"The 1869 meeting of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads at Promontory Summit (not Promontory Point, where it often is mistakenly placed) was, both literally and symbolically, a historical event of indisputable significance in American history.".

"Richard Francaviglia reviews May 10, 1869, and what led to that day, but from there his narrative launches into space and time to consider the geographic history of the event and where it occurred, on the spine of the lonely Promontory Range at the northern end of the Great Salt Lake. What we consequently learn is the stories of the transportation corridor that developed across Promontory and of the society of people who settled that remote, and frontier, many of them connected to the railroad. Francaviglia reaches back farther than 1869 and carries his story forward to the present, including the development of Golden Spike National Historic Site. At the center of his narrative is the conjunction of a unique area (the Promontory Mountains and the Great Salt Lake) and the impact and legacy, particularly regionally, of a special event. The growth of geographical knowledge linked these historical dimensions, as maps best show.

A cartographic history of the Promontory Range, northern Utah, the railroad, and other transportation lines has an integral part in Francaviglia's account, and the book is copiously illustrated with color maps as well as historical and scenic photos."--BOOK JACKET.