History of the Northern Pacific Railroad

Preface

WHEN the project of a railroad across the American Continent was first broached, and for many years after ward, the northern route, by way of the valleys of the Missouri and the Columbia rivers, was the only one thought of. This was the route explored by Lewis and Clarke in the first decade ofthe century. It was known to be a route through valleys and over plains for nearly its entire distance; it crossed the Rocky Mountain barriers at low altitudes ; it approached the Pacific by way of the greatest river of the western coast ; at its farthest limit lay the most capacious and beautiful deep water tidal estuary to be found on the continent. It avoided the deserts lying further south, and was believed to traverse the only continuously habitable belt of coun try stretching from the Mississippi to the Pacific coast.

Long before the epoch of rail transportation this route had been explored for military and commercial purposes by the United States Government. Very soon after the railway system was introduced in the United States — in deed as early as 1835 — it was advocated by Dr. Barlow. Between 1845 ancl it was pressed upon the attention of Congress and State Legislatures by the earnest, per sistent and self-sacrificing efforts of Asa Whitney. The ideas of Whitney were taken up in 1852 by one of the ablest of the world's great engineers, Edwin F. Johnson, and given practical form and value by the aid of his genius and technical skill. All this happened before any definite business plan had been formed for building the

PREFACE.

. IV road, and much of it long before any other route was discussed. The acquisition of territory from Mexico, following the war of 1846-8, the gold discoveries in California and the rush of population to that region, and later certain important political considerations resulting from the war of the Rebellion, caused the support of the government to be given to the middle route. Thus the first railroad completed to the Pacific terminated at the Bay of San Francisco, instead of at Puget Sound or the mouth ofthe Columbia River. The northern route was long neglected. Although a grant of land was made in its behalf two years after the two companies were chartered to build the mid dle line, one transcontinental highway appeared to be sufficient for the time; and the one which was supported with heavy subsidies of government bonds, and large land grants, and ran to the romantic shores of the Golden State, easily secured and monopolized public interest and confidence.

The northern project languished for want of support, and more than once came near being abandoned in despair by its few earnest advocates. After capital had finally been secured to begin work upon it, and its advantages had been fairly set before the public, the enterprise had to encounter fresh vicissitudes. It was overwhelmed in the financial crash of 1873, and struggled for many years after being rescued from bankruptcy to merely hold the unfinished lines it had built. Before it could regain the confidence of capital and push forward to a connection in the Rocky Mountains its widely separated "ends of track" a second Pacific road had been opened by the South ern route, built by California capitalists with wealth acquired from the generosity of the government toward the first line. Thus the Northern Pacific Railroad, though the first

PREFACE.

. V projected of three great transcontinental lines, is the last to be completed. Yet time has justified the wisdom of Thomas Jefferson in causing the route it fol lows to be explored as the best natural highway for com merce from ocean to ocean, and justified, too, the fore sight of Whitney and the engineering skill of Johnson in claiming in advance of its actual survey that it offered the best line for railroad construction and traffic. A history of the Northern Pacific enterprise should be something more than an account of the efforts of adventurous capitalists and energetic railway builders to open a great transportation line across the continent. It should be, in its beginning at least, the history of a national movement to find an outlet to the western sea. In this spirit I have endeavored to treat the subject.

No other railroad enterprise ever enlisted among its stockholders so numerous and widely scattered a constituency ; no other ever attracted for so long a period so large a share of public atten tion ; no other of considerable magnitude ever passed successfully through such vicissitudes and perils ; no other ever developed so vast an area of country adapted for the uses of civilized man, and I believe no other is destined to reap such great and lasting prosperity. E. V. S. New York, August, 1883. PAGE CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Early Explorations In The Northwest

