Synopses & Reviews
In 1869, Jay Cooke, the brilliant but idiosyncratic American banker, decided to finance the Northern Pacific, a transcontinental railroad planned from Duluth, Minnesota, to Seattle. M. John Lubetkin tells how Cookeand#8217;s gamble reignited war with the Sioux, rescued George Armstrong Custer from obscurity, created Yellowstone Park, pushed frontier settlement four hundred miles westward, and triggered the Panic of 1873.
Staking his reputation and wealth on the Northern Pacific, Cooke was soon whipsawed by the railroadand#8217;s mismanagement, questionable contracts, and construction problems. Financier J. P. Morgan undermined him, and the Crand#233;dit Mobilier scandal ended congressional support. When railroad surveyors and army escorts ignored Sioux chief Sitting Bulland#8217;s warning not to enter the Yellowstone Valley, Indian attacksand#151;combined with alcoholic commandersand#151;led to embarrassing setbacks on the field, in the nationand#8217;s press, and among investors.
Lubetkinand#8217;s suspenseful narrative describes events played out from Wall Street to the Yellowstone and vividly portrays the soldiers, engineers, businessmen, politicians, and Native Americans who tried to build or block the Northern Pacific.
Review
and#147;A treat beyond all expectations. . . . One of the most interesting multifaceted histories to come down the trail in many years.and#8221;and#151;True West
Review
and#147;Lubetkin's singular achievement is to link Jay Cooke with George Armstrong Custerand#151;the world of robber baron finance with the world of Indian fighting.and#8221;and#151;Robert M. Utley, author of Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier
Synopsis
In 1869, Jay Cooke, the brilliant but idiosyncratic American banker, decided to finance the Northern Pacific, a transcontinental railroad planned from Duluth, Minnesota, to Seattle. M. John Lubetkin tells how Cookeand#8217;s gamble reignited war with the Sioux, rescued George Armstrong Custer from obscurity, created Yellowstone Park, pushed frontier settlement four hundred miles westward, and triggered the Panic of 1873.
About the Author
M. John Lubetkin is a retired cable television executive and the author of Jay Cookeand#39;s Gamble: The Northern Pacific Railroad, the Sioux, and the Panic of 1873, winner of the Little Big Horn Associatesand#39; John M. Carroll Award (Book of the Year) and a Spur Award for Best Historical Non-fiction from the Western Writers of America.