Railroad Expansion in the American West

Railroads connected western mines, ranches and towns to national markets while bringing settlers, capital and stronger government authority into regions previously reached mainly by trails and rivers.

The new infrastructure created corporate power and new forms of crime. Train robbery, land disputes and hired security became part of the same process that reduced distance and weakened older frontier economies.

In Streets of Laredo, a railroad company hires Woodrow Call to stop the young train robber Joey Garza. The pursuit shows an old Ranger working for institutions that represent the world replacing him.