Who First Reached the Head of Lake Superior — Grosellier and Redisson — Daniel Greysolon Du Luth — Meeting with Father Hennepin — Captain Jean Du Luth and his Trading Post — Baron Lahontan's Travels — Opening of the Fur Trade — Veranderie's Settlement on Red River — Jonathan Carver's Expedition — Alexander Mackenzie's Explorations — The Search for the Sources of the Mississippi — Expeditions of Long and Pike — Attempt of General Cass — Schoolcraft's Success 5

Chapter II. Discovery Of The Columbia River And Puget Sound

Tradition of the River of the West — Fictitious Spanish Claim of Discovery — Captain Gray and the Ship Columbia — Captain Kendrick's Discovery — Vancouver's Mistake— Gray Sails into the Columbia River— His Logbook Entry — Expedition of the British Brig Chatham — The Tale of ihe Greek Pilot Juan de Fuca — De Fonte's Pretended Discoveries — Vancouver's Explorations— Puget Sound Mapped and Named — Voyages of Lopez de Haro and Ehsa 12

Chapter III. The Lewis And Clarke Expedition

Thomas Jefferson's Efforts to Open a Route to the Pacific — Ledyard's Attempt Baffled — Captain Lewis' First Project — Congress Provides for an Exploration — Character of Lewis — Captain William Clarke — The Expedition Organized — Its Route, Adventures, and Arrival at CONTENTS. VIII FACE the Mouth of the Columbia— The Return Journey— Great Interest in the Results of the Expedition 2°

Chapter IV. Fur Traders

TRArPERS AND MISSIONARIES. The Hudson's Bay Company— The Northwest Fur Company— Annual Councils at the Grand Portage — The Mackinac Company — John Jacob Astor's Enterprise — Founding of Astoria — A Perilous March Across the Continent — Hudson's Bay Company Posts and Trails — Captain Bonneville's Expedition— Nathaniel J. Wyeth's Undertaking — The American Flag again Planted in Oregon — Bonneville's Two Journeys to the Columbia — Rev. Samuel Parker's Travels — His Zeal for Converting the Indians — His Prediction of a Pacific Railroad — Comments of the Knickerbocker Magazine 33

Chapter V

marcus Whitman's heroic ridh. Dr. Whitman's and Rev. II. H. Spalding go to Oregon with their Wives — Schemes of the Hudson's Bay- Company to Secure Oregon for Great Britain — Whitman's Daring Resolution — He Starts with A. L. Lovejoy for Washington — Perilous Winter Journey across the Mountains and Plains — Whitman's Appearance at the State Department — Oregon Saved to the United States — Whitman Leads the Missouri Emigration — His Tragic Death 46

Chapter VI. The First Pacific Railroad Advocate

Early Arguments in Favor of a Railroad to the Pacific Coast — Dr. Samuel Bancroft Barlow's Newspaper Articles — A Scheme for a Railroad from New York to the Mouth of the Columbia — Estimated Cost — The Government Urged to Undertake the Work — 5E5^fect on East India Trade CONTENTS. IX

Chapter VII. Asa Whitney's Project

PAGE Whitney's Early Career — He Ascends the Missouri — Study of a Short Route to China — His Scheme for a Railroad from Lake Michigan to the Mouth of the Columbia — Efforts in Washington — Favorable Resolutions Secured from State Legislatures — Whitney Mobbed in New York — A Friendly Reception in Philadelphia — Whitney's Bill Defeated — Another Unsuccessful Effort in 1S49 — Whitney dies Poor — The Chicago and St. Louis Conventions of 1S49 — George Wilkes' Project — Plans of J. Loughborough and Dr. Hartwell Carver 57

Chapter VIII. Edwin

F. JOHNSON'S EFFORTS. An Eminent Engineer Takes up the Pacific Railway Project — Edwin F. Johnson's Career — Early Advocacy of Railroad Transportation — Plan for Railroad from the Hudson to the Mississippi — Chief Engineer of the Erie Railway — At Work in Wisconsin — Articles in the Railroad Journal — Arguments in Favor of the Northern Route — Robert J. Walker and Jefferson Davis — Schemes of Southern Politicians — Johnson's Letters Republished — His Map and Profile 69

