Some Interesting Facts from
The Great Railroad Strike in Ohio
The Great Railroad Strike in Ohio
General George C. Custer’s Part in Causing the Panic of 1873
In 1873, Lt. Colonel George Custer led a military escort of a surveying party for the Northern Pacific Railroad into Yellowstone Valley. During it he engaged in some minor skirmishes with the Sioux. When his exaggerated report appeared in the New York Tribune, it spooked investors. Jay Cooke & Co. which had heavily invested in the road, lost its ability to sell enough NPRR bonds to curb its debt, forcing it to collapse on Sept. 15, 1873. This sparked the Panic of 1873, the beginning of a deep economic depression from which the United States wouldn’t emerge until 1879. This fact came from The Great Railroad Strike in Ohio by this website's creator, Mark Strecker. You can buy it at Amazon or from the History Press.
Yellowstone Valley
Chromograph by Maine Augusta
Library of Congress
Chromograph by Maine Augusta
Library of Congress
