Fans of historical adventures will enjoy my books, people who like to learn about and vicariously experience exciting periods of the past.

Tim Piper – 18 January 2025

The Back Flap

In 1872, six hundred miles between Bismarck and Bozeman remain to be surveyed for the Northern Pacific Railroad. But Sitting Bull is gathering strength to resist this incursion into the tribes’ hunting grounds.

Citizens and politicians question the need for the rail line and doubt that it can ever be guaranteed safe from Indian raids. But financier Jay Cooke is willing to risk his financial empire to build it.

When Cooke summons Jubilee Walker to his mansion and presents a proposition for completing the survey, Jubil finds it impossible to resist. But the stakes are high, both financially and personally. How much will Jubil risk to turn his adventure travel tours into a major business? Can he do it without losing the respect of the people he loves? And will he even survive the attempt to complete the survey?

About the book

What is the book about?

In this book, the third in the Jubilee Walker series, Jubil enters into a partnership with financier Jay Cooke to promote building the Northern Pacific Railroad, which proves to be highly risky for him both financially and personally.

When did you start writing the book?

I began doing research in 2021 and writing in 2022.

 How long did it take you to write it?

I had a final edited version by the end of 2023, but chose not to publish it yet as I continued to work on the series.

 Where did you get the idea from?

As I did research for the second book in my series, The Yellowstone Campaign, I learned of Jay Cooke’s support for the creation of the park. He hoped to create support for his efforts to build the Northern Pacific Railroad by enticing large numbers of tourists to visit the park.

The events surrounding the uncompleted railroad surveys through Sioux country, and the public opinion campaign to encourage funding of the construction effort, were too extensive to include in my second book. So, a third book in the series, The Northern Pacific Railroad, was born.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

The most difficult part of this book was creating a plausible premise for Jubil to become closely involved with Jay Cooke, and do so in a way that puts him at significant risk.

What came easily?

The historical events involved in the railroad surveys and the publicity campaign to solicit funding provided me with much of the framework for the book. My challenge was to use all that in a way that made it part of Jubil’s life story, not just a historical retelling to which I had added a fictional character.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

My protagonist, Jubil, and his family, the family of his fiancé, his business partners are all fictional and not modeled after anyone I know. The characters named in the railroad surveys are based on the historical figures who actually participated in the events described.

Do you have a target reader for this book?

Fans of historical adventures will enjoy my books, people who like to learn about and vicariously experience exciting periods of the past.

How was writing this book different from what you’d experienced writing previous books?

This book was somewhat easier to write because the arc of Jubil’s life has been established by the first two books, and I just had to continue his development.

What new things did you learn about writing, publishing, and/or yourself while writing and preparing this book for publication?

The decision not to begin publishing until the whole story arc was more fully developed has proven worthwhile. As I wrote each book, I returned to the one before and made revisions to tie the series together more effectively. I could not have done that if I had published each book as I finished.

End of Interview:

Get your copy of The Northern Pacific Railroad from Amazon US or Amazon UK.