The Bozeman courier., January 07, 1927, Page PAGE ELEVEN, Image 11

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

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
STEEL RAILS
James J. Hill, the "Empire Builder '— How a Farm
Lad Forged His Way to Leadership in Transpor
tation Development. How the Great Northern
Record Rate of Three and One-Half Miles a Day
*
Montana at the
Railway was Pushed Across
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(By DAN R. CONWAY)
IN THREE PARTS—PART THREE
EOGRAPHICALLY, Montana is
old—very old. Historically, the
Treasure state is young—very
young. The settlement of Montana
has gone forward in leaps and
bounds. In the days
immediately follow,
ing the era of the
argonaut, along the
projecting tongue
of civilization—the
G
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trails, new paths,
and finally those
gleaming "steel
rails." the American
frontiersmen, driv
en by unrest, moved
a score or more of
times in a single
They
t.
generation,
came—the pioneers
—from here, from
Dan R. Conway there, from
corner of the earth, rolling like long
waves, following the lines of least
resistance. This was the irresistible
advance of civilization which brought
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THE RED RIVER CARTS which were the vehicles of transportation utilized by
James J. Hill in his first business
with it the plow, the mowing ma
chine, the harrow, the binder and
all those other things which worked
together to transform the prairies
and valleys which had been wrested
from the native redman, into gard
ens, fields and meadows.
As has been true of the history of
the nation, Montana's advance from
the primitive to developed in
dustry and agriculture, has been co
ordinate with the development of
transportation facilities. Thousands
of the noble pioneers came West ov
er the old prairie schooner trails in
the sixties; but, tens and hundreds
of thousands came when the "steel
rails" had so magically shortened
the seemingly endless miles.
The ('hanging Scene
Out along the routes of these arteries of
the nation's life, and even ahead of, the
"steel rails, new towns sprang up on the
plains and in the valleys; towns with shin
ing painted houses, churches and schools—
things hitherto unheard of in this coun
try. The frontier posts faded away. With
ali of this, the doctors, lawyers, mer
chants, and all the accessories and neces
saries, swept into the settlements. The
color of the frontier became less pictur
esque. Yet, it was well, for a homeless race
was being provided with a peaceful and
promising habitation, and the interests of
American democracy were being advanc
V
ed.
All of this followed closely in the wake
of perfected transportation methods,
coming of the "steel rails" transformed
the wilderness to a garden spot.
"steel rails" made history. The story of
any development generally discloses some
outstanding figure—some man who set
out to do the impossible and by accom
plishing his purpose, opened the eyes of an
entire world. In railroad annals, this man
was James J. "Jim" Hill. In the seventies
and eighties when this indomitable spirit
was planning and building the Great North
ern, his many ideas and plans were scoff
ed at by the nation's most eminent engin
eers. Yet "Jim" Hill did the very "im
possible things", things his heart was set
upon. And, as a result, today, Northern
Montana is a developed empire, rich in the
fruits of agricultural and Industrial enter
The
The
Welcoming the "Steel Ralls"
The scene Is the southern bank of the
great Missouri river, and the time is the
afternoon of October 12, 1887. Here, on the
town's waterfront there t
sembled the few hundred inhabitants of
the community to greet the "steel rails.
They greeted the first line with loud ac
claim. The local editor. In his issue of
that day had voiced the community s re
joicing over "Jim" Hill's solution to their
problem of transportation. Surely it was
a welcome sight to the man who handled
the throttle of the first locomotive to en
ter G*reat Falls. The Great Northern had
bridged the gap from Minot to the Falls of
the Missouri, on Its long trail to Helena
and Butte.
were as
James J. Hill
Astor and his contemporaries were the
first giants of commerce who visioned and
appreciated the unlimited possibilities that
lay in the development of the great North
west. It was Astor and those who pat
terned his enterprise, who opened a great
highway of travel to Montana through the
of the steamboats and the Missouri
river. The • prime motive for this early
day development was the fur trade. And,
it was at the time when this mammoth
Northwestern traffic in furs was on he
threshold of its greatest accomplishments
that James J. Hill was born at the village
of Rockford, September 16, 1838.
