Oddly specific, but it's something I desperately need to figure out for a piece of fiction I'm writing. Appears to be shockingly complex after a bit of research, so I figured I'd turn it over to you guys for input.
I know Laramie began to develop rapidly while it was the western terminal for the transcontinental Union Pacific line, but re-writing history so that it stays that way doesn't seem like it'd be enough to make the town as prosperous as I was hoping, and furthermore doesn't seem reasonable for the development of the rail line.
Any thoughts on how this could have happened based on the conditions around that time and place? I'm open to fabrication (found oil, gold, etc ), but it's easy to just make something up whole cloth. I'm hoping somebody on here might have some useful knowledge about the old west that I can use to create an informed alternative.
Thanks!
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your fiction piece, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists, based on past experience: some aspiring novelists have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
Additionally, as amazing as our flair panel is, we should also point out that /r/AskHistorians is not a professional historical consultation service. If you're asking a question here because you need vital research for a future commercial product such as a historical novel, you may be better off engaging a historical consultant at a fair hourly rate to answer these questions for you. We don't know what the going rate for consultancy work would be in your locality, but it may be worth looking into that if you have in-depth or highly plot-reliant questions for this project. Some /r/AskHistorians flairs could be receptive to working as a consultant in this way. However, if you wish for a flair here to do this work for you, you will need to organize this with them yourselves.