Richmond Chapt. 7 The Development of the Railroads

This was my favorite chapter so far in this book. Living in Parsons I truly feel a connection with the railroads in Kansas. I enjoyed reading about the Katy R.R. and their Parsons ties. I also found the information about why they were granted the rights to move onto into Texas interesting. I read it out loud to my husband, who worked for the Katy and U.P., who also did not know this interesting little tidbit.

I also did a lot of laughing out loud with this chapter. LOL I kept yelling into the other room for my husband to listen to this…I would then read a story to him from this chapter and then I would just sit there and laugh and laugh. I thoroughly loved the story about the Indians trying to capture the locomotive with the telegraph wire!

I would tie this chapter into my classroom by the use of the Katy poster that is in this chapter advertising land. We talk a lot about westward expansion and how the R.R. had a large part in recruiting people to move west. This picture is perfect for showing them how the R.R.’s made it seem so appealing!