Space does not permit the complete life
story of this "empire builder"; yet, It Is
a career with which every Montana youth
should be familiar, for it is filled with lu
stration for any lad who wishes to succeed.
At the age of five years, the boy—James
Hill—trudged through deep snow and un
derbrush a distance of two and one-half
miles to school, and as soon as he bad made
his letters, he developed an avaricious hab
it of reading. He read everything in print
that came to hands.
Ob the rough farm of hi» father, be was
use
*
afforded opportunity of receiving all kinds
of exercise, and the variety of scenery
about him kept his imagination busy.
Hence, he came to maturity strong of body
and keen of mind, with a well-founded dqr
termination to do something really worth
while.
While at the Rockford Academy, young
Hill met some lads from the Red River
country, who stirred him by their stories
of the wonderful possibilities of that re
gion. ît was at this school that Hill con
tinued to be trained in the studies which
make character. Especially was the boy
appealed to by the life of Napoleon Bona
parte; and. Judging from the chronicles of
Hill's biographers, it is not too much to
say that ne was driven to his empire
building by the influence of the great em
peror's life. With such an education, with
which was blended an ideal peaceful farm
home life, the career of James J. Hill was
largely determined before he left the par
ental roof.
Leaves Home at Fourteen
At the age of 14 years, Hill left home, se
curing employment with Robert Passmore,
a Scotchman. After four years of this ser
vice had passed, much the same as others
of whom we read with delight, he severed
completely the home ties, left all of his old
friends and headed for the "unknown."
The first journey took the boy to east
ern cities and then back to the then small
center, called Chicago. Here he remained
but a short time, for the call of the North
west which his boyhood Academy friends
had described, was hard upon him. Fired
with a purpose and ambition, a stalwart
young man, keen of mind, and prepared
for aay task that his career might set be
fore him, he arrived at the village of St.
Paul, Minnesota, in 1856.
St. Paul in 1859
In 1856 St. Paul was a small Mississippi
river village, peopled by an itinerant and
motley population. During the steamboat
season, it was a lively little center, for
through it passed most of the supplies for
the Red River country, and to it came all
who desired to search out the country whe
ther for gain or for pleasure. On the oth
er hand, during the winter months it was
a dull and desolate place, much similar to
our inland Alaska towns of modern times.
enterprise
However, St. Paul, In 1856, spoke "prom
ise" In loud tones to young Hill, for he
saw it situated on the edge of a wilder
ness possessing the rawness of things wait
ing to be done. At the same time, this
village gave to the young man a living
without his having to ask anyone for help.
The chief industry of St. Paul in those
days, was transportation. Consequently
the boy was soon employed in a warehouse
checking incoming freight In five years.
MONTANA TODAY DS JUSTIFYIN6 FIFTY
YEAR-OLD FBE01OTM ©F JAÜ
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of
(By RALPH BODD, President of the
Great Northern Railway Company).
Montana's greatest present need Is de
velopment of agricultural production and
natural resources, and of its transporta
tion system, the most important factor
In the development of any region which is
dependent upon distant markets.
A half century ago Moutana had a popu
lation of only 145,000, or one person to the
square mile, and gold and silver from its
mines constituted the principal products.
Notwithstanding the fact that agriculture
bad not then, to any appreciable extent,
been attempted, the late James J. Hill pre
dicted that the value of agricultural pro
ducts of Montana would soon exceed the
output from its mineral resources, which
phophecy was realized before the beginning
of the last decade, when the Increased pop
ulation had brought about the transfer of
title of 30,000.000 acres of public land to
residents of the state. The present popula
tion of Montana is 700,000, or about 4.7
persons to the square mile.
In accordance with his plan of the early
80s, to extend his line into Montana, Mr.
Hill completed building to Great Falls and
Helena in 1887, and reached Butte in 1888.
Five years later, the Great Northern reach
ed the Pacific coast, providing transporta
tion facilities for products of the territary
it traversed, to western as well as eastern
markets.