Chapter IX. The Government Surveys

Condition of Public Sentiment — Sectional Jealousy — Effect of the California Gold Discoveries — General Agreement that a Railway to the Pacific Coast Must Be Built — The Question of Routes — Five Lines Surveyed — Jefferson Davis Favors the Most Southern — Governor Stevens' Survey of the Northern Route — Thoroughness of his Work — Advantages of the Northern Route Fully Demonstrated — Stevens' Report — His Writings and Public Addresses in Favor of the Northern Pacific Railroad Project — His Death on the Battle-field CONTENTS. X

Chapter X. Futile Movements In Congress

PAGE Last of Asa Whitney's Project — California's Demand — The Northern Route almost Lost Sight of — Wm. H. Seward's Bill — Henry S. Foote's Southern Pacific Bill — Sectional Strife over the Question of Routes — The Bill of 1855 for Three Lines to the Pacific — Weller's Subsidy and Land Grant Bill of 1S56 — President Buchanan's Advocacy — A New Bill for a Single Central Line Changed to one for Three Lines, and Defeated in 1859 — Curtis's Single Route Bill of 1860 — The prototype of the Union and Central Pacific Railroad Legislation — The Northern Pacific Railroad named and Recognized by Congress in 1S61 — A Northern Pacific Company Organized in Washington Territory 88

Chapter XI. Josiah Perham's People's Pacific Railroad

Perham's Business Career — The "Father" ofthe Cheap Excursion System — Visions of a Railroad to the Pacific — A Current Misapprehension Corrected — Perham Not Originally in Favor of the Northern Route — The People's Pacific Railroad Company — Failure to Get a Charter in Massachusetts — Perham's Speech to a Boston Meeting — The Company Chartered by the Maine Legislature — Perham's Appeals to Congress for Aid — His Impracticable Plan of Raising Money by Small Stock Subscriptions 97

Chapter XII. The Union And Central Pacific Charter

Five Practicable Routes to the Pacific — Congress Prefers the Middle Route — Political Considerations — Threats of the Southern Element in California — The Union and Central Pacific Railroad Bill — Perham's Project left out — Fruitless Effort in the Senate for the Northern Route — Passage of the Bill — Its Generous Conditions — Profits of Construction — The Route Adopted Follows the Emigrant Trail Amendment of the Charter in 1864 — Condition of the Northern Belt in 1862 ioq CONTENTS. XI TAGE 125

Chapter XIII. Passage Of The Charier Act

Perham Transfers his Efforts to the Northern Project — Thaddeus Stevens Supports the People's Pacific Scheme — Defeat of the Bill in the House — A New Bill framed Creating the Northern Pacific Company — It Passes the House and Senate, and is Approved by President Lincoln — Its Principal Provisions — Perham's Impracticable Stock Subscription Plan — The Company Prohibited to Issue Bonds or Mortgage the Road — A Double Land Grant, but no other Government Aid 113

Chapter XIV. Organizing The Company

A Board of Commissioners — The Company a New England Concern — First Meeting ofthe Board — Perham's Speech — His Estimate of the Cost of the Northern Pacific Road — Exaggerated Notions as lo Ihe Value of the Land Grant — Subscription Books Opened — The Original Stockholders — First Board of Directors — Officers Elected 119

Chapter XV

A TRANSFER OF THE FRANCHISE. Mission of Colonel W. S. Rowland and Governor Frank Fuller to Boston — Fuller's Speech Before the Board of Trade — Hamilton A. Hill's Interest — Report of a Committee Indorsing the Northern Pacific Enterprise — An International Line Proposed — Co-operation of the Railroads from Boston to Canada Secured — Perham at Ihe End of His Resources — Transfer of the Charter — A New Organization Formed — Congress Looked to for Means to Build Ihe Road. . .

