Just Call Me Leland Stanford

Last night some friends and I got together for a game night extravaganza! The only game we played (because it is extremely time consuming) was Monopoly. I was so excited even before I started because I was able to be the little locomotive game piece! But then, to continue with the fun, I was the first to land on a Railroad, which I promptly purchased. I was able to land on and aquire 3 of the 4 railroads and then I traded Rach for the other one. I had a railroad monopoly! If you know anything about railroading history in California you would know that there were 4 men, known as the "Big 4" who owned the Central Pacific Railroad. Anyway, the president of the CP was Leland Stanford, who was also a governor of California and whose family founded Stanford University. So, in essence, I became Leland Stanford last night. Or the East Coast/New Jersey alternative. It was some good ol' stuff. I made lots of money but it wasn't very fulfilling. Monopoly breeds discontent. But for a game night extravaganza we still had fun!

These are the namesakes of the gameboard railroads:

And a political cartoon made about the "Big 4" and the railroads in California: