Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-05-08


port. This was a very important matter
to the company Mt this time, rs upon the
report of these men Mr.. Cooke would fur
nish the money or not to go on with the
construction. Mr.. Garfield felt that a
great responsibility was placed upon him,
as in the event of his not showing them a
good route, such as would be satisfactory,
the whole arrangement with Mr. Cooke
must be abandoned as well as the con
struction of the road But Mr.. Garfield,
by his study of the route in former years,
from the information he had obtained
from prominent and intelligent citizens in
Oregon, Washington and Montana, and
officers of the army,-was enabled to con
duct the expedition through favorable
route, which subsequent surveys have
confirmed, and the railroad from the Co
lumbia river to the Yellowstone has been
finally built on the route indicated and
most of the way in sight of the very trail
which this party made in 1869. The re-
suit of the expedition turned out favora-
bly, and the gentlemen sent OH by Mr..
| Cooke unanimously reported that the halt
had notbeen told by the directors, and
that the country was far better than
they had ever represented, which complied
with the conditions required by Mr..
| Cooke and he at once commenced negoti-
ating the bonds and the work of construc-
ton began. 1t was soon found that many
of the crossings of rivers and other places
upon eDen sections, while the company,
under their grant from Congress, receiv-
ed only the odd ones, and had no right
under their charter to buy lands. In order
to get over this difficulty a company was
formed called "The Lake Superior and
Puget Sound Company" which was en-
powered to buy lands, build boats and do
most any kind of business to further the
interest of the railroad company. 1t was
controlled by those in interest of the
Northern Pacific railroad and to insure its
proper relation to the company and to
carry out the objects for which it was
organized.
Locating the New Towns.
In carrying out the plans contemplated
by the Lake Superior and Puget Sound
company, Mr.. Garfield located and laid
out on the line of the Northern Pacific
railroad, between Lake Superior and the
Red River, the towns of Kimberly, Aitkin,
Brainerd, Motley, Aldrich, Wadena, Per-
ham, Audubon Lake Park Hawley, Glyn-
don and Moorhead.
In May 1872, while there was not yet a
white inhabitant west of the Red River,
he crossed the plains with his horse and
buggy, carrying his own provisions, from
MOorhead to the Missouri River, while it
was yet Indian territory and located Far
go, and laid out and located Valley City,
jamestown and Bismarck.
In November, 1871, he crossed the des-
ert from Ogden on the Union Pacific rail
road, when there were very few settlers
in that country, to Snake River, near
Shoshone Falls, thence to Boise City, Ida
no. and to Baker City, eastern Oregon, ola
the Burnt Creek crossing of the Snake
River, where the Oregon Short Line rail
road has just reached, thence across the
lumbia River and thence by steamer to
Portland, Oregon. While on the Pacific
coast, Mr.. Garfield, for the second time,
explored Puget Sound with reference to
selecting a site for the future terminus of
the Northern Pacific railroad and Sc
cured large tracts of land at some eight or
ten different places on the Sound, any of
which might be available for a terminus
of the railroad
While it had always been the intention
and policy of the Northern Pacific rail
road company to use the navigable waters
of the lakes and rivers ScroSS the continent
in the first instance and connecting the
portages by railroad, in order to get a
communication through the whole route
as soon as possible, which would at first
make the Columbia River route available
and Portland the terminus of the branch
line, and the commercial centre of Ore
gOn. Yet Mr. Garfield always insisted,
that sooner or later the interest of the
railroad would demand the construction
of the short line across the Cascade Noun
tains to Puget Sound. However much
the views of the directors of that day may
have been modified in favor of Portland
as final terminus III consequence of the
obstacles presented by the Cascade Range,
he never subscribed to their views but
took the ground that the future great
commercial city on the Pacific coast would
be on the waters of Puget Sound, where
1T could be approached with ease through
the Straits of Fuca by the largest vessels
frnyt oil p.fS of hn MI wit, Ia
ing subjected to delays, damage and ship
wreck by the bars which necessarily are
formed at the mouths OF the great r,-
ers. Accordingly, as above stated he Sc
cured large tracts of land at various points
on the Sound from Olympia to Belling-
ham Bay, and had thorough eXamina-
ton made of all the bays and harbors, as
we'll as of the country contiguous, with
reference to the practicablity of approach
by railroud, and the supply Of fresh
water for CITY,
Establishing the Western Terminus.
At Tacoma he purchased large tract,
believing it would be the point on the
Sound where a railroad from the South
would first touch it, and connect it with
the Willamette Valley and all the i'm
mense productive country west of the
Cascade Mountains for hundreds of miles
to California and beyond by branches to
located as it were in front of the Cow
litz, Natchez, Stampede and Snowqual-
mic passes of the Cascade Range, one of
which the railroad would, sooner or later,
adopt as its crossing, as it would be the
easiest point of access for the main line
from the East, forming junction at Ia
coma with the lines from Oregon, Califor-
mia, Utah and Nevada from the South !;
even if in the future it should be deemed
expedient by the company to continue the
lima down the Sound to some point nearer
to the entrance of the Strait of Fuca as
as the final terminus. The wisdom of
this selection has since been demonstrated
by the construction of a railroad from
California to Tacoma, and the Northern
Pacific is also rapidly constructing its
main line through the Stampede Pass to
the same place.
Thus through the agency of the Lake
Superior and Puget Sound company, by
its president, Mr.. Garfield, the Northern
Pacific railroad company has been enabled
to secure large tract of land on the Med
iterranean Of the Pacific, giving it ample
facilities for its terminus, buildings, shops
side tracks, wharves and warehouses, ap-
proachable without difficulty by the