Chapter XVI. Appeals To Congress

J. Gregory Smith's Early Career — His Plan for Co-operation with the Canada Pacific Company — Movement for an Extension of Time — ■ Opposition in Congress to all Land Grant Railroads — Thaddeus Stevens' Assistance — Two More Years Allowed for Beginning Work — Effort to Secure Government Aid — A Discouraging Outlook — A CONTENTS. XII PAGE 141 Guaranty of Interest on Stock Asked— Defeat of the Guaranty Bill in the House — Attempt to Revive the Bill in the Senate — An Indirect Defeat by a Majority of One — A Blessing in Disguise 133

Chapter XVII. The Original Interests Agreement

Weakness of the Northern Pacific as a purely New England Enterprise — Governor Smith's Plan to Nationalize the Company — A Railroad Syndicate Proposed — William B. Ogden Agrees to Join it — The Original Interests Agreement Formed — Twelve Shares Provided for — Edwin F. Johnson Appointed Chief Engineer — Surveys Ordered.

Chapter XVIII. Surveying The Line

Chief Engineer Johnson's First Report — A Preliminary Location Made in 1867 — First Estimates of Cost — Two Surveys Across Minnesota — Choice of a Lake Harbor — -Routes Across the Cascade Mountains Examined — W. Milnor Roberts' Reconnoissance in 1869 — Gov. Marshall's Expedition to Ihe Upper Missouri — The Rocky Mountain Passes — Advantages of the Pend d'Oreille Route over the Clearwater Route — A Final Survey of the Bitter Root Mountains 148

Chapter XIX. Amendments To The Charter

Weary Waiting upon Congress — Various Schemesfor Obtaining Government Aid — Opposition to the Land Grant and Subsidy System — The Northern Pacific Company goes lo Sleep for Two Years — No Board Meetings from 1868 to 1870 — Congress Extends the Time for Beginning Work on the Road, and for Completing it — A Wise Change of Policy — Congress Authorizes the Issue of Bonds — Branch from Portland to Puget Sound Authorized i5q

Chapter XX. The Jay Cooke Contract

The Banking House of Jay Cooke eS: Co. — Mr. Cooke's Character as a Financier — His Contract with the Northern Pacific Company A CONTENTS. XIII PAGE Hard Bargain — Five Millions Furnished to Begin Construction in 1870— A Town Site Company Formed — A New Bill Passes Con gress Authorizing the Mortgaging of ihe Road and Land Grant — The Columbia River Line Made the Main Line to Tuget Sound — A Brisk Contest in both Houses — Jay Cooke's Plan for a Foreign Loan — The Bonds Finally Offered lo the American Public — Defects of the Financial Scheme 163

Chapter XXI. Sale Of The

7-30 BONDS. Jay Cooke & Co.'s Efforts to Popularize the 7-30 Loan — Extensive and Liberal Advertising — Favorable Opinions from Prominent Public Men— -Favorable Conditions for Selling the Bonds — Cooke's Branch House in London — The Bonds Largely Bought by People of Moderate Means — Truthfulness of Jay Cooke's Published Statements About the Northern Pacific Belt — Extracts from his Pamphlets 171

Chapter XXII. Condition Of The Northwest In

1S7O. Northern Minnesota a Wilderness — No Farms in the Red River Valley — The Country of the Savage Sioux — The Mining Settlements in Central Montana — Another Uninhabited Region Beyond — The Vigorous Settlements of Oregon and Puget Sound — Their Aid to the Railroad Enterprise — The Obstacles to be Surmounted — 2,000 Miles of Railway to be Built through a Wilderness 178

Chapter XXIII. Building The Road

Construction Work begun in 1S70 — Surveys in Minnesota — A Committee sent to the Pacific Coast — Purchase of St. Paul and Pacific- Stock — Duluth and Superior — Completion of the Minnesota Division — Work begun on the Line from the Columbia River to Puget Sound — Controlling Interest in Oregon Steam Navigation Company Bought — Scarcity of Funds in 1872 — President Smith Resigns — A Review of his Administration CONTENTS. XIV

