The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 changed the west forever. It connected the cities of the east with California and brought an influx of emigrants to California. Many of the emigrants were good hardworking people looking for a better life and they built businesses and offered services, but the railroad also brought some that were interested in only in taking what others had worked to achieve. It was several of the latter people that would bring trouble to the California ranch and change many lives forever.