This guide has been created to accompany Clinton, a four-hour AMERICAN EXPERIENCE documentary that presents a rich biographical portrait of America's 42nd president.
 Foreman James Harvey Strobridge grudgingly agreed to hire 50 Chinese men as wagon-fillers. Their work ethic impressed him, and he hired more Chinese workers for more difficult tasks.
Mileage meant money, power, and a fantastic business opportunity. Whichever line neared Salt Lake City, Utah first assured Mormon traffic on its route.
The project's contractor, raised the workers' monthly wages four dollars — to $35 a month — in hopes that news of the increase would attract more workers to the summit.
Massachusetts newspaper editor Samuel Bowles observed the peculiar representatives of American culture taking root in North Platte and christened what he saw Hell on Wheels.
Nitroglycerin was first synthesized in 1864 by chemist Ascanio Sobrero, who destroyed his notes for fear of the damage his highly unstable discovery might cause.
