Part I
1845–57: A Procession of Dreamers
2: “Who Can Oppose Such a Work?”
3: “I Must Walk Toward Oregon”
4: “The Great Object for Which We Were Created”
5: “An Uninhabited and Dreary Waste”
Part II
1860–61: Union, Disunion, Incorporation
6: “Raise the Money and I Will Build Your Road”
8: “The Marks Left by the Donner Party”
9: “The Most Difficult Country Ever Conceived”
10: “We Have Drawn the Elephant”
Part III
1863: Last of the Dreamers
11: “Speculation Is as Fatal to It as Secession”
12: “I Have Had a Big Row and Fight”
Part IV
1864: Struggle for Momentum
13: “First Dictator of the Railroad World”
14: “Dancing with a Whirlwind”
15: “Trustees of the Bounty of Congress”
16: “The Great Cloud Darkening the Land”
17: “If We Can Save Our Scalps”
18: “I Hardly Expect to Live to See It Completed”
Part VI
1866: Eyeing the Main Chance
19: “Vexation, Trouble, and Continual Hindrance”
20: “The Napoleon of Railways”
21: “We Swarmed the Mountains with Men”
22: “Until They Are Severely Punished”
24: “Our Future Power and Influence”
25: “They All Died in Their Boots”
26: “There Are Only Five of Us”
Part VIII
1868: Going for Broke
27: “More Hungry Men in Congress”
28: “Bring On Your Eight Thousand Men”
29: “We Are in a Terrible Sweat”
30: “A Man for Breakfast Every Morning”
Part IX
1869: Battleground and Meeting Ground
32: “We Have Got Done Praying”
Part X
1872–73: Scandals, Scapegoats, and Dodgers