especially, it also labored mightily to develop its vast territory stretching from Portland, Oregon to New Orleans, Louisiana. Far from being a vicious corporate giant exploiting farmers, ranchers, and the residents of small towns along its routes, the Southern Pacific supported scientific agriculture, promoted the creation of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, used its land grants to encourage family farming, created large experimental farms, and urged conservation practices in dry-land farming and forestry. It worked with John Muir to save virgin forests in Northern California and formed alliances with agricultural colleges to urge diversification of crops. With considerable trackage across largely uninhabited territory, the railroad took responsibility for developing water supplies not only for its own operations, but also for incipient communities unable to provide their own sources of water. Obviously, the railroad sought to enhance its traffic and profits through these efforts, but Orsi clearly demonstrates that the "octopus" imagery belied much good citizenship.

The Southern Pacific Railroad formed one of the largest transportation networks in American history. Headquartered in San Francisco, it controlled vast landholdings, steamship lines, and resort hotels. The S.P. assumed a leadership role in pursuing large-scale irrigation projects in central California, the Imperial Valley, and western Nevada. Other historians have addressed the role of railroads in the settlement process; Orsi explores the Southern Pacific's impact on environmental changes that continue to resonate in the West.

While exploring the railroad's massive corporate records, Orsi found that a large group of middle managers was engaged in developmental efforts. It joined with federal agencies, the Sierra Club, farmers' organizations, chambers of commerce, politicians in both parties, and experts in agriculture, forestry, hydrology, engineering, and horticulture to encourage both development and conservation even as it sought increased traffic. The railroad created new industries through technological advances such as refrigerated cars to carry perishable crops to Eastern markets, which meant, in turn, building huge ice plants. Orsi also shows that the carrier fought some destructive technologies; for example, it used its political power to support a California law that ended hydraulic mining. It also developed rail-carried fire-fighting apparatus for use in the Sierra and elsewhere. It even sought to make Lake Tahoe into a national park.

The depth and range of the research supporting this volume is overwhelming; some 176 pages of densely packed footnotes support four hundred pages of text. Orsi also drew on recent scholarship that serves to broaden his interpretations. This is a finely crafted and beautifully written volume that should cause historians to make substantial changes in their lecture notes. Academics who ignore Orsi's conclusions will do their students a great disfavor and wound their own scholarship. Interpretations of the Southern Pacific based on the writings of early twentieth-century Progressives, often at odds with the facts, must be altered as a consequence of this volume. Sunset Limited is a splendid achievement by a master of the craft.