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Here we are, some time in say, late 1880s, in a rough-shot town on the dry, dusty plains of the American West.

Here in this saloon, the bartender slings bourbon shots, gamblers lean over their cards,

laughter drifts down from the girls on the balcony, when suddenly, two hard-eyed men square off over a pile of poker chips.

One backs away, swaggering through the swinging doors.

The other follows, and a minute later, they're both in the street facing each other at a distance,

hands hovering over their holstered guns.

This is the Wild West, as we often imagine it, the one we think we know.

Meanwhile, out there on the edge of town, another drama unfolds.

Survellers hammer stakes into the ground.

An engineer studies his maps.

Crews prepare to lay miles of steel railroad track that will skirt past town and punch through the mountains in the distance,

changing everything about this county, this whole territory, and the people who live here.

Gunfight? If it even happens, lasts seconds.

This other violence upon the land itself, move slowly, lasts seconds. This other violence upon the land itself

move slowly, relentlessly, more mundane perhaps,

but far more consequential.

Because once that first locomotive steams through town,

watch out what happens to the Wild West.

Music What happens to the Wild West? Good day and welcome. I'm Don Wildman, and this is American History Hip.

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