Shortly afterward branch lines were con
structed to the coal and ore fields, and in
1901 a line was completed to Flathead lake,
thereby opening up an immense lumbering
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THE FIRST RAILROAD TRAIN TO REACH GREAT FALLS—This is n photograph of the crowd of enthusiastic citizen«
who participated in the exercises akin to the arrival of the first train at the Electric City on the afternoon of October IS, 1M7.
G. Babcock of Great Fall».
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JAMES J. "JIM" HILL—The Indomitable "Empire Builder" whose faith and
enterprise made for him a leading place In railroad circles, and resulted, as well, in
Montana's second transcontinental railroad line—the Great Northern.
for on account of an injured eye, he was
not able to Join bis companions on the
battlefield, he was able to save from his
earnings, sufficient capital with which to
enter business for himself, his business
was the combined fuel and transportation
trade, conducted laboriously by means of
the famous Red River carts pulled by ox
en or ponies.
The Red River Carts
Creaking over the great tall grass prairie,
from Pembina in the Red River valley,
these carts took to St. Paul great piles
of fur that had been secured by the Hud
son's Bay trappers, and on the return trip
took the goods of civilization—goods which
had been brought from the East by the
river steamers which also furnished the
settlements with coal, and which were
themselves supplied by Hill with wood for
their boilers. Here was good profit to be
made in both the overland and the river
trade.
district, from which in the year 1925, ap
proximately 30,000,000 feet of lumber and
23,000,000 feet of railroad ties were shipped.
A narrow gauge railroad, extending from
Sweetgrass on the international boundary,
to Great Falls, was purchased in 1903, and
immediately broad-gauged, thereby furn
ishing a more direct route between the
Pacific coast and central Montana. In 1908,
the line was completed to Mossmain, near
Billings, to connect with the Chicago, Burl
ington & Quincy, affording communication
with the southwest territory by a much
shorter route. The building of additional
extensions was continued until the World
war, when economic conditions prevented
further outlay. At that time, the Great
Northern had
1,750 miles of railway iq the state of Mon
tana.
constructed approximately
The story o fthe growth of railways in
Montana to 1925 is illustrated by the fol
lowing tabulation, showing the increase in
mileage of the Great Northern and the total
of all roads in the state -
Miles Built To'l Miles T'l Miles
(Î N All Roads
1687
2 196
1 036 3 029
l '462 4 249
1744 b 188
1*744 5.064
Construction was resumed in 1925, when
the 50-mile extension from Scobey to Op
heim was built to meet the needs of the
farmers of that region, enabling them to
Railway Growth
G. N.
...502
Year
1887 __
1890
502
. 89
591
1900
445
.426
1910
..282
1020
1925
However, the promise of the future lured
the young Hill through all these years. He
had become as one who lived in tomorrow
while he performed the tasks of today. As
soon as the opportunity arrived, he explor
ed the Red River valley—that land of his
dreams—traveling by dog train in the win
ter of 1870 from St. Cloud, at that time,
the treminus of the St. Paul & Pacific
railroad.
Meets Donald Smith
At St. Cloud, Hill met a young man who
seemed as ambitious as himself, his was
Donald Smith (afterward known as Lord
Stratchona). Smith saw in Hill a fellow
spirit for a great adventure in finance that
he proposed to take. And, from the day
when James Hill met Donald Smith, until
the day of the "empire builder's" death,
James J. Hill was a leading citizen of the
Great Northwest.
The St. Paul & Pacific railroad had,
market their product more cheaply. That
the need was real and urgent is proved by
an increase of over 4,000,000 bushels of
grain in the 1926 crop from newly cultivat
ed land tributary to the 50-mile line be
tween Scobey and Opheim.
An illustration of the benefit accruing
to farmers by the new extension is shown
by the lower rates on grain and farm pro
ducts. While the cost of transporting
wheat from Opheim to Glasgow or Scobey,
by truck, was 25 cents a bushel, the rate
on the new line from Opheim is but 1%
cents a bushel more than from Scobey, and
3 cents more than from Glasgow. Farmers
are thereby enabled to develop their land
profitably, increasing the volume of busi
pess of the community and affording great
er wealth production to the state.
