ABSTRACT
WITH the exception of a few prongs of road, most of which ended in nothing in particular, there was no railroad mileage west of the Mississippi in 1860. All was in the east, and much fairly recent. An investment of $1.25 milliard had been made by individuals both native and foreign, by towns, counties, States and the Federal Government itself, and as a consequence the flow of trade was not only greater but was also changed in direction, being now decidedly from west to east, towards New York and Boston, rather than from north to south, towards New Orleans.
