wheat farmers in the San Joaquin Valley struggling against the rapacity of the all-powerful Pacific and Southwestern (i.e. Southern Pacific) Railroad. The company controls the local paper, the land, the legislature, and even the farmers' own representative on the state rate-fixing commission. An unremitting tale of greed and betrayal Crops such as cotto

The Octopus that Californians worked their land like the mines that had drawn them to the Golden State. They had come not to settle, but to get rich and to move on. Soil was meant to turn a profit, and, he predicted, "When at last, the land...would refuse to yield, they would invest their money in something else; by then, they would all have made fortunes.

The growth of the railroad was one of the most significant elements in American economic growth., in many ways, the railroads hurt small shippers and farmers Competition between rail companies necessitated some way to win business While the railroads felt that they must use this practice to make a profit, the farmers were justified in complaining, for they were seriously injured by it. A perfect example of this fact can be found in The Octopus by Frank Norris. A farmer named Dyke discovers that the r

Some common words found in the essay are:
Frank Norris, Pacific Railroad, , Octopus Californians, Joaquin Valley, Pacific Southwestern, shippers farmers, Robber Baron, rebates drawbacks, money supply, win business, farmers hurt, falling prices,
Approximate Word count = 582
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)