Drawing a line east and west across Mon
tana, cutting the state in two, there will be
found north of that line 23 counies, served
exclusively by the Great Northern,
* n territory are two-fifths of the rail
road mileage of the state, and more than
one-half the total number of farms. There
? re almost 17,000 000 acres of land in farms.
le8S than one-third of which is under cul
tivation. There are, in addition, 28,000,000
acres not listed in farms.
The foregoing illustrates the relatively
&nj all extent to which Montana's agricultur
al resources have been developed.
„ With the present development along the
® r * at Northern railway as a basis of com
Parlson, an estimate may be made of the
annual production to be expected from un
(Continuée on Agricultural Pago)
through a reorganizatioa, become the
St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba. The
bonds of the company were held by in
vestors in Holland. When It was clear
that the road was not paying dividends.
Smith and Hill recognized their opportun
ity to buy the property cheaply. Accord
ingly, an agent was sent to Holland to
negotiate with the bondholders and the
business world was startled by the an
nouncement of the organization of the
Great Northern railroad company with
Hill as president and Smith and bis Can
adian associates strongly backing the pro
ject. And, jt was this road which consti
tuted the highway over which the Napoleon
of the Northwest rode to conquest.
From the moment of its organization,
there was scarcely a doubt of the ulti
mate success of the Great Northern rail
way, for its president was a man of de
termination and vision, not a mere busi
ness man seeking fortune alone. He saw
beyond the struggle of the Dakota farmers,
the empire of wheat and corn; he saw the
eventual evolution of the Montana plains
from a cattle range to the fields of di
versified agriculture. He forced everyone
to believe in transportation as the vital
stimulous to sound development; he made
his position notable among all „railroad
officials because of the hope, the outlook
and the foresight which characterized his
every movement. When James J. Hill saw
agricultural efforts failing in sections along
the route of his road, he instituted within
his business scientific, research and ex
perimental departments through which he
demonstrated the importance of intensive
farming.
Laying Rails at 3% Miles a Day
How the Great Northern, then known as
the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Rail
road company, was built through Montana
at the rate of three and one-fourth miles a
day, was related in "The Life of James J.
Hill," by Joseph Gilpin Pyle.
In one particular article entitled "James
J. Hill's Rules of Business Success," the
biographer draws a strung contrast be
tween the methods employed in the exten
sion of the Great Northern and its rival,
the Northern Pacific. The Northern Pa
cific, although it had behind it men of in
ternational reputation, and although it
had received enormous grunts and subsi
dies of public lands, was almost continu
ally in financial difficulties, whereas the
Great Northern was fortified by a big
treasure chest and never failed to make a
profit although it had received practically
no aid from the government.
Northern Pacific First to Come
The Northern Pacific was the first trans
continental line to enter and cross Mon
tana, but the Great Northern was not many
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THE WILLIAM CROOKS— First locomotive to carry a train over what Is now
The Great Northern system.
»
years in following, and when it came, it
came with a rush.
"Without a moments' rest," writes Mr.
Pyle, "went on the preparations for the
westward march. No matter how pressing
matters were at home for Mr. Hill, he was
always gathering and storing in that won
derful memory of his every fact which
could be of service in the projected exten
sion of his system to the Pacific. Still hard
ly more than warm in his seat of power,
this letter written November 24, 1880, to
Paris Gibson, years afterward to become
United States senator from Montana, is elo
quent of Mr. Hill's plans and methods:
" 'It will give me great pleasure to see
you during the coming winter and to hear
from you a description of northern and
western Montana. If it is not too much
trouble you can get me a description of
the country lying ai the foot of the moun
tains between the Missouri river and lati
tude 49, for a distance of one to three hun
dred miles and as far east as you can get
information; also the number of cattle now
in the Sun River, Teton and Marias River
valleys, and any other information that
you think will aid me.'
