RAILROAD MAN
Legacies Son
by Dan E. Hendrickson
A railroad ramrod, a U.S. Marshal, and a determined young woman with Crow heritage risk their lives to expose fraud in frontier-era Wyoming.
Arriving at the depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in the spring of 1883, 30-something Arthur Edwards has no inkling how quickly and dramatically his life is about to change. A Civil War veteran and right-hand man to the president of the Union Pacific Railroad, he’s excited to lead the railway’s extension from Sheridan north into Montana. That will mean forging an agreement with Chief Pretty Eagle for a right of way through the Crow Nation’s reservation lands. But negotiations are at an impasse. Local cattle ranchers, led by the politically ambitious John Harris and the racist Bob Jones, fear that the delay and competition from the Native Americans will bite into their profits. Arthur hires Aylen Perry, who happens to be the chief’s granddaughter, to assist the overwhelmed Cheyenne depot boss. Meanwhile, Harris hopes to pressure her into marrying his son, Ben, to get leverage over her grandfather. Arthur is smart and tough, but he’s plagued by nightmares about the horrific events he witnessed during the war on a mission to bring Union spy William Lloyd out of Confederate territory. Aylen is calm in a crisis, having seen her mother help her father recover from both the traumas of Custer’s defeat at Little Big Horn and a mountain lion attack. She helps Arthur through a difficult episode, and the two become close. Lloyd becomes a U.S. Marshal, and he enlists Arthur as a deputy to investigate possible large-scale fraud by Denver cattlemen that may be connected to a network of crooked ranchers around the country—including Jones. While they’re away, the Sheridan ranchers, desperate to complete the railroad construction without making any concessions to the Crow people, decide to take matters into their own hands. They hatch a plot that puts Aylen in danger and risks igniting a war between the Crows and the neighboring Shoshone. The two war heroes must press an untested new locomotive into service, racing back to Sheridan to gather their allies, rescue Aylen, and keep the peace.
Hendrickson packs his tale with a large cast of characters who are engaging but lightly sketched—most are either heroes or villains without nuance. The complicated plot moves quickly, with most events taking place within a month’s time. The majority of the second half splits into separate, parallel tracks for different players. The writing features vivid descriptions of action and lively dialogue, but it also mixes present and past tense awkwardly, sometimes in the same paragraph. (“He sent a railroad stockyard man to go get the Morgan mare.…The same man comes around the bend with the mare saddled and ready.”) The work is occasionally repetitive. For example, the fact that Wyoming was the first place in the U.S. to allow women to vote is mentioned three times in the first 25 pages. Some of the details seem overly modern for the 1880s, such as references to drinking “dark roast” and an outdoor cafe. In addition, although the portrayal of Native American characters is positive, readers may be offended by the use of problematic terms such as braves, bucks, and half-breed, even in describing Aylen’s internal thoughts. Still, Hendrickson’s novel offers an engaging adventure and romance that will appeal to railroad buffs and fans of Westerns and light historical fiction.An unpolished but entertaining tale of conflict, romance, and derring-do in frontier Wyoming.