Chapter XXIV. Presidency Of General Cass

PAGE A Parenthesis in the Affairs of the Company— General Cass's Education and Career in the Army, and in Business — He Builds Ihe First Iron Bridge in the Country — Establishes Ihe Adams Express Company- President of tfie Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad — Joins the Smith Syndicate to Acquire the Northern Pacific Franchise —Selecting a Site for a Terminal City on Puget Sound— Why Tacoma was Preferred — A Commission Appointed to Settle the Question — The Tacoma Land Company — General Cass's Speech to the Board — His Investment of Stock in Red River Valley Lands — The Cass-Cheney Farms — Features of his Administration 19a

Chapter XXV. The Panic Of

1873. An Unexpected Disaster — Suspension ofthe House of Jay Cooke & Co. — The Panic and its Results — Closing of the Stock Exchange — Suspension of Banks, Railroads, and Manufacturing Companies — Numerous Failures in all Parts of the Country — Prolonged Effects of Ihe Panic — Serious Shrinkage in Value — Many Branches of Industry Paralyzed — The Northern Pacific Railroad not the Cause of ihe Failure of Jay Cooke & Co. — Mr. Cooke Loses One Fortune and Makes Another 198

Chapter XXVI. Reorganization Of The Northern Pacific Company

A Period of Doubt and Despondency in the Affairs of the Company — Mileage Completed at the Time of the Panic — A Road Through Vacant Spaces — Falling off of Western Immigration — The Company in Desperate Straits — Its Rescue by a Sagacious Plan of Reorganization — The Bonds Converted into Preferred Stock — Bankruptcy Proceedings Begun by the Directors — Judge Shipman's Valuable Assistance — The Road and Franchise Sold to a Purchasing Committee of the Bondholders , CONTENTS. XV

Chapter XXVII. Charles

B. WRIGHT'S ADMINISTRATION. PAGE Charles B. Wright Elected President in 1874 — His Early Career in Business and Railroad Management — Chosen a Director ofthe Northern Pacific in 1870 — Chairman of ihe Finance Committee in 1872, and Vice-President in 1873 — Financial Straits of the Company after the Re-organization — Making the Road Pay Expenses — Construction Work Recommenced in 1S75, on the Pacific Coast — A Connection with St. Paul Secured — Renewed Activity in the Company's Affairs — The Missouri Division Loan — Construction Begun West of the Missouri River in 1S79 — Mr. Wright's Resignation — Complimentary Resolutions 211

Chapter XXVIII. Renewed Appeals To Congress

Unwillingness of Capitalists to Furnish Money for Completing the Northern Pacific Road — Preferred Stock Sells for 25 to 30 — The Directors make a Fresh Appeal to Congress in 1874 — 'Benj. F. Wade's Services — A Bill Guaranteeing Interest on the Company's Bonds — A Hopeless Effort from the Start — Public Opinion Strongly Opposed to Further Aid to Railroads — Failure of the Bill — Bills for an Extension of Time Pass the Senate but Fail in the House — The Company Determines to Rest on its Charter Rights— Validity of the Entire Land Grant Affirmed by Attorney-General Devens 2iq

Chapter XXIX. Presidency Of Frederick Billings

Mr. Billings' Birth and Education — He Becomes a California Pioneer of 1849— A Lawyer in San Francisco— His Early Interest in the Northern Pacific Project — Declines a Nomination for Congress — Returns to the East — Chosen a Northern Pacific Director in 1870 — Organizes the Land Department — Chairman of the Executive Committee — Elected President in 1879 — A General First Mortgage Executed — Agreement with a Syndicate of Bankers — The Bismarck Bridge — St. Paul Terminal Facilities — General Offices and Brainerd Shops — Mr. Billings' Resignation — Improved Condition of the Company CONTENTS. XVI PAGE

