We Suffered Much: Charles Wood Irish and the Dakota Territory Railroad Survey of 1879-1881

Surveyor Charles Wood Irish had a job to do: chart a path for the Chicago & North Western Railroad, beginning in Tracy, Minnesota, and heading toward gold-rich Deadwood in the Dakota Territory. But roaming the prairies was an unpleasant endeavor. "We suffered much" was Irish's not-uncommon refrain.

Artfully drawn from diaries, letters, and contemporary newspapers, We Suffered Much chronicles Charles Wood Irish's two-year odyssey through the Dakota Territory. It's a tale of ordinary work and ...