John Butterfields mail service connected the East and West Coasts in one of the great entrepreneurial and pioneering stories of the American West. Until 1858; Californias gold fields were reached only by horseback; wagon or ship around Cape Horn. Congress decided a 2;800-mile; twenty-five-day stagecoach line would roll from St. Louis to San Francisco. Former Utica; New York mayor Butterfield hired one thousand men and bought 1;200 horses; 600 mules and 250 wagons. Surveying the wilderness; he built roads and two hundred way stations; graded river fords and dug one hundred wells. Join author Melody Groves on a cross-country trip from Missouri to California; and all points in between; as she recounts the Butterfield Stage Lines amazing odyssey.
#2029476 in eBooks 2013-10-08 2013-10-08File Name: B00XRLWSWM
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. "THE POWER OF YES" IS THE POWER OF ACCURACY AND TRUTHBy Joseph B. Hudson Jr.TuesdayNovember 30; 2010Sirs:After 32 years of the practice of law; thebulk of which was in the areas of large-scalesyndicated loan faciilties; State and Localand Municipal public finance (both tax-exemptand taxable); large-scale project infrastructurefinance; and structured financial products;I can only say that the playwright David Harehas somehow - and almost miraculously; for alayman - "hit the nail squarely on the head"with regard to the origins of the current"Great Meltdown."On a par with the great Ms. Gillian Tettsrecent work; "Fools Gold;" (Ms. Tett is currentlythe Financial Affairs editor of The Financial Timesof London); this book is - or should be - mandatoryreading for anyone who wishes to see exactly whathappened to "the genius of laissez-faire economics"when it was allowed to run amok in an ideologicallybased perfect storm of deregulation.We are back; as it were; in late 1933 - having notremembered history; and having been condemned torepeat it.Three cheers for David Hare! He richly deservedhis KBE honors.J. B. Hudson; Jr.; Esq.Fallbrook; CaliforniaUnited States of America0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Another Hit for HareBy EPluribusUnum100My experience of David Hare plays is that they are often hit and miss: for every "Plenty" or "Amys View" you get a "My Zinc Bed" or "Breath of Life"--and the writing in the plays is not significantly better or worse; just some of the plays "work" better than others. Mr. Hares most recent play before this one; "Gethsemane;" I found VERY disappointing; but this new one; "The Power of Yes;" seems a return to form. If you liked "The Permanent Way" and "Stuff Happens" then dont hesitate to pick this one up. Again Hare constructs his narrative from public records and interviews he recently conducted--this time adding himself as a character on stage to tie the material together. The result is informative; entertaining and compelling. For the non-British reader a little research will help your appreciation of the "drama" immeasurabley"--e.g. finding out about Fred Goodwin--former head of Royal Bank of Scotland who many in Britain believe was almost single-handedly responsible for the financial melt-down there. But even without such knowledge the play is enjoyable. The image of Hare interviewing the billionare who met with Alan Greenspan both before and after the crisis will stay with you:Soros: When we met...it was before the crisis; and...he said; Markets are imperfect but they bring such benefits that you have to live with the fact that from time to time they collapse; so you just pick up the bits. But then I saw him again recently--after the crisis...He said What I said in June no longer applis. Yes; but even at the first lunch;...when he said; The benefits of the market are so great that you have to live with the price; even then I had an answer...I said; Yes; but Alan; the people who end up paying the price are never the people who get the benefits.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Clarity; understanding; wisdomBy L. J. ThomasYou can; like me; read book after book on the causes of the Great Recession.Read them; discuss them; try to learn from them; and end up mired in a quicksand of details that dishearten and diminish.Not this play by David Hare.Read this play; let the ideas settle in your mind.The gritty detail is embedded in a lucid intelligence that communicates with such clarity it is like a pearl.The final words of the Power of Yes are filled with the kind of wisdom we need to speak truth to the beneficiaries of the financial disarray that continues to mire us all.
