Long ago, two railroad companies had a fight about a big ditch in the Rocky Mountains. The big ditch is in Colorado, and its name is the Royal Gorge.
It used to be that the only way to get to the silver mines near the top of the mountains was through the Royal Gorge. So the railroad companies began to fight to see which one would build its tracks through the gorge. They had quite a problem. The gorge is almost a quarter of a mile deep and the bottom is so narrow in some places that there seemed to be no room for anything but the river running through the gorge.
One company started building railroad tracks in the middle of the gorge. All the men and tools had to be lowered over the sides with ropes. Then the other company blockaded one end of the gorge. Both companies built forts and hired many cowboys and gunslingers.
During the day, the railroad crews worked to lay the tracks. At night, they rolled boulders down the sides of the gorge to smash each other's tracks. They dumped each other's tools in the river. They even used dynamite to wreck each other's work.
Finally, the owners of the two railroad companies met and talked things over. And one company agreed to sell its tracks so that the railroad could be finished.
If you ever visit Royal Gorge, you can get a good look at the railroad from the Royal Gorge Bridge. The Royal Gorge Bridge hangs across the top of the gorge and is the highest suspension bridge in the world, 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River.