News – Sheridan Media
On June 28th at the new Fort Phil Kearny Interpretive Center, historians Mary Ellen McWilliams and Sonny Reisch presented a talk titled, “Role of the Union Pacific Railroad along the Bozeman Trail.”
Dave McKee, president of the Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association, introduced the speakers, saying that McWilliams
He added that she has written many articles and implemented public programs about our history.
McKee Also introduced the second speaker, Sonny Reisch. Reisch served as superintendent at Fort Phil Kearny, and later as historian and curator at the Fort. He has written and published many articles on the Bozeman Trail and the Indian Wars.
He then turned the podium over to McWilliams.
She talked about a program in Billings that Mike Koury, President of the Order of the Indian wars gave on the building of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Koury was scheduled to speak at the program but could not be attend.
McWilliams also read a passage from a Stephen E Ambrose book, Nothing Like It in the World: The Men who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869. The book stated that the Transcontinental Railroad was the greatest achievement of the American People in the 19th Century. The worker for the railroad were mainly Chinese on the Central Pacific and Irish on the Union Pacific.
Reisch took the podium and talked about what was happening in the United States in 1866, with reconstruction, bringing the Southern states back into the Union, and impeaching president Andrew Johnson.
Several events happened in the West during that time and the government felt that the forts were necessary for the safety of the white travelers.
He added that there was another theory about why the forts were built.
He talked about several of the men who helped to build the railroad, including President Lincoln, who felt that railroad was a top priority, drawing the nation together by trade and would help bring homesteaders to settle the western territories.
Travel improved with the railroad. Although it cost a lot of money to build it, Reisch said, it was worth it in the end.
He also talked about the Ames Monument along I-80 at the Vedauwoo exit, honoring brothers Oliver and Oakes Ames who were Union Pacific financiers for the Union Pacific Railroad, which included a route through the mountains of Laramie and northern Utah.
Around 20 people attended the program in the new interpretive center at the fort.
This talk is a part of the Hell on Wheels exhibit now on display at the fort.
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Last modified: July 3, 2025