Disclamer

I don't own anything. This story is too express what happened during the time of the transcontinental railroad, and because I loved the idea. Some historical content may be off by a few decades, or fabricated. Mostly the former, almost never the later. Read, PLEASE don't review. I don't need more stuff in my inbox.


The sky was blue, the sands of the Great American Desert were stirring in the wind. The vast plains swallowed the horizon, and the place had a homey feel to it, despite the hot weather and bad conditions. This was our home; and our people had lived here for years, lifetimes, generations, ages, eras, standing our own against time.

Yet something was wrong among this beautiful scene.

All around me, there was a lack of the Great Buffalo that our tribe lived from; their hides were our clothing and teepees, their bones were our weapons; their meat was our food. And there were storm clouds gathering from the Far East, where the settlers came from. Those Americans from Far East had come westward, and took our land, and killed our Buffalo, and shot our people.

This seemed… inevitable. I had been told the far away nation called the… United States of America had taken land from our rival tribes in the East, and then started to creep into our lands, slowly, but surely, like the tiger before it pounces on its prey. Then they started to file into our lands is if they owned it. We believe no one owns the land; that it belongs to everyone, but apparently they didn't agree. So soon and so suddenly, settlers were filling our plains, forcing us to move westward and more westward.

We thought it could never get any worse, but it just so happened that it did. Then, one of the Americans had the idea to build what they call a railroad across the entire plains, from coast to coast. This railroad is going to be the end for us. The Chiefs believe that once that rail is complete, even more settlers will come from the West, and force is away from our own grounds, more west and more west until there is no more left for us.

I don't know what to do. I am scared. I am lonely. Our tribe faces utter destruction from what they call 'progress.'

My name is Isabella, and I am one of the Sioux.

THE STORY OF THE RAIL

"Alright, gentlemen. It's time for a groundbreaking event in American history. Three major railroad companies, the Western Pacific Railroad Company, the Central Pacific Railroad Company, and the Union Pacific Railroad Company, have proposed a plan to the White House to construct a railroad across all the United States, firmly linking the West to the East, for the sake of American Manifest Destiny!"

A ton of reporters started to ask questions at the podium, snapping pictures and scribbling in notebooks.

"Mr, err…"

"Flynn, madame."

"Mr. Flynn, what do you have to say about the impact of this event?"

"I can very well say that once the West coast is joined by the East, not only will we show the world that America is an industrial superpower, but we will also connect the entire country by ways we can't possibly imagine! We will be able to contact a farmer in Sacramento from Washington via telegram! We can ship wheat from the Great American Desert all across the country, feeding this great nation, helping the economy! We can increase our industries tenfold, and make the United States the industrial capital of the world!"

The crowd of reporters and onlookers cheered as I exclaimed this with emphasis on the betterment for our nation.

"Mr. Flynn, what about the Indians that currently populate the land?"
My smile lost a bit of its glamour at the thought of pushing the Indians out of their lands. I didn't believe it to be necessary, but people in high places thought they were standing in the way of progress. I didn't want to think about it.

"I am not sure. America had clashed with the Native Americans before, and it did not end well. For them, anyway. I am focused on the rail, and I'll leave other obstacles to the government, because if I know America, I know they'll do what is best."

"Mr. Flynn, when will this marvel of American Industrialism be complete?"

"Do you know when we will do something crazy like put a man on the moon?"

Laughter surged through the crowd as I regained my composure and flashed one of my jokes about progress.

"Mr. Flynn…"

The questions dragged on and on and on. I would have gladly answered them all, but I have a schedule to keep. I made my way to my horse-drawn carriage, and my green-haired brother silently waited for me there, smiling at my success.

"I know, Ferb. I can't wait for all this to take place! And, me being an off-the-charts engineer, I will have a big part in the construction of one of the world's longest railroad tracks! Revolutionary!"

Ferb gave his signature thumbs up. The carriage driver was humming a tune that I found quite catchy, so I hummed along to My Country Tis of Thee. This coach driver is apparently very virtuoso, and when he noticed me humming along, he began to sing.

My Country Tis of Thee

Sweet Land of Liberty

Of thee I sing.

I sang along to the beat of the clop-clop of the horse's hooves beneath our feet.

