The Bozeman courier., December 31, 1926, Page PAGE ELEVEN, Image 11

About The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
When Henry Villard Brought theNorthern Pacific
Railroad Eastward and Westward across Montana
in 1881, 1882 and 1883.
RAILS
Driving the "Golden
Spike " at Gold Creek, September 8,1883, Marked the Opening of State's Era of Development
111
(By J)AN R. CONWAY)
IN THREE PARTS—PART TWO
;
•1C
kit
/
a.
3,
\
I
g-1
re
i,
V
s
Mi
«
"They loved their work—the Mountain
Men—they hud great tasks to do
In tearing down the rugged bills and
moulding them anew.
In rearing cities on the slopes,
laying gleaming rails
.Where once the painted Indian rode
along the lonely trails.
In tnrning rivers from their course to
multiply the yield
Of tasselled corn or golden wheat from
many a league-wide field.
and
— James J. Montague.
T ia educational and profitable, as
well, that a state popularize its
history: for, that commonwealth
which exploits in a proper manner,
its own annals, enjoys the advantages
of creating a pride within its popu
lation: it retains its citizenry and at
tracts new citizens. Montana is ex
ceedingly fortunate
. in the light of na
tural resources. To
exploit this material
greatness is no long
er considered im
proper, but to ex
ploit the greatness
of Montana's hu
man interest is by
far more appropri
ate. The natural re
sources of Montana
constitute a great
asset, but greater is
the historical heri
tage of Montana's
people, which em
bodies the stabilizing forces of prece
dent, instilling a well poised pride,
creating an unfertile soil for the de
magogue's appeal.
I
.
I
i0 m
Dan K. ( mi way
The Empire Builders
It is well that we emphasize, even
in the columns of our newspapers,
the accomplishments of the pioneer
of Montana, whether he be trapper,
trader, miner, cowboy, merchant,
politician or railroad magnate. Pos
terity can well be guided by the prec
edents which have been set, if pos
terity is reminded of these prece
dents, teaching them the value and beauty
of industry ; inciting them to excel in the
labors which have brought such rewards
to the people of Montana within a half a
century after the era of progress was intro
duced. Material things pass; the best of
steel will wear away ; the inscriptions on
iron are effaced by rust; decay destroys
wood; even stone wiil crumble and decom
pose, but the »«ago of history once placed
in print is handed down from one eddy
to another on the stream of time, for the
benefit and guidance of a progressive
citizenry.
The story of Montana reveals nothing
more significant or more vital to the state's
general development, or establishing a
greater precedent than the coming of the
"Steel Rails."
The Northern Pacific
Because it was the first railroad to tra
verse Montana from its eastern to its west
ern borders, me completion of the North
ern Pacific's transcontinental line in 188:»,
constitutes the most significant
plishuieut in the railroad annals of this
commonwealth.
Like all other pioneer institutions, the
principal difficulty to be overcome in the
construction of the Northern Pacific rail
road was the almost insuperable financial
obstacle.
such a thing as capital in any great quan
tity did not exist. Thus the promoters
were forced to resort to numerous exped
ients and suggestions. Real capital came
from the cast through bond sales. Cities
and communities along the projected line
aided in land subsidies. The government
gave large land grants. The greatest obsta
cle. however, was the securing of ready
cash capital from a timid and apathetic
east.
accom
In the new western country.
The Company Chartered
The Northern Pacific was organized and
received its charter from the federal gov
ernment in 1864. at the time the Union Pa
cific and Central Pacific were being built
across the central west. It has already been
explained how this northern route was the
first contemplated transcontinental route,
and whv it was' not chosen as the course
to be followed by the first Pacific line.
The oldest of all projects for the open
ing of a rail line to the Pacific coast, the
Northern Pacific idea dates back to 1835.
Ten years following this, Asa Whitney, a
New York merchant urged a plan for
building a rail line from the head of lake
Michigan to the mouth of the Columbia.
