Big Mike Heney: Irish Prince of the Iron Trails

by Elizabeth Tower

Overview

Big Mike Heney, Irish Prince of the Iron Rails -- Michael James Heney had qualities that assured success on the western frontier at the turn of the century. Vision of the future prompted him to undertake projects shunned by less daring men. Although he lived only 45 years, he founded a city, (Cordova), amassed a fortune, and inspired a best selling novel (The Iron Trail). Without technical training, he built two railroads considered impossible by the leading engineers of his day (the White Pass and Yukon and the Copper River and Northwestern). A ready Irish smile drew people to him and they became his friends for life. Wherever "Big Mike" led, his workers followed, proud to be Heney's boys.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594330100
Publisher:	Publication Consultants
Publication date:	01/28/2005
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.20(d)

About the Author

Dr. Elizabeth A. Tower and her husband, John, both young physicians, moved to Anchorage in 1954. A 1951 graduate of Case-Western Reserve School of Medicine, Elizabeth worked 25 years for the Alaska Division of Public Health. After retiring in 1986, Dr. Tower began researching and writing about prominent people in Alaska history. She was named Historian of the Year by the Alaska State Historical Society in 1996 for Icebound Empire, a history of the founders of the Alaska Syndicate and the Kennecott Copper Company. She has also written short biographies of Stephen Birch, Sheldon Jackson, Austin E. "Cap" Lathrop, and William A Egan; a guide to skiing in Alaska; a history of Anchorage; and several prize-winning articles for Alaska History magazine.