Through N. P. Line Completed
The through line of the rival Northern
1 Pacific was completed by 1883, by the
driving of the last spike in western Mon
tana. Here was real trauscontinetal op
eration, while as yet the Manitoba (as
Hill's road was still called) was but part
way across the country. • * •
"In January, 1886, the Montana Central
Railroad company was organized, osten
sibly to connect the new town of Great
Falls, built at a water power from which
big things were hoped, with Helena, Butte,
and elsewhere in the country. The Mon
tana Central was, to all intents and pur
poses, James J. Hill. It was organized to
occupy the Montana field until the Mani
toba should be ready for the rush west
ward from Minot which was to break the
world's record for railroad building. When
the next year, ihat rush came, the same
contractors who bad made a record in the
building of the Canadian Pacific were em
ployed here. Mr. Hill knew what could
done, and exacted it mercilessly. Not only
grading, but bridging was done ahead
the track layers, so that the rails were shot
out and spiked down with amazing ra
pidity. Mr. D. C. Shephard, the chief con
tractor, has preserved in a memoir, a con
cise description of this performance as
engineering feat:
" 'In the year 1887 our firm constructed
1,175 miles of railroad, of which the
markably rapid construction of the
Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway
from Minot to Helena formed a part. The
track laying on this great work was com
menced five miles west of Minot, April
1st, and was completed to Helena Novem
ber 18, 1887, a distance of 643 miles and at
an average rate for each working day of
three and one-fourth miles.'
Building Method First Consideration
"A year later Mr. Hill reports upon the
performance of the completed work. As al
ways, the method of building, with rela
tion to operation, comes first in his
thought. 'Reference has heretofore been
made to the exceptional character of this
exception of eighteen miles of temporary
lines as to grades and curvature. With the
line the maximum is 3L7 feet to the mile,
and on about 400 miles of the 560 from Mi
not to Great Falls the maximum is only 21
feet to the mile.' In like manner he notes
that the line from Helena to Butte is laid
with steel rails of seventy-five pounds per
yard section, and white oak ties have been
laid on al Ithe curves. He built for per
manence, bat he also built to carry busi
ness."
Railroad Statistics for
Montana *
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Mileage in 181»
Mileage in 1894
Mileage in 1907
Mileage in 1909
Mileage In 1926
ployee.
«
- 2,73#
. 2,307
_ 4.342
_ 7,42«
.. 17,660
Total annnal cost fo labor and
$7*8,866.0(10
Total annual taxes paid...f 5,102.862
Extensions built or bntldlug In
the last two years.
Paris Gibson and "Jim" Hill
How the influence of this empire builder
reached out and into the building of •
Montana City, is briefly explained by the
late Senator Paris Gibson,
in his memoirs, stated ;
"The all-important object nefore me at
that time was to acquire title to the lands
required for the future city and to secure
the lauds along the river adjacent to the
several important water-power sites. A*
this step involved the expenditure of much
more money than I could command, I de
cided, after weighing the situation care
fully, to open communication with Jame»
J. Hill, whom I had known for many years
while living in Minneapolis and who had
recently acquired great wealth through the
purchase of the bankrupt St. Paul and
Pacific Railroad. Having decided upon this
step, without delay I opened correspon
dence with Mr. Hill, and during the sum
mer and early fall, I placed before him by
letter, much information as to the extent
au davailahility of the water-power as well
as to the coal and other useful minerals*
immediately tributary to it and, in Nov
ember 1882, 1 went to St. Paul where 1 at
once concluded an agreement with Mr. Hill,
whereby we were to become jointly inter
ested in the development of a city here,
at the head of the falls."
Hill's First Visit to Great Fails
And, the founder of Great Falls, also
adds :
"In June of this year, (1883) James J.
Hill came out from St. Paul to Helena
over the Northern Pacific Railway, which
had just been completed, and having been
met by Theodore Gibson he proceeded to
Great Falls by team, employing relays in
order to make the journey in the shortest
time possible. Arriving here on an early
morning in June, 1 met him at the ferry,
just below the mouth of Sun River, and
took him over the townsite, and then to
the several falls above the big falls, after
which I piloted him to one or two open
ings in the adjacent Sand Coulee coal fields.