He asked congress for a land grant 60
miles in width along the entire proposed
route. Congress finally favored the build
ing of the first transcontinetal line along
a central route ending at San Francisco.
Josiah Perham
The man who succeeded in getting the
charter for the Northern Pacific was Jo
siah Perham who had organized a company
under the sanction of the Legislature of
Maine, called the People's Pacific Rail
road company. He had endeavored to se
cure the charter of the central and first
line for this company but failed. Then he
turned his attention to the Northern route,
and by promising to ask for no subsidy in
bonds' or money from the government, he
obtained in 1864, a charter coupled with a
land grant Just double in area that given
to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific.
The Northern Pacific land grant embraces
the alternate sections of land for 20 miles
on each side of the road In the states and
40 miles in what were then territories, with
an additional ten miles on each side as an
indemnity limit within which lands might
be selected to compensate for those taken
by settlers inside the original grant. The
total area of this was 31,058,331 acres.
Perham tried vainly to obtain capital for
his project and after two years of effort,
turned the charter over to a company
composed of New England capitalists and
eastern railroad men, with J. Gregory
Smith as president. This new organiza
tion endeavored to obtain further aid from
but met with no response to their
congress , ^ .
memorial In 1869, however, amendment to
the charter were procured permitting the
company to mortgage Its road and lands,
and a contract was made wfth Jay Cooke
Si Co., of Philadelphia, to sell the bonds.
In a period of two years, this firm disposed
of over $30.000,000 of Northern Pacific
bonds bearing 7 per cent interest.
Construction Started
With this money construction was start
ed in the spring of 1870, and by the fall of
1878 the road had been completed from Du
luth at the head of lake Supertor to Bis
marck, on tbs Missouri river ln Dakotah
Territory, and from Kalama on the Colum
bia river to Tacoma on Puget Sound, a
total of about 600 miles.
The Panic of Seventy-Three
Construction was forced to a temporary
conclusion at these points because of the
great financial panic of 1873 which pros
trated the house of Jay Cooke & Co., and
stopped the sale of bonds. This rendered
the Northern Pacific insolvent and it was
thrown into bankruptcy* Then, with the
assent of the bondholders, they reorganized
the company free from debt by converting
the outstanding bonds into preferred stock.
In 1875 a reorganization was perfected
with Charles B. Wright as president. In
1STÎ9 Mr. Wright for reasons of health, re
signed and was succeeded by Frederick Bil
lings (after whom the city of Billings, Mon
tana was named). By this time the com
pany had regained its credit and work
was started on the extensions eastward and
westward. This made possible success
ful negotiations with a syndicate of New
York bankers.
Henry Villard
It was in 1881 that Henry Villard, who
had previously become interested in rail
road projects in Kansas and Oregon,
representing large financial interests,
gained control of the line. Villard became
president of the road and his friend and
associate, Thomas F. Oakes was elected
vice president.
Mr. Villard was a German by birth who
came to this country at the age of eighteen,
and who won considerable reputation as
a newspaper correspondent during and af
ter the Civil war.
Under Villard and Oakes, work on both
ends of the Northern Pacific was prose
cuted with great vigor during the years
18S1, 1882 and 1883. until the ends of the
"steel rails" advancing eastward and west
ward,, met near the summit of the Rocky
mountains in western Montana Territory.
Effort Made to Get Subsidy from State
Efforts to push the work of construction
of this road through Montana were not
without effort on the part of the promoters
to force subsidies from the Montana Terri
torial legislature. In 1878, the promoters of
the railroad had managed to complete their
line as far as Bismarck, and Mr. Villard
and his associates who were extending the
line east and west made an effort to secure
from the territory of Montana $3.000,000 in
consideration of the extension of the line
across this territory. The plan was well
exploited by the railroad people, but it
never found favor with the people of Mon
tana. and Villard's request was never seri
ously considered.
Some of the troubles these railroads
brought upon themselves were due not so
much to the lack of coveted subsidies, but
rather to the arrant misconduct of those
who were in the construction rings. The
Northern Pacific was operated for years
over long stretches of lines in Montana
which were hopelessly distant from the
state's center of traffic and tonnage. That
the road ultimately went into bankruptcy
was not strange; rather the wonder that
it was able so long to keep its chin above
the waters of disaster.