Chapter XXX. Temporary Presidency Of

A. H. BARNEY. Mr. Barney's Birth and Education — Visit to Michigan — Early Interest in Transportation Problems — Deputy Collector of the Port of Sacketts Harbor — The Patriot War — Engages in the Commission and Shipping Business at Cleveland and Buffalo — Organizes the United States Express Company — A Member of Several Railroad Purchasing Syndicates — Director and Treasurer of the Northern Pacific Railroad — His Connection with the Original Interests Agreement — Elected President in 1S81 to Fill a Temporary Vacancy — The Agreement with the Crow Indians 239 CHAPTER XXX5L HENRY VILLARD AS JOURNALIST AND RAILWAY MANAGER. Mr. Villard's Birth and Education in Germany — He Emigrates to the United Slates at the Age of 18 — Studies Law and Writes for the German Papers — Masters the English Language and Becomes a Journalist — Goes to the Pike's Peak Gold Mines — His Career as a War Correspondent from 1861 to 1864 — Secretary of the American Social Science Association — Visits to Europe — Returns to America to Represent German Bondholders of Defaulting Railroads — Receiver of the Kansas Pacific Railroad — President of the Oregon and California Railroad — Acquires Control of the Oregon Steamship Company and the Oregon Steam Navigation Company — Proposition to the Union Pacific Company — Organization of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company — Prosecution of Mr. Villard's General Transportation Plan 245

Chapter XXXII. Presidency Of Henry Villard

Relations of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company with ihe Northern Pacific — A Threatened Conflict of Interests — Traffic Contract Agreed Upon — Villard's plan to Acquire Control of the Northern Pacific— History of the Blind Pool — A Romance of Wall Street —Formation ofthe Oregon and Transcontinental Company — Its Objects — A Legal Controversy over an Issue of Northern Pacific Common Stock— Henry Villard Elected President of the Northern Pacific CONTENTS. XVII PAGE — Thomas F. Oakes Elected Vice-President — Important Financial Aid Afforded by the Oregon and Transcontinental — Building of Branch Lines 261

Chapter XXXIII. Biographical Sketches

W. Milnor Roberts' Career as an Engineer — His Early Connection with Railroads in the United States — Building a Railroad in Brazil — Chief Engineer of the Northern Pacific — His Death in Brazil — Samuel Wilkeson — His Career as a Journalist — His Connection with ihe Government War Loans — Elected Secretary of the Northern Pacific Company — The Senior Officer of the Company in Length of Service — Col. George Gray — Birth and Education in Ireland — Colonel of a Cavalry Regiment in the War for the Union — Becomes Attorney and General Counsel of the Northern Pacific Company— His Valuable Services — Thomas F. Oakes — A Practical Railroad Man from his Youth — His Connection with Railroads in Kansas — Manager of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company — Vice-President of the Northern Pacific — Active Operations in Building the Road 277

Chapter XXXIV. Relations Of The Northern Pacific With Other Companies

The Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad — Purchase ofa Half Interest in the Line from Duluth to Thomson Junction — Lease of the Entire Road,' with its Leased Lines — Lease Surrendered — The St. Paul and Pacific Company and the St. Paul and Pacific First Division — A Controlling Stock Interest Acquired by the Northern Pacific ■ — Retransfer of the First Division — Foreclosure and Sale of the St. Paul and Pacific — The St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Company Formed — The Western Railroad Company of Minnesota — The Northern Pacific, Fergus Falls and Black Hills Railroad Company — Its Stock Purchased by the Northern Pacific Company — The Casselton Branch — The Little Falls and Dakota Railroad Company — Other Branches — Arrangement with the Oregon and Transcontinental Company for the Building of Branch Lines CONTENTS. XVIII PAG;