Land of the pilgrim's pride

Land where my fathers died

From ev'ry mountain side!
Let freedom ring!

"You've got yourself a fine singin' voice there, lad," said the coach.

"Thanks, mister. I take it you're an Irish immigrant?" I asked.

"Yep. I got to say, your country ain't as amazing as they advertised, but definitely better than being so cooped up in Europe," said the coach.

"Boy I'll say. It's amazing knowing that we don't know everything that's out West yet," I replied.

"Yeah. I remember that once, I took a trip to Britain, and the country's so darn small that I almost memorized the bloody place by the 2nd week!" said the coachman with a laugh. I chuckled along with him, and Ferb, the silent one, gave an amused smile.

"Well here, the country is so large is that colonization begun two centuries ago and we still don't know everything there is to know about America!" I replied. The coachman gave a hearty laugh, and Ferb couldn't help but suppress a mild chuckle.

"You're the brain behind the Transcontinental Rail, right, lad?" the coachman asked.

"Yep. They might have other people designing the thing, but I may have manipulated those three companies by tipping them all off about the idea. Then I gave them a rough sketch. However, I am a man of humbleness, so when they offered me half their life savings for the idea, I politely said, 'nope!'" I replied.

"Speaking o' which, aren't you a little young to be taking a part in the Transcontinental Railroad?" asked the coachman.

"Yes. Yes we are," I said with pride. I am just 16 years old, and my brother Ferb is 17. We were young inventors from the start, but we never wanted to take full credit for our ideas. Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Robert Fulton owe us a lot, though.

"We? Who's we?" asked the coachman, and as he looked back, he spotted Ferb for the first time, "Oh my. Your brother is a man of few words."

"Heh heh. Yeah. Wanna sing some other song?" I asked.

"Great idea, lad. How 'bout another national song?"

"The Star Spangled Banner!"

"Why not?"

The coachman and I began to sing the first words to the national anthem, a wonderful song that represented the nation as a great one. The song came from a poem made by someone who witnessed the battle of Fort McKinley during the American Revolution. It was patriotic and just plain beautiful for the ears to hear.

O Say, can you see

From the Dawn's early light,

The horse-drawn carriage drove into a wonderful sunset view at the top of a hill. The scene was breathtaking; I reveled at how beautiful this country was.

From the ramparts we watched

Were so gallantly streaming

The yellow sun drifted into the horizon, still shining brightly, like streams of heaven coming down from the sky.

And the rocket's red glare

The bombs bursting in air

The beautiful sunlight slowly began to fade into a spectacular display of orange and yellow, like explosions, rockets, and bombs, yet still so beautiful is at melted into the skyline.

Gave proof to the night

That our flag was still there…

I could see the city of Philadelphia in the distance, shining behind the brilliant rays of the sun. Philadelphia's Liberty Bell could be seen, while an American flag was hung nearby.

Oh say does that Star-Spangled

Banner Yet Wave!

We drew closer and closer, and trees enveloped us. The sun sank more and more into the horizon.

For the land of the free!

And the home of the brave!

The sun finally settled down into the horizon, ending a beautiful sunset. All was quiet, Ferb, the coachman and I were simply enjoying the countryside. We came upon the City of Philadelphia, PI, where I lived. The town was peaceful at night, and a Union soldier saluted the carriage as we passed their iconic Liberty Bell.

There is no way no one can't be enjoying this beautiful day, I thought as we came to our destination, 0104 Summerside Drive, Philadelphia, PI, 12345, a nice little apartment building tucked between the other rows of apartment buildings. Although they were all shades of brown and other dark colors and were somewhat unkempt, this place was my home. I was able to buy it because even though I rejected most company's offers to reward me, some gave me a ton of cash anyway. I didn't want to be too extravagant, so I bought a little place in a nice little community.

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!

The words of that song drifted into my mind.

"Here's you're stop, lad. Now, you have a nice day. Wow. The journey to Philadelphia from Harrisburg seems a lot shorter than normal. I remember this sayin' from an old ancient Roman text, 'Carpe Diem,' seize the day. You do just tha', friends," said the coachman kindly.

