The Swede says that out where they are, the Nebraska Territory, there wasn't any law yet. Which was true for the most part, in the Territories, especially the Indian Nations, that were not yet states and outside of towns with an appointed sheriff the only law enforcement with any authority was the United States Marshalls Service. Although as of 1865 the amount of land that were still territories was vast and Deputy US Marshalls were not plentiful, they were few and far between and encountering a Deputy Marshall in the Territories was unlikely, unless they were out on a manhunt. As such people often took the law into their own hands when dealing with criminals like horse thieves, murderers and rapists; vigilante justice was quite common and accepted in the Territories.
Cullen tells Durant it's no secret that the Union Pacific Railroad Company was getting paid $16,000 per mile by the United States government to build their portion of the transcontinental railroad, but first they had to build 40 miles of track by a certain date before they would get paid. The Union Pacific built a total of 1,085 miles of track, which equaled a total payment of $17,360,000; adjusting for inflation that would equal $309,632,960 in 2023.