Chapter XXXV. Eastern Cities And Lake Ports

A Defect in the Northern Pacific Charter — Lake Superior not the Proper Eastern Terminus — A Description of the Twin Cities of Minnesota — St. Paul the Older Place — Remarkable Recent Growth of Minneapolis — Business of the Two Cities — Picturesque Appearance of St. Paul — Minneapolis and the Falls of St. Anthony — Northern Pacific Offices and Terminal Facilities — The Bay of Superior-*-Ambition of Both Wisconsin and Minnesota to Possess a Commercial City at the Head of Lake Superior — Superior and Duluth — Why Duluth was Made the First Lake Terminus of the Northern Pacific- — The Strife About the Duluth Canal and Dike — Growth of Duluth — Prospects of Superior — Ashland a Third Northern Pacific Port 309

Chapter XXXVI. Northern Minnesota

Extensive Areas of Forest Land — Towns North of St. Paul — The Country Between Lake Superior and Brainerd — A Wide Stretch of Wilderness — Great Value of the Minnesota Timber Belt — The Lake and Park Region — Innumerable Lakes and Beautiful Groves — Detroit — Fergus Falls and its Water-power — The Great Valley of the Red River of the North — The Land of No. I Hard Wheat — Towns in the Valley — Breckenridge and Wahpeton — Fargo and Moorhead — The Natural Grain Belt of the Continent — Settlement of Northern Minnesota 321

Chapter XXXVII. North Dakota

Portion of Dakota lying North of ihe 46th Parallel— North Dakota a Vast, Rich, Alluvial Plain— The Red River Valley— The James, Sheyenne and Mouse Rivers — Devil's Lake — The Missouri and its Tributaries — The Coteaux— Fertile Regions West of the Missouri — Dakota's Railroad System— Chief Towns of North Dakota— Origin CONTENTS. XIX PAGE of Bismarck and Mandan — Climatic Peculiarities — A Dakota Win ter — Prairie Landscapes — The Charm of Vast Spaces and Wide Sweeps of Vision — Lignite Coal Fields — Singular Scenery of the Bad Lands — An Admirable Grazing Country 330

Chapter Xxxviii. Montana

Extent of Montana — A Larger Area than that of Great Britain and Ireland — Two Distinct Regions — The Plains and the Mountains — Vast Stretches of Treeless Country Covered with Bunch-Grass — Rich Irrigable Lands along the Rivers — Chief Towns of Eastern Montana — Indian Reservations — Western Montana, its Mountain Ranges and Fertile Valleys — Heavy Crops of Small Grains — Mining for Precious Metals still the Chief Industry — Coal and Iron Deposits — The Lumber Business — Principal Mountain Towns — Montana's Climate — Influence of the "Chinook Wind" — Some Peculiarities of Climate — Beautiful and Varied Scenery — A Land of Wonders and Surprises 341

Chapter XXXIX. Northern Idaho And Washington

Form of Idaho Territory — Lake Pend d'Oreille and its Forest — The Grain and Pasture Region of Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington — Other Arable Belts — The Big Bend and Yakima Country — Principal Towns — Western Washington — A Region of High Mountains, Dense Forests, and Deep Inlets of the Sea— Magnificent Snow Peaks — The Lumber Industry — Farming Districts in Narrow Valleys — Extensive Beds of Coal — Puget Sound Towns — The Columbia River Valley — Climatic Conditions 351

Chapter XL. Oregon

Oregon not a New Community — A Large Part of Its Surface still Unoccupied — The Donation Law — Beauty and Fertility of the Willamette Valley — An Agricultural Paradise — The Umpqua and Rogue River Valleys — Character of the Sea Coast Region — Coos and Yaquina Bays — Eastern Oregon — A High, Treeless, Bunch-Grass Plain — The CONTENTS. XX PAGE 381 Lake Country of Southern Oregon — The Umatilla Wheat Region — Grande Ronde and Wallowa Valleys — Other Arable Valleys — Wool Growing and Cattle Raising — Climatic Peculiarities — Valley of the Columbia — The Salmon Fishing and Canning Industries — Lumbering and Mining — Chief Towns — Oregon Scenery 361

