Abstract
The excitement and interest which the pioneers of Nineteenth Century America inspire in us is in pro-portion to their willingness to gamble, and their ability to win. The colloquial definition of the noun "gamble" is "a transaction involving risk." If one accepts this definition, Edward Creighton's career had all the needed attributes to rank him among those to be idolized by successive generations of his countrymen. The primary subject of this thesis engaged in, endless transactions involving risk-and, without the benefit of an aristocratic background, or anything that could seriously be considered formal education, succeeded in making vast sums of money. His work-hardened hands, the furrows in his yet youthful brow and the squint lines about his eyes bespoke the outdoor toil which won his fortune. That toll to a greater or lesser extent helped insure the success of every major venture of the mid-Nineteenth. Century pertinent to the development into thriving states of the territories west of the Missouri River.