The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-18
Sariy RaiIroading in Minnesota

If you will open the railroad commits
sioners' map of Minnesota you will find
that the entire state, with the exception
of a small portion of the northwest, is
covered by a network of red, yellow,
green, blue and pink lines, each co.or rep
resznting a different line of railroad If
you looked at the names of the different
roads you would find among them the
Great Northern, the Chicago, Milwaukee
& St Paul, the Albert Lea q Southern
and the Great Western and many others.
Into the city of ST. Paul alone come
nine great roads, while in the state of
Minnesota there are 6,794.6S miles Of ma n
line track, and these figures leave out all
the local transfer lines, union depot
tracks and private logging roads, which
probably amounts to several hundred
miles more For the past year the gross
earnings of the roads in the state was
S44,950,C93 while the operating expenses
for the same year have been $29,97S,2 1S.
Fifty years ago there was not a mile of
railroad in Minnesota. Today the smoke
from the huge locomotives IS trailing
across every part Of the state, while
thousands Of cars are carrying millions
of pounds of merchandise from every
part of the Union. They bring goods
from the great factories of Chicago and
Pittsburg, fruit from the farms of the
far West, and fish from the wonderful
canneries of the Pacific coast. And they
take away the harvests of the great
wheat fields to the four corners Of the
world
On the commissioners map is given a
line from st. Paul through the center Of
the state, then across from east to west
near the northern border. This is the
Great Northern railroad, which is the
Oldest living son of the Minnesota Sc
Pacific, the father railroad of Minnesota,
and from which all the others have in
large measure come This road taps the
most productive part of the state, and
the part to which nature has been kind
est. Beginning at Moorhead and Far
go, it has a line on each side of the
Red River of the North, thus traversing
from end to end one of the most wonder
full wheat regions in the world. Another
branch runs into that part of the state
that is still the least settled and the least
cultivated, where are found those beau
tful, wild bodies of clean, fresh water
known as Leech lake Lake Winnib gosh
: ish and Red lake Walker and BemfdI'.
the largest stations in this part of the
state, are only a few rude wooden houses
and the log hutS of Indian fishermen But
the finest lumber in the whole state
comes from around these two points, and
some day-in a great many less years.
than it has taken to build the roais-this
will be one of the most Industrious cen.
tiers in the entire Northwestern country.
Other roads run to Duluth the city that
overlooks an inland sea, and still others
run to Minneapolis and st. Paul ana
from the Twin Cities radiate to the east
and west, to the north and the south
No more wonderful story can be told
than that connected with the building
OF these roads. The Epic Of the Wheat"
IS not so great as the epic of the rail-
road
In March, 1857, congress passed an act
3ving grant of land to the territory Of
Minnesota to aid in the construction of a
railroad that was to run from the little
city Of Saltwater, on the St Croix river.
to the town of st. Anthony, that stood
where what is now the city Of Mime
apoHs, passing on its way through the
villages of st. Paul, St Cloud ami Crow
Wing, until 1t reached the navfgable wa
ters Of the Red River of the North. 1t
was also to touch whatever other points
the legislature might determine upon.
Two months later, in May, 1857, the ter
rltorlaI legislature approved an act in
cooperating the Minnesota & Pacific rail-
road and gave to this new company all
OF the lands granted to the territory by
congress. Section of this act read:
,,o Inc following persons are hereby ap-
pointed and shall constitute the first
BOARD of directors, whose terms of Of
nee shall continue until an election SHAH !
De held and their successors duly elected
Delano; William Williams; Alexan.
der Ramsey, Edmund Rice, r. r.
Nelson Nelson, William L. Ames Richard
G Oh ut e.. Henry T. Wells, Abraham M. |
steele, A. B. Lowry, ]. D. Critendon,
charles H. Cakes and Daniel Bassett
whose duties and powers shall commence
sage Of this act.
May %, 1857, the board of directors held
their first meeting in the city of st. Paul
uhen small river town, and organized
the Minnesota & Pacific Railroad com.
pany, with Edmund Rice as it's first pres
ident, and R. R. Nelson vice president
Inc certificate of organization of this
the first railroad within the borders of the
state, was filed in the office of the secre.
taTy OF the territory of Minnesota, where
n may be seen and read today. This
was on May q, 1857, and section two of
the act read as follows:
The said corporation is herehv au+bor
4Zeu ana empowered to survey locate
construct, complete, alter, change the To-
calloh OF, reconstruct, maintain and oper-
iinos a a9llroa i with one or more tracks or
mes OF rails on such route and with
such alignment and graduation as such
company shall think proper from Sill
wafer by way of st. Paul and St An
Inohy, VIA Minneapolis to the town Of
bFecklnrldge. on the Sioux, Wood river
with branch from St. Anthony w,
t4noKa, st. Cloud and Crow Wing, to St
Vincent, near the mouth of the PSmbina
During 1857 the road was SURVEYED from
saltwater to the Sioux Wood river. and
s'lso from st. Anthony to Crow Wing.
MAPS We're made of the location, and on
NOV. II these We're filed with the governor,
OF the state, and on Dec. 5 thew were
sled IN the general land office at Wash
Hngton. The road according to these
snaps was to start from a point on the
Ieit pank of the Mississippi river. near
What is now the foot of jackson street
was 10 run north across the low marsh
Sdhus until 1t came to little stream then
known as Trout brook 1t was then n
run along the left bank of this stream
lot the distance Of about one-fourth of a
llllIe or less, when it turned westward for
Soout 1850 feet until it came out unon
the open prairie. From here on II was
10 run due west across the level nrairio
lands until it reached st. Anthony
distance of about nine miles. The route
across the prairie was very nearly the
same as that now followed bv tho cra.t
Northern from Oakland cemetery to Mn
neapolis. ~ Mill
In July, 1857. the board of directors
made contract with Selah Chamher.