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Traveling the West

 
  Map of Great Rock Island Route, 1883   George F. Cram
New and Correct Map of the Great Rock Island Route
Chicago: E. St. John, 1883
NYPL, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Map Division 		 
 
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Although it includes many other railroad lines, this map especially promotes -- and enlarges the track for -- the Rock Island line and its connections. Promotion reigns, as the map declares the Rock Island "The passengers favorite route" between Chicago and "all points East, West, South-West and North-West." An inset puts the Rock Island route into a world-wide context -- a straight line across the continent, an easy path from Europe to Asia. The little schematic design at left shows the railroad-invented system of Central, Eastern, Mountain, and Pacific time. St. Louis is bypassed on this map, which promotes Chicago as the hub for Western travel. The line was memorialized in the folksong "The Rock Island Line" by Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly).

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