When railroads held promise for a bright future, young Grenville Dodge grabbed hold and never let go. Even a nation in civil war didn't get in his way, but became and advantage. He built railroads in Tennessee and followed Sherman to Atlanta. Perhaps his greatest achievement was building the westward link of the transcontinental railroad from Omaha to Promontory Summit, Utah, for the Union Pacific. He built more than 10,000 miles of railroad and established Dodge City, Kansas, and Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Elected to Congress without campaigning and advisor to seven U.S. presidents, he dies a wealthy man in 1916 -- From the back cover.

"Grenville M. Dodge witnessed the growth of a nation from sectionalized states rights to world power. His eighty-four years took him from apprentice surveyor to Civil War Major General to president of seven railroad lines." -- Cover.

Civil engineering : Early years -- The great American desert -- Railroad connections -- Family facts -- Civil War : Pea Ridge -- Pacific Railroad Act -- Spy network -- Middle Tennessee -- Behind Sherman to Atlanta -- Wounded -- Union Pacific : Race for a gold spike -- Surveying terms -- Crédit Mobilier scandal -- Final years : Death of General Grant -- Family squabbles -- Retirement.