Frank Norris based his 1901 novel The Octopus (A Story of California) on the Mussel Slough Tragedy of 1880, a bloody conflict between ranchers and agents of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The central issue was over the ownership of the ranches, which the farmers had leased from the railroad nearly ten years earlier with intentions of eventually purchasing the land. Although originally priced at $2.50 to $5 per acre, the railroad eventually opened the land for sale at prices adjusted for land improvements; the railroad’s attempts to take possession of the land led the ranchers to defend themselves as depicted in the book. (Summary by Wikipedia and Delmar H. Dolbier)
Chapters
1 Book I, Chapter I, Part 1 28 min 2 Book I, Chapter I, Part 2 32 min 3 Book I, Chapter I, Part 3 17 min 4 Book I, Chapter I, Part 4 27 min 5 Book I, Chapter 2, Part 1 22 min 6 Book I, Chapter 2, Part 2 22 min 7 Book I, Chapter 2, Part 3 23 min 8 Book I, Chapter 2, Part 4 18 min 9 Book I, Chapter 3, Part 1 17 min 10 Book I, Chapter 3, Part 2 20 min 11 Book I, Chapter 3, Part 3 20 min 12 Book I, Chapter 4, Part 1 25 min 13 Book I, Chapter 4, Part 2 27 min 14 Book I, Chapter 4, Part 3 22 min 15 Book I, Chapter 5, Part 1 23 min 16 Book I, Chapter 5, Part 2 21 min 17 Book I, Chapter 5, Part 3 20 min 18 Book I, Chapter 5, Part 4 19 min 19 Book I, Chapter 5, Part 5 23 min 20 Book I, Chapter 6, Part 1 28 min 21 Book I, Chapter 6, Part 2 22 min 22 Book I, Chapter 6, Part 3 24 min 23 Book I, Chapter 6, Part 4 21 min 24 Book I, Chapter 6, Part 5 24 min 25 Book I, Chapter 6, Part 6 24 min 26 Book II, Chapter 1, Part 1 19 min 27 Book II, Chapter 1, Part 2 19 min 28 Book II, Chapter 1, Part 3 20 min 29 Book II, Chapter 1, Part 4 21 min 30 Book II, Chapter 2, Part 1 19 min 31 Book II, Chapter 2, Part 2 19 min 32 Book II, Chapter 2, Part 3 17 min 33 Book II, Chapter 2, Part 4 18 min 34 Book II, Chapter 2, Part 5 20 min 35 Book II, Chapter 3, Part 1 16 min 36 Book II, Chapter 3, Part 2 18 min 37 Book II, Chapter 3, Part 3 18 min 38 Book II, Chapter 4, Part 1 20 min 39 Book II, Chapter 4, Part 2 18 min 40 Book II, Chapter 4, Part 3 16 min 41 Book II, Chapter 4, Part 4 17 min 42 Book II, Chapter 4, Part 5 19 min 43 Book II, Chapter 4, Part 6 19 min 44 Book II, Chapter 5, Part 1 20 min 45 Book II, Chapter 5, Part 2 19 min 46 Book II, Chapter 5, Part 3 16 min 47 Book II, Chapter 5, Part 4 18 min 48 Book II, Chapter 6, Part 1 16 min 49 Book II, Chapter 6, Part 2 17 min 50 Book II, Chapter 6, Part 3 16 min 51 Book II, Chapter 6, Part 4 16 min 52 Book II, Chapter 7, Part 1 18 min 53 Book II, Chapter 7, Part 2 19 min 54 Book II, Chapter 7, Part 3 21 min 55 Book II, Chapter 7, Part 4 21 min 56 Book II, Chapter 8, Part 1 19 min 57 Book II, Chapter 8, Part 2 16 min 58 Book II, Chapter 8, Part 3 16 min 59 Book II, Chapter 8, Part 4 18 min 60 Book II, Chapter 8, Part 5 15 min 61 Book II, Chapter 8, Part 6 24 min 62 Book II, Chapter 9, Part 1 16 min 63 Book II, Chapter 9, Part 2 17 min 64 Book II, Chapter 9, Part 3 20 min 65 Book II, Chapter 9, Part 4 15 min 66 Conclusion 11 min
