Forging the Bee Line Railroad, 1848-1889: The Rise and Fall of the Hoosier Partisans and Cleveland Clique (2017)
Olson, Arthur Andrew III (Author)
Kent State University Press
Physical Details: 228
Language: English
In the 1830s, as the Trans Appalachian economy began to stir and Europe's Industrial Revolution reached its peak, concerned Midwesterners saw opportunities and risks. Success of the Erie Canal as a link to East Coast economic markets whetted the appetites of visionaries and entrepreneurs, who saw huge opportunities. Amid this perfect storm of technology, enterprise, finance, location, and timing arose some of the earliest railroads in the Midwest. By the late 1840s three such vision-driven railroad ventures had sprung to life. Two small railroads carrying goods to Midwestern markets - the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine in Indiana and the Bellefontaine & Indiana in Ohio - spawned early enthusiasm, but few citizens would look beyond the horizon. It was the admonition of Oliver H. Smith, founder of the Indiana line, who challenged the populace to look farther: "to decide whether the immense travel and business of the west should pass round or go through central Indiana." Soon, the two local lines would crystallize in the minds of people as the "Bee Line." In Cleveland, meanwhile, a clique of committed businessmen, bankers, and politicians came together to finance the most prosperous of all early Midwestern railroads, extending from Cleveland to Columbus. Their aspirations expanded to control the larger Midwestern market from Cleveland to St. Louis. First by loans and then by bond purchases, they quickly took over the "Bee Line." Hoosier partisans' independence, however, could not be easily brushed aside. Time and again they would frustrate the attempts of the Cleveland clique, exercising a degree of autonomy inconsistent with their dependent financial underpinnings. Ultimately, they acquiesced to the reality of their situation. After the Civil War, even the group from Cleveland fell victim to unscrupulous foreign and national financiers and manipulators who had taken their places on the boards of larger trunk lines expanding throughout the Midwest. Exhaustively researched and meticulously documented, Forging the "Bee Line" Railroad, 1848-1889 is the first comprehensive scholarly work on this most important of early Midwestern railroads.
...MoreReview Keefe, Kevin P. (Fall-Winter 2017) Review of "Forging the Bee Line Railroad, 1848-1889: The Rise and Fall of the Hoosier Partisans and Cleveland Clique". Railroad History (pp. 105-106).
Similar Citations
Book
Charles B. McCreary;
John W. Sachse;
(2011)
Train pictures, 1946-1957: A railfan's memoir
(/isis/citation/CBB141064178/)
Book
Richard C. Kistier;
(2010)
The High Plains route: A history of the McCook Division of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
(/isis/citation/CBB491688492/)
Book
Fiore, David J., Jr.;
(2006)
The Chicago Great Western Railway
(/isis/citation/CBB081407469/)
Book
Lee, Thomas R.;
(2016)
Rock Island Westward Volume 3: Western Division Freight Service, 1930-1952
(/isis/citation/CBB306491335/)
Book
Eugene M. Lewis;
(2005)
12,000 Days on the North Western Line: The Life and Times of a Railroad Civil Engineer, 1947-1980
(/isis/citation/CBB330674997/)
Book
Richard C. Carpenter;
(2011)
A railroad atlas of the United States in 1946. Volume 4, Illinois, Wisconsin & Upper Michigan
(/isis/citation/CBB843626310/)
Book
Glischinski, Steve;
(2007)
Regional Railroads of the Midwest
(/isis/citation/CBB494638416/)
Book
John T. Gaertner;
(2009)
The Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway: D.S.S. & A.: A history of the Lake Superior District's pioneer iron ore hauler
(/isis/citation/CBB893532413/)
Article
Don L. Hofsommer;
(2019)
Farming, Irrigation and the Northern Transcontinentals
(/isis/citation/CBB576106415/)
Book
Don L. Hofsommer;
(2013)
Off the Main Lines: A Photographic Odyssey
(/isis/citation/CBB503326412/)
Book
Richard C. Carpenter;
(2008)
A railroad atlas of the United States in 1946. Vol. 3, Indiana, Lower Michigan & Ohio
(/isis/citation/CBB953068566/)
Book
Kornweibel, Theodore;
(2010)
Railroads in the African American Experience: A Photographic Journey
(/isis/citation/CBB001230717/)
Book
John Gruber;
Ryan, John;
Kenton H. Forrest;
Robert W. McLeod;
(2017)
San Luis Central, Greely East, Arkansas Valley Railway
(/isis/citation/CBB904087110/)
Book
Roger C. Hinman;
(2011)
Merchants despatch: Its history and equipment
(/isis/citation/CBB829311510/)
Book
H. Roger Grant;
(2012)
Railroads and the American People
(/isis/citation/CBB777615645/)
Article
Dennis C. Opferman;
R. Milton Clark;
(2021)
Sioux Falls and the Rock Island
(/isis/citation/CBB096493635/)
Article
Mora, Jeffrey G.;
(Fall-Winter 2008)
Whistle Stop Pioneer
(/isis/citation/CBB926159246/)
Book
Fetters, Thomas;
(2008)
The Charleston & Hamburg: A South Carolina Railroad and an American Legacy
(/isis/citation/CBB063239726/)
Book
Lee, Thomas R.;
(1998)
Rock Island Westward, Vol. 2: Rails to the Rockies- A History of the Western Division
(/isis/citation/CBB422989590/)
Article
John H., Jr. White;
(2015)
Short Takes: Rubbing Elbows: Slices of Everyday life from 'Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, February 10, 1882'
(/isis/citation/CBB554792054/)
Be the first to comment!