Westward by Rail: The New Route to the East

by William Fraser Rae

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Westward By The New Route To The East

William Fraser Rae

D. Appleton, 1871

Mormon Church; Mormons; Mormons and Mormonism; United States; West (U.S.)

391 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1869

About the author

William Fraser Rae (1835–1905) was a Scottish journalist and author.

Reviews

[Meg Mims · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the books I used for research was this 1871 or 1872 book, written by William Fraser Rae (1835-1905), that I picked up from a remainder pile in a bookstore at some point a decade or so ago. Rae was British, and embarked on a journey from New York City to San Francisco after the transcontinental railroad opened in 1869. Full of interesting details, it fueled the story premise for DOUBLE CROSSING.

Two other books given to me by a good friend, which spelled out the history of building the railroad lines, helped my research as well. But Rae’s book provided personal experiences of what the Pullman Palace car’s interior looked like, how the sleeping berths were made up, the types of passengers crossing the country, the food and activities along the route, and the various new sights from a foreigner’s perspective.

Since Lily Granville, my heroine, never traveled west, this was handy to incorporate some of that awe of the grandeur and mysteries of the prairie, the native Pawnee and other tribes, the buffalo herds, the station houses and meals, the ticket prices, and the dangers.

There’s nothing like a fabulous research find that can ‘pump up’ vivid imagery in your writing. I’m grateful I found this book, and glad they’d reprinted it. It’s truly a gem even for a quick skim (some parts are dull, others quite interesting) by anyone with a history bent. I could visualize life for people back in the latter half of the 1800s and hope I succeeded in bringing that to the written page in DOUBLE CROSSING.

Thanks, W. F. Rae! I owe you one.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the kind of historical book I really like. One of the real joys of reading firsthand historical accounts is the tidbits of daily life that the author drops along the way. Things that must have been nearly mundane or ordinary, barely worth a passing note in 1869, give a fascinating historical flavor to readers many years later.

This book is Rae's first hand account of traveling across the United States by train, within a few months of the completion of the transcontinental railway. Actually, Rae traveled much further than that, starting in England and crossing the Atlantic by steamer. In addition to describing the trip, the accommodations, the scenery, and his incidental traveling companions, he stops in various communities along the way and takes the time to investigate their unique character. San Francisco, Chicago, and Salt Lake City are described in some detail, and the unique characteristics of each are pointed out. Rae has his criticisms, of course, but he makes every effort to praise the noteworthy aspects of the people that he meets, and the places he visits. No doubt this, in addition to the very readable nature of Rae's writing, is why Rae's account has survived, while other, less objective travelogues from that time period have not.