Hell on Wheels was the itinerant collection of flimsily assembled
gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
houses,
dance hall
Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and citi ...
s,
saloons
Saloon may refer to:
Buildings and businesses
* One of the bars in a traditional British pub
* An alternative name for a bar (establishment)
* Western saloon, a historical style of American bar
* The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francisc ...
, and
brothels
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub pa ...
that followed the army of
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
railroad workers westward as they constructed the
First transcontinental railroad
North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
in 1860s North America. The huge numbers of wage-earning young men working in what was a remote wilderness, far from the constraints of home, provided a lucrative opportunity for business. As the end of the line continually moved westward, Hell on Wheels followed along, reconstructing itself on the outskirts of each town that became, in turn, the center of activity for the Union Pacific's construction work.
Etymology
In 1869, the use of the term "Hell on Wheels" to describe the phenomenon was documented by
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
''Republican'' newspaper editor
Samuel Bowles.
In popular culture
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
's silent film ''
The Iron Horse'' (1924) portrayed an idealized image of Hell on Wheels.
AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** AM ...
's
television drama series
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...
, ''
Hell On Wheels
Hell on Wheels was the itinerant collection of flimsily assembled gambling houses, dance halls, saloons, and brothels that followed the army of Union Pacific railroad workers westward as they constructed the First transcontinental railroad in 186 ...
'' was originally broadcast from 2011 to 2016 and was set from 1865 to 1869. It centers on the mobile encampment that accompanied the construction of First Transcontinental Railroad, including the Union Pacific company men, surveyors, support workers, laborers, prostitutes, church staff, and mercenaries.
Several scenes in the 2013
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
film ''
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture.
He first appeared in 1933 in ...
'' briefly take place at a Hell on Wheels brothel.
Other uses
The
2nd Armored Division of the United States Army adopted the nickname "Hell on Wheels" during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
References
*
*
*
External links
*{{cite news, url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/tcrr/peopleevents/e_hell.html , publisher=PBS Documentary: Peoples and Events: Hell on Wheels, title= ''The American Experience: Transcontinental Railroad''
Building the Transcontinental RailroadMap of Union Pacific Railroad with DatesPhoto of Helltown at Benton, WY in 1868 (now a ghost town)
Union Pacific Railroad
English phrases