A wedding celebration.

On May 10, America celebrates one of the greatest engineering achievements in human history—the completion of the (sort of) transcontinental railroad.

The historic 1869 event at Promontory Summit (often reported incorrectly as Promontory Point, an altogether different place) drew a crowd of somewhere between 500 and 3,000 people. The 150^th anniversary celebration at the windswept Golden Spike National Historic Park will likely draw many more. Museums and libraries and other places around greater northern Utah have been and will continue to offer exhibits and other commemorative activities.

Despite all the dire consequences associated with the building of the railroad—further displacement of native tribes, destruction of wildlife, abuse of workers, creation of a new class of robber barons, and the many financial improprieties involved—the driving of the golden spike marking the completion of the railroad hastened the settlement and economic development of the West and helped bind the sprawling nation together.

It’s a day worth remembering. So, celebrate the wedding of the rails—or mourn, if you must.

A night that will go down in history.

If you’re anywhere near Salt Lake City on May 28, mark your calendar for a historic evening at The King’s English Bookshop. They’ve invited me to show up at 7:00 to read from, talk about, and sign my new book, The Lost Frontier: Momentous Moments in the Old West You May Have Missed.

The King’s English is located at the corner of 1500 East and 1500 South.

There may well be a no-pressure, no-grade quiz on Western history, so bone up and be prepared. Be warned, however—the history we’ll talk about from The Lost Frontier won’t be the same stuff they taught you in school or that you read about in your average history book.

See you at The King’s English, May 28 at 7:00 p.m. Bring your friends and neighbors along.

Find The Lost Frontier.

My new history book, The Lost Frontier: Momentous Moments in the Old West You May Have Missed, is now available. The Lost Frontier will be found at the usual online booksellers, and any bookstore can get you a copy if it’s not on the shelf.

Some fine writers and historians enjoyed the book. Matt Mayo says, “No dry history here…the subjects are fully fleshed, clothed, and howling for attention.” Chris Enss says it’s “the way history should be written: riveting, involving, and filled with verified facts that make the era of the Old West come alive.” Will Bagley says, “I need to add biographer and historian to the long list of Rod’s astonishing talents.”

I wouldn’t go so far as all that, but I do believe that in the pages of The Lost Frontier you’ll find plenty of interesting history—most of it strange and surprising stuff you didn’t learn about in school.