As for the state government, it had no
obligations and was not even remotely re
lated to the fortunes, good or 111, of the
railroad's treasury. There was a good
sized controversy of public moment, how
ever, that was kept up for a long time. It
involved the state's title to the mineral
domain. During several years this was a
rather lively issue. Ultimately it reached
the supreme court at Washington. The
state won and thenceforth there were no
quarrels over railroads in Montana.
Driving the "Golden Spike"
The last rail of the Northern Pacific rail
road was laid with impressive ceremonies
on the afternoon of September 8, 1883.
There Is, perhaps, no event in the annals
of Montana over which so much and so
bitter dispute has arisen than this driving
of the "golden spike" at Gold Creek, M. T.
Some contemporary writers aver that the
Northern Pacific to Spend One
Million Dollars on Improvements
In Addition to Extension Program
A road ballasting program which calls
for the expenditure of $700,000 in Mon
tana, installation of an automatic signal
system, which means an expenditure of
$200.000 more for labor and supplies,
within a short distance of Butte, and the
introduction of 12 of the largest moun
tain type locomotives in the world to
run through Butte are a few of the things
promised by the Northern Pacific rail
way, according to F. E. Williamson, vice
president in charge of operations.
"We already have an automatic signal
system between St. Paul and the coast,"
Mr. Williamson said, "but the areas be
tween Logan and Whitehall and between
Butte and Silver Bow are not included. We
now propose to install the block signal
system between the places mentioned.
"We have laid out a ballasting program
which will cover 800,000 yards of tracks—
over 400 miles—and which calls for an ex
penditure of $1,400,000, of which sum about
$700,000 will be spent in Montana.
Twelve Huge Locomotives
"We have likewise arranged for the de
livery of 12 mountain type locomotives,
which are the largest of their kind in the
world. The first of these locomotives was
delivered Dec. 13 by the American Locomo
tive company. They will run between Mis
soula and Livingston.
"These new engines measure 103 feet
inches over all. The engine and tender
weigh 720,000 pounds. They are equipped
with locomotive booster and their trac
tion effort is 70,000 pounds.
"The tender of these monsters will hold
24 tons of coal and 15,000 gallons of water.
The new locomotives will require new turn
tables. The present turntables have a capa
city for handling engines up to 85 feet.
city up
is very heavy." favorably impressed by the country which
dency of the railroad, whereupon Vice
INDIANS WATCHING THE CON
STRUCTION CREWS MAKE A ROAD
FOR "THE BAD MEDICINE WAGON"
ACROSS THE REDMAN'S DOMAIN.
V
/
I
/
r /j
f
ft A#
rh
c
ti
m
/•.
-,
WM
T(7*\
W
irir'
a //
mm
0
>• *
m
■
mj'
r
&****=■
di
%
mm
7
I
mm
'i «
7,
milk
m
iWm&t.
tL.Jjiiii Æj/'rw
y/>
Ik
Hi
w ,
7
'J
iahlTûw/Si/,!
m
(!
irf? A -
a
m
ïi
- A
t
h
f'ii
(I
'ji
V
.V.
'All
l
/
ijl'i
%
S>
'I
kk
m
Wa
m
it :
rfA
V
« i
II
m
à
*
(jÄM'
Um
I
/
;/
i!
v* * flfij i • i
tàrMw^mà] HWA
1 0
Uu
kU\
»
<3*
mm
How the Proposed
In 1927 , WiU Open Up
Cony of the application of the Montana
Eastern Railway company, owned by the
Great Northern Railway company, of the
application for a certificate of conveni
ence and necessity filed with the Inter
state commerce commission for the pro
posed extension of the New Rockford
Lewistown cut-off In Dawson and Me
Cone counties has been received by the
Montana railroad commission.
