The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1883-09-20

area that given 10 the Union and Central
| Pacific Companies The Northern Pacific
grant embraces the alternate sections Of
1 land for twenty miles on each side OF the
road in the States and for forty miles in the
Territories, with an additional ten miles on
each side as an indemnity limit, within
which lands may be selected to compensate
for those taken by settlers inside
been a merchant in Maine, and also
| in Boston, and was principally known for
| his success in organizing railroad excursion
parties; In fact he was the inventor of the
cheap excursion system He tried In vain
for nearly two years to obtain capital for
the Northern Pacific Company, of which he
had been elected President The obstacle
in the way, beside the tendency in the public
mind TO regard the Northern belt of States
and Territories as semi-Arctic region, was
| chiefly clause which Perham himself had
| inserted in the charter, and which prohibited
the company from mortgaging its road or
| land grants, or issuing bonds Perham's
idea was that slOO, 200 vO0 of the stock of
the company would at once be taken by
popular subscriptions
The first set of Directors was elected
Dec. q, 1861, and on the following day or
ganized by the election Of Josiah Perham,
| President Nh. Perham and his associates
We're nC5 men OF practical experience They
proposed TO raise Sl00, 900 900 by the sub
scnption of million individuals, whom
they believed could be found willing to take
one share OF stock each at par, and thus
build the road. The scheme, of course,
failed, and in December, 1865, Mr. Perham
turned over the franchise to a syndicate Of
New England capitalists for barely enough
| TO pay his debts, and did not live to see the
| fiIst spadeful of earth turned in the prose-
| cution OF the enterprise for which he had
| obtained from Congress grant OF land
| greater in extent than many of the king
| dOmR q EurOna a n BOSTON m
The next set OF Directors, headed by j.
| Gregory Smith as President, memorialized
Congress to the effect that the land grant,
being mainly located remote from the then
| settled portions OF The country, and little
known To the public, had, with the many
other favorable provisions of the charter,
! proved insufficient to induce capitalists to
embark in the enterprise, more particularly
so because other roads TO the Pacific were
| able 10 offer not only their land grant Sc
curity. but also the bonds of the United
! States. The memorialists solicited similar
| aid for the Northern. Pacific in Government
bonds Congress finally failed to adopt leg
| lslatlon authorizing aid in Government is
sues, and in May. 1860, and in January, 1870,
| the Northern Pacific Company, then con-
trolled and directed by accumulation of the
| best railroad experience and general ability
| and wealth in this country. made contract
| with Jay Cooke * Co., then become eminent
in finance by their success in negotiating
the fiscal agents of the Northern Pacific.
Jay Cooke obtained legislation in ashing-
| ton authorizing the issue of bonds and
changing the main line OF the road, so that
| 1t should run down the Columbia river to
| Portland, and thence north to Puget sound
instead Of across the tremendous barrier of
! the Cascade mountains Cooke first pro
posed to place the Northern Pacifce loan
in Europe. but his plans to this end were
defeated by the breaking out Of the Franco
| German war;
He then put the bonds upon the Ameri-
| can market, using the same means to popu-
| lariZe them which he had successfully en-
| ployed in selling the great war loans OF the
| United States Government In two years
time, beginning in the spring of 1870, he
sold about $50 600 of bonds In 1870,
with the means supplied by him, the com
pany began TO build its line, commencing
work at Thompson Junction, twenty-three
miles west of Duluth Jay Cooke was then
building line from St Paul to Duluth, and
the Northern Pacific bought half interest
in the twenty three miles from it's junction
to Duluth Duluth was an obscure
hamlet in the forest, inhabited by
perhaps a hundred people. 1t had no
harbor, but a good one was obtained
by cutting canal across long, narrow
sand bank inclosing the Bay of Superior
Construction was also begun, in the same
year on the extreme Western division of
the road, running from the Columbia river
at Kalamo northward to Puget sound In
1871 the road was finished across Minnesota
to the Red River of the North, and in 1928
it was built az far as the Missouri river,
where a town was laid out and named Bis
marck- On the Pacific side l05 miles of road
betw cen the Columbia river and Puget
sound, were completed by the fall Of 1873,
and terminal city laid out in dense fir
forest, on the sound, and named Tacoma
During the same period there were COM
pleted and put in operation 800 miles of road
viz. Tire Minnesota division, from Thomp-
son Junction to Fargo, 30 miles; the Dake-
Ia division, from Fargo TO Bismarck, 1875
miles; of the Pacific division lO5 miles. from
Kalama to Tacoma also, jointly with the ST
Paul and Duluth railroad, the line from
Thompson to Duluth, % miles.
In September 1913, the house of Jay
Cooke * Co suspended-a memorable event,
which precipitated general financial revul-
sion, sudden and enormous contraction of
prices and values which had obtained iii the
period of extravaganza and imitation engen-
dered by the war debt and the paper issues
of the Government The failure of Jay Cooke
& Co. involved the speedy bankruptcy Of
the Northern Pacific.
Two years were required TO complete the
REIMBURSEMENT Oft company's affairs The
foreclosure of it's mortgage was initiated by
| the Trustees with the concurrence Of par
ties in interest, April IL, 1879 and receiver
appointed by the court Later, during the
same year. the entire property was sold
under decree of foreclosure, and purchased
by q committee of the bondholders The
reorganization was perfected and new
Board of Directors elected Sept %, 1875.
The directory was organized by the election
, of Charles b Wright, President; George
Stark, Vice President Samuel Wllkeson, Sec
Rotary, and by the choice also of Treasurer
AMI general counsel In May, 1879 Mr..
Wright, for reasons OF health, resigned the
Presidency of The Northern Pacific, which he
had held for more than three years and
was succeeded by Frederick Billings. Dur
ing the incumbency OF Mr. Wright in the
office of President the general fnanciel con-
dition of the country and the difficulties OPP
posed t. extension into Montana by con
, tinued Indian .hostlities, had long rendered
the recommending of construction aero 6
, the continent improbable. Important re-
newals, improvements and betterments in
road-bed track, and equipment of the op.
Grated line had, however, been made. Also
a branch line had been built sixty -four
miles from Brainerd to n connection with
= the cities of St Paul and Minneapolis a,
: Sank Rapids, and thirty-one miles had beer
added from Tacoma to Wilkeson, on the
Pacific coast
In 1879 the company had 50 far recovered
it's credit that IL was able to borrow money tC
resume construction operations on q large
scale. 1t began to build from the Missouri
river westward, and from the Columbii
river, in Eastern Washington Territory neal