Returning to my tent at the foot of the
Long Pool, we enjoyed a fine dinner pre
pared by John Woods. It was evident that
what Mr. Hill had seen during the day
had made a deep impression on bis mind
for, while standing on a spot about 50
feet away from my tent, this man of won
derful perception and of broad vision out
lined to me a plan for the extension of the
(Treat Northern Railway, (then called the
St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Rail
way), westward from the Red River valley
to Great Falls and assured me that this
great work would at once be undertaken
and would be pushed forward to comple
tion in a shorter time than any trunk road
on the continent had ever been built. This
great plan for railway extension seemed to
Mr. Gibson,
be
of
an
re
St.
proceed, fully matured, from the brain of
this remarkable man as we stood near the
head of the rapids that mark the beginning
of the falls of the Missouri."
A Humorous Incident at Fort Benton
Many stories have been told of Jame»
J. Hill, depicting incidents akin to bis
railroad building enterpirses. Most of these
praise the "empire builder; others curse
him; still others are of a humorous na
ture.
Despite the many yarns of Ole, his bull
and "Yim Hill", there are few persons who
"slipped things over" on "Jim" Hill, and,
a sthe history of a few Montana towns and
communities will well bear out, there are
few associations of individuals or commun
ities which bear the distinction of having
gone "one better" than the great railroad
magnate. It is a fact, however, that the
little river town, Fort Benton DID "slip
one over on "Jim" Hill.
It was during the building of the Great
Northern railway from Havre that Fort
Benton made Mr. Hill do a thing be very
much did not want to do—and Fort Ben
ton made him do it and like it.
The story was told a few years ago by
John Farrell who was an official of the
Oregon, Washington Railway and Naviga
tion company. Mr. Farrell was in charge
of various departments of construction
work when the line was being rushed to
Great Falls and Helena. The narrative here
referred to Is best told in Mr, Farrel's own
words :
"I was in charge of a construction gang
and train that was 'dressing' the road-bed
and laying rails from Havre to Helena. We
had reached a point near Fort Benton when
we learned that Mr. Hill and a party of
officials were to arrive within the next two
days. These men were making a general
inspection tour of the work and were go
ing on to Helena. They were coming by
train as far as Fort Benton and from there
would drive through to Helena.
"I gave out the news and immediately
the people of Fort Benton arranged a big
'banquet-breakfast' I suppose you would
call it. The arrangements for this big
party were going on finely and Mr. Hill
was informed that he would be royally
entertained in Fort Benton. He wired me
confidentially that be woud not stop in
Fort Benton at all and would expect me
to have outfits ready to start in the morn
ing as soon as the train arrived.
Couldn't Hire a Rig
"We who were on the job knew that the
'banquet- breakfast' might not be alto
gether a love feast, because Fort Benton
did not relish the Idea of the railroad be
ing built so far from the then mail, part
of the town. Mr. Hill must have 'gotten
wind' of this and the result—his decision
to go right through to Helena.
*T bad nothing to do but obey orders.
When I received Mr. Hill's wire I began
making arrangements for his trip to Hel
ena without the Port Benton stopover.
* "I went to the largest livery stable in
town and asked for teams and drivers for
a trip to Helena, the outfits to be ready
at eight o'clock next morning, the time
scheduled for the arrival of Mr. Hill and
party. To my dismay, I was told that all
the outfits had been engaged and my order
could not be taken or filled. I went to an
other stable. 1 got the same answer.
Nothing Doing Anywhere
"All day I went from place to place try
ing to get those teams. I went to the farm
ers near the city. Same answer.. Nowhere,
for love or money—I had increased the
price offered generally charged in my now
almost frantic efforts to carry out Mr.
Hill's orders—but 1 couldn't get the teams.
Somone had tipped' Mr. Hill's hand. The
whole town and the farming community
near it was a combination in restraint of
trade as far as Mr. Hill and his party were
concerned.
I was 'stumped.' I had done all possible
but had to admit defeat. When Mr. Hill's
train arrived, the whole town was at the
little shack station platform to meet him.
He asked for his outfit to go on to Helena
—then asked for me. 1 explained as best
I could. After some discussion, very dis
tasteful discussion to me, Mr. Hill laughed
and proved himself a 'good sport.' He took
his party to the 'banquet-breakfast' and
Immediately after the people of Fort Ben
ton had finished with him. he found bet
ter outfits awaiting him at the door than>
1 could have hired. He and hla party were
then set down in
lord time for the
• •
In what was re-