The application states that the exten
sion will be built along a survey made
and located in 1912 and the accompanying
map of the proposed extension shows that
it will start at Ulchey and extend a dis
tance of 33 miles, to Circle. The line runs
southwesterly from Richey for a consider
able distance southeast of the Redwater
river crossing that river about the center
of township 20 north, range 49 east, and
continuing on the north side of the river
to Circle.
,
N. P, Files Request
At the same time the railroad commis
sion received copies o fthe two applications
of the Northern Pacific Railway company
snike was of "cold"- others that it was of
plain iron. Many contend that the spike
was driven by General Grant; others that
" e —• * Vm " rd as the
honored man.
Leeson's Account
Considering all of these contentions, I
much prefer to give full credence to the
writings of Mr. M. A. Leeson whose History
of Montana was written and published in
1885 just two years following this epochal
eevnt.
Mr. Leeson says;
"The 'golden spike' was driven on the
afternoon of September 8, 1883, at a point
between Garrison and Gold Creek by Henry
Villard. Thre hundred men with brawny
arms quickly laid the iron and- drove the
spikes on the 1,000 feet of uncompleted
track, except the last spike. During the
progress of the w'ork which was witnessed
by the foreigners with amazement, the band
played and the people shouted. When near
ly completed a cannon salute was fired by
the detachment of the Fifth Infantry pres
ent. The last rail was attached to a West
ern Union wire running into the branch
office at No. 8, Broad street, New York,
and when President Villard was driving the
'golden spike' the blows of his silver
sledgehammer were repeated in that city
on the telegraph instrument. * * * The last
spike was finally driven home by H. C.
Davis, assistant general passenger agent
of the road, who drove the first spike on
the opening of the road, and this spike was
the same one first driven by him. The end
was reached as the sun was setting behind
the mountains. Representatives of the Am
erican people from Atlantic to the Pacific
met there that day."
It is my belief that many of the conten
tions relative to this event are true in some
degree. Mr Leeson states that the spike
was driven by Villard and that it was fin
ally driven home by Mr. Davis. It is easy
to 'understand that perhaps several of the
dignitaries had a share in the honors, and
that General Grant did wield the sledge, in
his turn (the contentions of Oswald Garri
son Villard, notwithstanding).
So far as the spike itself is concerned, It
matters little whether It was silver, gold,
or iron. Whatever its substance, it
across
copper
linked the span of the "steel rails
the continent from Pacific to Atlantic and
along the northern route. I am, however,
inclined to believe that the spike was an
iron one. The term "golden spike" has be
come common through the years when ref
erence is made to the completion of a rail
The new turntables will have a length of
115 feet. This calls for an additional ex
penditure.
"While our present rails are capable of
meeting the requirements of this increased
burden, we are planning heâvier steel at
many points—the substitution's of 100
pouud rails for 90 pounds. We also plan a
number o fnew bridges. Then there is our
regular maintenance program, all of which
calls for a large outlay of money."
All this. Mr. Williamson said, is addi
tional to the $4,000,000 building program
into the Red Water country and into the
Bitter Root.
"We have filed with the Interstate Com
merce Commission a request for a permit
to build these extensions," he said, "but
until that body approves of the request we
can not discuss it. The commission has
been asked to permit us to build 25 miles
into the Bitter Root fro
Hamilton and to abandon ân equal amount
of trackage on the west side. We have also
asked for permission to build to Circle. We
are hoping that both requests will be
granted. Surveyors are already at work on
the Red Water extension.
6
Florence to
"Work on our ballasting and general
maintenance program will commence on the
Pacific coast about Feb. 1 and will con
tinue eastward as rapidly as weather con
ditions will 'permit."
Montana, Mr. Williamson said, is making
a good showing from the shipping stand
point. "Butte business over the Northern
Pacific has been very good," he said.
The shipping business of the road, Mr.
Williamson said, had suffered somewhat
through the failure of the small grain
crops in, Minnesota and Dakota. "But,"
he added, "our Christmas passenger traffic
Extensions for Construction
Productive Territory
Afor certificates of convenience and necessity
in the matter of its two proposed branch
unes.