Chapter XLI. Portland And The Puget Sound Ports

The Metropolis of the Pacific Northwest — Portland's Advantageous Location — Its Enterprise in Establishing Transportation Lines — The Railway System Centring in Portland — A Well-Built, Rich, and Beautiful City — Its Great Staple Export of Wheat — The Columbia River Bar — Predictions of a Greater City on Puget Sound — Tacoma the Legal Terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad — Its Tributary Coal-Fields and Lumber Interests— Wheat Shipments from Eastern Washington — Seattle's Activity and Growth — Its Important Trade with the Smaller Towns on Puget Sound 370

Chapter XLII. The Minnesota, Wisconsin And St

PAUL DIVISIONS. The East Minnesota Division — First Breaking of Ground on the Northern Pacific Line — A Celebration of the Event — Wheeling Ihe First Load of Earth — Completion ofthe Road to Brainerd in 1870 — Character of the Country Traversed— The Si. Paul Division — The Wisconsin Division — The Brainerd Shops — The West Minnesota Division — Difficulties and Cost ofConstruction — The Red River Crossing.

Chapter XLIII. The Dakota And Missouri Divisions

Work Begun on the Dakota Division in 1S72— The Track Completed to Jamestown in 1872 and to Bismarck in 1873 — Building Across an Un- CONTENTS. XXI PAGE 408 inhabited Region — The Road Reaches the Missouri River before the Panic of 1S73 — A Description of the Bismarck Bridge — The Missouri Division — Its Highest Summit 2,800 feet above the Sea— A Track Laid Across the Missouri River on the Ice — Character of the Work on the Division — The Bad Lands 388

Chapter XLIV. The Yellowstone And Montana Divisions

Up the Yellowstone Valley— A Difficult Line to Build— The Unstable, Crumbling Bluffs Undermined by the Action of the River — Dikes and Wing Dams Constructed — 34 Miles of Rock-cutting — Long Tangents and Easy Grades — Completion of the Yellowstone Division in 1S82 — The Montana Division — The Yellowstone Bridges — Crossing the Belt Mountains — The Bozeman Pass and Tunnel — Difficulties Overcome in Constructing the Tunnel — Sluicing out the Eastern Approach — Early Surveys — Johnson's and Roberts' Routes — The Descent of the Pass — The Gallatin Valley and the Upper Canon of the Missouri — Progress and Completion of the Division — The National Park Branch 398

Chapter XLV. The Rocky Mountain And Tend D'oreille Divisions

Across the Main Divide — Fifteen Passes Surveyed — Why the Mullan Pass was Selected — A Description of the Mullan Tunnel — Unexpected Difficulties Encountered — Only Six Miles of Heavy Grades — Contrast between the Eastern and Western Slopes — Pend d'Oreille Division — Easy Grades and Long Tangents — The Snake River Bridge and the long Pile Bridges across Lake Pend d'Oreille — The Line along the Clark's Fork River — Serious Obstacles to Construction — Dense Forests, Precipitous Mountains, Deep Canons, and Clay Slides — A Wild and Rugged Region — Enormous Powder Blasts — A Phenomenal Slide of Forty Acres — The Coriacan Defile — The O'Keefe and Marent Gulch Trestles— Valley of the Hell Gate River. CONTENTS. XXII PAGE 422 431

Chapter XLVI. The Columbia River Line And Pacific And Cascade Divisions

The Columbia River Line of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company — Its Relations to the Northern Pacific System — A Roadbed Blasted from the Face of Precipices — Fifty Thousand Pounds of Powder used in a Single Blast — Other Lines of the Oregon Railway and Navigation System — The Pacific Division of the Northern Pacific Company — From Portland to Puget Sound — First Construction Operations on the Pacific Coast— The Cascade Division — An Important Coal Road — W. Milnor Roberts' Report on Building across the Cascade Mountains — The Seattle Extension