"Consider today seized!" I said with a smile. Ferb and I disembarked the coach, and paid the toll, with a handsome tip, as well. We entered our little apartment building. In the atrium, Jeremy was waiting for them.

"Hey guys! How were today's endeavors?" he asked.

"Good! Say, shouldn't you be operating the Slushy Dog stand at Liberty Bell?" I asked.

"I should be, but my boss has 'temporarily' closed down the stand to buy a share in the transcontinental railroad they're building. I'm looking for a new job," he explained.

"You can operate a small Slushy Dog stand on this lot," I suggested, "And I'll pay you a good salary, even though there won't be too many people going through the Summerside Motel," I said.

"That's actually a great idea! I'll go by city hall and see if I can get permits," said Jeremy, and then he was off.

Ferb and I walked over to the stairs, and he and I walked up 4 flights of stairs to the 5th floor, where our rooms were. Like almost all city buildings, on the outside, the walls seemed very crumbly and unmaintained, but on the inside, there were elegant furnishings and a nice, large atrium decorated with a small fountain. Even I sometimes wonder at how the atrium fit in this tiny 5-story building, but not too much.

When we made it to the top rooms, the one reporter in Pennsylvania who wasn't at my announcement at Harrisburg, our big sister, Candace Flynn, was waiting for us.

"Hey Phineas! Hey Ferb! How's your day?" she asked sweetly.

"Really good! I take it you're going to do an exclusive interview?" I asked.

"Phineas, I'm a reporter. Of course that's going to happen," she said with an air of authority.

"Well, you will have to wait a bit. I kind of got bogged down by the 50 something reporters at Harrisburg. And the several hundred people in the crowd. And about 20 of those newly-invented cameras," I said.

"Wow. Journalism and media are really getting more popular. But I need this scoop, Phineas!" she pleaded.

"At least wait until the next morning. I want to get some sleep," I said with a yawn.

"Oh alright. I'm going to go downstairs and see if I can type up something interesting for the Morning Post," she said, defeated.

"Goodnight, Candace," I said.

"Goodnight, Mr. inventor. Mom and Dad would have been proud," she said.

"Yes. Yes they would have," I replied, a tiny tear lodged in my eye.

Ferb held my shoulder, and I smiled. Lawrence Fletcher and Linda Flynn had disappeared one day while they were taking a trip to Yellowstone National Park. One of the marvels of national beauty, yes, but while on their nature trip, they ended up in between an Indian War; Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce had come trampling through the park, trying to reach freedom. My parents had been caught in the crossfire between Indian warriors and the US military. We were later told they died of their injuries. I was only about 13 then. That event seemed to have sparked my brain. All of a sudden, I could understand fundamentals of science that others hadn't even invented yet. A tragedy has high highs and low lows.

I fell into my lavish bed, which was specially crafted by carpenters to look like a raft. It represented exploration. That was my motto, exploring the unknown; prodding at the unseen, and trying to find out the mystery behind a scientific theory. I started to drift away from this world, into my dream world. Just before I blacked out entirely, I could swear I saw the two poor, frightened blue eyes of an Indian girl.


Historical Notes

-While attempting to escape to Canada, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce fled through Yellowstone National Park. Although the Chief wanted to go through as peacefully as possible, some of his vengeful men disagreed, and a few of the unlucky campers were injured. In this story, Linda and Lawrence were one of the most unlucky. Ultimately, Chief Joseph failed to reach Canada, even though he was but a few miles from the border when he surrendered.

-The Homestead Act of 1862 gave land to anyone who was willing to work it for 5 years. All they had to do was work the land for said amount of time, and then pay about 10 dollars for legal paperwork, and the land was theirs. What the government didn't think about very much were the Indians that already lived on the land they were giving away. Natives were driven even further west.

-Danville hadn't been built yet. I'm pretty sure the term "Tri-State Area" hadn't been invented yet. I try to be as historically accurate as possible.


Where's Perry?

Where's Doctor Doofenshmirtz?

How will the Indian Isabella and the entrepreneur/inventor Phineas meet?

How will the Transcontinental Railroad end under Phineas's supervision?

Why am I listing questions you might ask me?

The answer to all of these questions is: (Drum roll please...)

Yes. (Muahahahahahahahaha!)