The railroads changed nearly every aspect of life in the American West, but probably none was more welcomed -- and refreshing -- than gulping down a tall cool one in the local saloon.

Refrigerated rail cars and the science of pasteurization (which slows spoilage) combined to bring a steady flow of beer to the West. The St. Louis brewery of Anheuser-Busch is a case in point.

The entrepreneurial genius of Adolphus Busch led him "to combine advances in science and technology with the convenience and efficiency of the railroad to ship quality-brewed beer to the South, particularly Texas." Busch pioneered the use of refrigerated railroad cars to ship St. Louis beer to hot climates and keep it fresh. Busch introduced a beer called Budweiser in 1876.

Business boomed, and the small St. Louis brewer expanded during the 1870s and 1880s into a 400-acre manufacturing facility. Budweiser became a popular beer in the Pacific Northwest, where Anheuser-Busch purchased more and more hops used in the brewing process.

Hop growing in the Yakima Valley dated from 1872. But it did not amount to much until after the coming of a railroad in 1886. Soon the valley evolved from raising cattle and horses to growing hops, apples, and other fruits and grains. All of this was hauled by train to eastern markets.1

However, the rise of national brands and the advantages of a national market, led to disadvantages. Sellers and buyers alike became dependent on railroad power, which controlled both freight costs and car availability. The higher the freight rates, the less profit farmers made from their potatoes, beans, or wheat.

Shippers in the new territories and states of the West wanted the best of all possible worlds: benefits that came from railroad connections but also the personal freedom they formerly enjoyed in their geographical isolation. It was impossible to reconcile the two.