The application and map of the proposed
line to Circle and Brockway shows that
the branch will be started at Glendive and
will run in a northwesterly direction along
Spring and Hay creeks north of the town
of Lindsay and south of the town of Mink,
crossing the divide between the Yellowstone
and the Missouri rivers, thence to the Bed
water river at Circle and thence up the
river to the town of Brockway, a total
«3 miles.
Will Abandon 23 Miles
As to the proposed change in the Bitter
Root valley branch, the application states
it to be the intention to abandon the pres
ent line on the west side of the Bitter Root
river beween Florence and Hamilton, a dis
tance of 25.77 miles, now passing through
the towns of Woodside and Victor, and
build a new line on the east side of the
river between Florence and Hamilton, di
rectly serving the towns of Stevensville and
Corvallis.
line, and it may have thus been merely
newspaper term applied to the occasion,
Hon W. M. Evarts was orator of the day
srsawrc: wrÄssLfa
gathered from miles around to see and
hear. One writer says that the General
SÜ
x : ;
-ï;
■
M
■
-
:V;
X
...
:
Wi
<:■
m
V
....
-
:£v
m
M
W
#;
< o :
&£>■;
V:
x*
>
-,
X
«
vS
f
$:
■y.*
If ' . ;>s .•<:
W:'
ftv
M
i
m
:
:<nP:§
911
.
$
m
m
mi
V
IS.
\
I
THE FIRST NORTHERN TRANSCONTINENTAL TRAIN, as it appeared a the "spike driving" ceremonies
at Gold Creek, M. T., on the afternoon of September 8. 1883. Mr. Villard is shown standing on the engine in the foreground.
V
*rr- • j p'ia wy qg g
Li
-
, • ■* f
..Xi-,
4 «
-
•>
'
-
■ -, ■
-•
•*;
"
I
>
i
j
j
säj
m
..
-
T
k \
-
■
>
£
w
SrsssI
m
.
■
m
■
yi
f
: »
•4
tigiife
I:./®
xß
v~
THE BOZEMAN PASS TUNNEL—At its western entrance. This tunnel is 3,600 feet long and for years has been consid
ered one of the very remarkable pieces of railroad engineering. It is located on the main line between Livingston and Bozeman.
gponded with one of his characteristic
speeches. He did not speak long but he
said a great deal and bis audience thor
oughly appreciated what he said,
When Mr. Villard succeeded in rounding
up herd of counts and barons—they
were continually missing trains and getting
j en route—the tour of inspection was
resumed. Mr. Villard had much to show
his guests. They represented the German
capital that he had interested in the road
and It was Important that they should be
the new railroad traversed. There were all
sorts of side jaunts arranged for their edi
fication. Many western Montanans will re
call the ascent of Mount Mconald in the
Mission range. Mr. Villard bad built a
wagon roac well up this famous peak, and
he took his guests up there on the Flat
head Indian reservation.
Mr. Villard Withdraws
The extraordinary decline in the market
value of railroad securities which began in
the fall of 183 prevented a full realization
of the plans formed by Mr. Villard, and
he resigned the presidency of the Northern
Pacific, and also of the Oregon aRilway &
Navigation company and the Oregon &
Trans-continental company, so there was
no longer a community of interests between
those companies. Later the Union Pacific
leased the entire system of the Oregon
Railway & Navigation company. Villard
was succeeded as president by Robert
Harris, and the general management of
the road was undertaken by \ ive-Prcsldeut
Thomas F. Oakes.
The Northern Pacific proceeded with
great energy to build its short line up the
Yakima valley, from Pasco, at the junction
of the Collumbia and Snake rivers, and
across the Cascade mountains to Tacoma
in order to secure access to tidewater with
out 'bein gdependont on the line of the
Oregon Railway & Navigation company.
The new road was opened to travel in the
summer of 1887, using a*highgrade switch
back line across the Stampede Pass of the
Cascade mountains pending the completion
of a great tunnel, two miles in length.
