California Surveyors Forums

I just watched the pilot for the AMC channel series "Hell on Wheels". It is a series about the railroad movement westward after the civil war. The pilot had a significant emphasis on the the advanced survey team in the Nebraska territory. The series may not expand on the survey aspect, but it is nice to be mentioned (even if we do get slaughtered by indians) that we were part of the expansion.

There is some mystery regarding the maps the surveyor was producing. It's a good show.

Indians learned very early that the surveyors preceded the invasion so they figured if the surveyors were eliminated that would deter the invasion - wrong again.

Had to be a great time to cross the USA without fences and park rangers.

There is a great story in the TimeLife Old West series about a exploratory trip up the Missouri River in a paddle boat looking for a way to get CA gold to the Union before the civil war. They think they got up the Yellowstone almost to what is now the park before the currant was too strong. IIRC it took a couple of months to get to where they turned around and a couple of weeks to return thanks to the currant.

Nothing has changed much over the years, I read a book about the Colorado just before the building of the lake Powell dam. The Ranger that wrote the book admitted to removing survey stakes.

As I recall the name Hell on Wheels referred to the travelling brothels/saloons that followed the railroad crews. Interesting times.

Dave Sigman wrote:As I recall the name Hell on Wheels referred to the travelling brothels/saloons that followed the railroad crews. Interesting times.

All the pleasentries of home while on a road trip. Cool