Daily globe., 1879-06-15

pany. A new era or success nencefOfth
dawns upon this important sectional and in-g
ternational commercial thoroughfare.
And now that this great work of reorgani-
zation is substantially completed, it is fitting
to present to the public a history of the en-
terprise. Major Newson's "INustrated st.
Paul." which he issued recently contains an
admirably prepared account of the rise and
progress Of this great corporation, and we
take pleasure. IN transferring it to our
columns as follows:
The Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad.
This is the oldest road in the State, and
one that has had more complications than
any other It was this road that ran it's cars
to St. Anthony in 1862 the first railroad
in the State-and it was this road over
which lawyers had been fighting for nearly
a quarter of century. The following bis
tory of its rise and progress, is made doubly
interesting by its being the most correct
account of the road and its htigations, ever
written:
By an act of Congress, approved March
8, 1857, there was granted to the territory of
Minnesota, o certain number of acres of
land, for the purpose of aiding the con-
others, a line from Saltwater via. st. Paul
and St. Anthony, to point between the
foot of Big Stone lake, and the Sioux Wood
| river, with branch via. St. Cloud and Grow
Wing, to the navigable waters of the Red
River Of the North, at such point as the
legislature Of said territory might determine.
This grant was conferred upon the Min1te
sofa Pacific Railroad company, which re-
ceived its charter from the Territorial
legislature at its extra session, called to
meet on the 2ith day Of April, 1857, which
charter was approved May 22, 1875. The
board of directors named in the. act, met
and organized by electing Edmnnd Rice,
president; r. r. Nelson, vice president; James
w. Taylor, secretary; Jesse M. Stone, treas
urer, and subsequently, D, g. Shepard, chief
engineer. Between that time and the 10th
of October, 1880 miles of linear surveys or
trial lines, were made, and the route from
Saltwater to ST.. Paul, St: Anthony, Anoka,
st. Cloud and Grow Wing-145 miles-and
from st. Anthony and Minneapolis to
Breckenridge, 2O6 miles, definitely located.
There were but few settlers then, west of
Lake Minnetonka, and the locating engi-
| neers and their men, were armed by the
company with rifles and revolvers, to pro-
tect themselves against attacks from In
dlans The work was difficult, but was
thoroughly and quickly done. -
Se1ah Chamberlain, of Cleveland, Ohio,
contracted to construct the road from St.
Paul to Crow Wing, and during the fall of
1857 commenced grading between st. Paul
and st. Anthony, and during the years 1853
8, graded 621a continuous miles, in a very
substantial manner, including in the work
| frst-class bridge structures and culverts, and
provided over 100000 ties. Tho grading Of,
the road bed, including bridge structures,
etc., from st. Paul to Saltwater, was let to an
| experienced contractor, Mr.. Frink, of Phil
! adelphia, who did some work and then sus-
pended at the request of the president of
the company. This part of the line was
afterward relinquished to the citizens of
| Saltwater, and now, forms part of the
st. Paul, Saltwater & Taylor's Falls rail
road. The company received about $40, 1000
| cash on stock subscriptions in 1857, and
during that yeara number of wealthy, gen.
tlemen of Milwaukee, with a view to connect
these lines with the land grant lines in Wis!
consin, undertook to carry the financial part
of the scheme. Then followed the crash
of 1857, and these gentlemen Withdrew
then the succeeding winter and spring the
| $4,000, 900 loan bill passed, of which amount
the company received $525, 900 In State
bonds, which went to the contractor, CHAM
berlain, and which he could not sell to en-
able him to 60 on with the work, and he
stepped out. s-et
| In 1861 the company got two locomotives,
and laid about IL miles of rails, and then
the last of December of that year the charter
was forfeited to the State under the consti-
tutional loan amendment, and at the session
| of 1862, the charter was regranted to the ST..
Il Hy Fin
directors, Edmund Rice, r. r. Nelson and
others. Mr.. Rice was made president; Mr..
/ Nelson, vice president; Henry Acker, secre-
tary, aud Col. Wm. Crooks, chief engineer.
Ten miles-being the first in the State, from
| st. Paul to st. Anthony were put into
operation on the I'd of July, 1862, and
thence to Anoka at the end of 1868.
In February, 1854, the corporation was
divided, and the lines from ST. Paul to
Watab, and st. Anthony to Breckenridge,
were named the First division of the St.
Paul & Pacific Railroad company, with Geo.
L. Becker, president; VIM. 3. Litchfield,
vice president, and s. S. Breed, secretary,
Mr.. Rice and Judge Nelson continuing at
the head of the st. Paul and Pacific proper,
including the line from St. Paul to Winona
and the Iowa State line, which was subse-
quently detached and organized as the st.
j Paul & Chicago railway, With Mr. Rice as
president, and Nelson vice president. This
was finished to Winona in September, 1871,
and to La Crescent in 1873, Mr.. Rice con-
tinuing president until June, 1877. In the
mean time this road had been sold to the
Milwaukee & st. Paul Railway company and
ROW constitutes the river division of
that road. The st. Paul g. Pacific company
proper, relocated its lines in 1871, by au-
thority Of an act of Congress, approved that
year, so as to reach the British boundary at
st. Vincent, direct from st. Cloud instead of
Grow Wing, and continued the line from the
latter point to Brainerd. In April, 1871,
the st. Paul and Pacific contracted with the
these lines in perpetuity, the first division
company agreeing to issue its bonds for fif-
teen millions of dollars, which the former