The switchback was a daring piece of
engineering skill and was successfully op
erated for nearly a year without accident.
a
In the summer of 1888 the tunnel was
pierced and one of the finest mountain
roads in America, from both an engineer
ing and a picturesque point of view, was
completed.
Villard Comes Back
In 1887 Henry Villard returned to the
directorate of the Northern Pacific, hav
ing fully recovered his former financial
strength and acting as the representative
of a very large amount of German capital.
In 1888 he declined election to the presi
President Oakes was chosen president and
general manager.
At this time the main line of the North
ern Pacific extended as at present through
Helena, and Butte was reached only by a
branch known as the Montana Union rail
road from Garrison to Butte, a distance of
51 miles. However .another branch line was
then under construction from the station at
Gallatin, at the Three Forks of the Mis
souri, to Butte, the two branches being
subsequently connected in Butte and de
veloped into a secondary main line through
that great copper camp.
And so it was until the coast was
j
I
1 reached, and when it was all over, so the
; story goes, the German counts and barons
1 telegraphed home orders to sell all thetr
j Northern Pacific stock,
I Space does not permit a tracing of the
l vicissitudes of the Northern Pacific
throughout the recent years. It is suffic
ient to here state that the line todav is one
of the very best pieces of railroad prop
erty in the West, or the nation; despite
the skepticism of Henry Vlllard's cotorle
of German counts and barons. The de
velopments that have come to Montana be
cause of its institution are almost incom
prehensible; the cities, towns and commun
ities which owe their very being to the
line are numerous.
Then, let it be said and let it be appreci
ated in these later days of prosperity, that,
in spite of his alleged peculiarities, this
commonwealth, called Montana, owes mach
to this same Henry Villard and the assoc
iates who worked with him in bringing
about the completion of Montana's first
transcontinetal railroad—the Northern Pa
cific
Improvements and extensions which date
back over the past three Éecades have car
ried the rails of the Northern Pacific rail
road to remote communities, until tod$y.
it has many branches and feeders tapping
resourceful territories.
Two new extension*^ have been announc
ed during the. past few weeks, work upon
which has already been inaugurated. O
of these will enter virgin and productive
territorv in eastern Montana, while the
ne
other will wend its way up the Bitter Root
river in the western part of the state.
New Towns t ! !
Apropos of the building of this road and
its effect upon the settlement of the central
belt of Montana from east to west, the fol
lowing story Is told as related by a loco
motive engineer:
"One day 1 was driving my engine over
the prairie at the rate of forty miles an
hour, without a bouse in sight, and sup
posing the nearest town to be thirty miles*
distant. But a» I glanced ahead 1 was
astonished to see that I was approaching
a large city. I rubbed my eyes, thinking
it was a mira
'Jim,' says
place?'
ge.
I to
the fireman, 'what's this
'Blamed If I know !' says Jim, staring
out of the cab. 'I declare, If there ain't
a new town growed up here since we went
over the line yesterday !*
"I believe you are right, Jim. Ring the
bell or we shall run over somebody!"
'So I slowed up, and we pulled Into a
depot, where more'n five hundred people
were waiting to see the first train come
into the place. The conductor learned the
name of the town, put it down on the
schedule, and we went on.
'Jim,' says I, as we pulled out, 'keep
your eyes open for new towns. First thing
you know we'll be running by some
strange place.'
'That's so!' says Jim. 'An' hadn't we
better git one of the brakemen to watch
out on the rear platform for towns that
spring up after the engine gets by?"
Travels in Covered Wagon
An odyssey of today recently ended when
James Moore, formerly of Poplar, reached
Malta, having traveled 1,170 miles in a
covered wagon with" five horses, from
where he bad been living for the last
eight years in the northern Peace river
country. Mr. Moore, who is 62 years old.
has other travels to his credit,
to Canada from England more
years ago. and lived Id Um province of
Ontario until 28 years ago when he
emigrated to Montana, settling first at
MX*dak, and later at Poplar.
I than W »