Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1903-10-20
THE COLOSSUS OF RAILROADS
Interesting Sketch of Mr.. Hill from the Pen
of Harlan P. Hall. a Pioneer Minnesota
Journalist.

is what Harlan p Hall designates J.
J Hill. president of the Great North
ern Railway. in a character sketch
in the Dakota Record. When Han
was a reporter on a st. Paul paper IN
1858. Mr.. Hill was an employee on Inc
river levee. being a check clerk lor
Borup and Champlin at $50 a month.
In nls sketch of Mr.. Hill Mr.. Hall
says:
when the first railroad started IN
ST Paul. the old St. Paul and PACING,
Mr.. Hill became the station agent Tor
the road. but not in an ordinary way
with a monthly salary s~tipendiary, but
under a contract TO handle all the traf-
fc at SO much per ton. In those DAYS
wood was our only fuel. Hard coal
could only be secured by the long nv
er route from rlttsDurg. and very III
tie came to the city, save for the use
of the gas company. The public and
business buildings, as well as private
houses. were supplied with wood fires.
,ne of the first strokes of business,
and one which I always thought was
really the foundation for his fortune,
was when the St. Paul and Pacific rail
road was extended into what is called
the Big Woods Region Of Minnesota,
some fifty or sixty miles from st.
Paul. He was able to make an eXclus-
i've contract with the railroad. whereby
he alone could bring wood into the
city at a given rate per cord n con-
s%eouently the entire fuel business of
the city was at his command. 1t is
to his credit to say that he did not
use this power to extort unfair prices
from the people. A moderate supply
OF fuel was brought in by teams and
sold upon the public wood market,
but Mr.. Hill practically regulated their
prices by making his own prices as
moderate as the cost of cutting and
transportation would permit. The
business. nevertheless. was very lucra-
tive. Even Their he was seeking larger
fields to conquer. His familiarity with
the river business on the Mississippi
led him to engage in traffic for him
self on the Red river OF the North,
through which he not only grasped
the trade OF Northern Minnesota with
its sparse population, but also tapped
that of Winnipeg and Northern Can
ada. Starting with one steamer, he
made such success that in 1872 he
consolidated his Red River interests
with those of the late Norman w.
Kittson, who represented the Great
Hudson's Bay Company, and formed
the Red River Transportation Com
pany, and before the railroads rele-
gated navigation or the Red River OF
the north to the past, he had no less
than seven steamers and fifteen barges
in his fleet. He was the manager and
moving spirit in the Red River Trans
portation company until the business
was abandoned owing to the building
of the railroads.
Like most new enterprises in a new
country the original capitalists and
promoters of the st. Paul and Pacific
railroad did not profit by the germ
which has since developed into the
~--;Gannt cv1 prn Gt bio Crnat Nor
thern System. The local people used
the munificent land grant in Mime
sofa as a basis of credit, and obtained
in Holland a good many million dol
lars. for which bonds were issued.
The business of the road was very
moderate because the population was
too small to furnish business. St.
Paul and Minneapolis being hamlets
rather than cities in those days, and
the entire population of the state was
less than 200 900 people. The rails
and equipment were so cheaply con-
structed that they would not be
thought of today by any road however
small. Bridges were wooden. culverts
were cheaply built, and the bill for
repairs and renewals was a draft upon
the of the railroad. far be
yond its ability to meet from its OPP
Grating income. In fact. its operating
income was required to meet its oper-
ating expenses without providing for
betterments. The value of the land
was a long look ahead and the Dutch
bondsholders in Amsterdam became
weary of and Disguised with their in
vestment. They were willing and anx-
ious to dispose of their bonds at al
most any price they could get, and I'M
der these circumstances it is not sur
prising that their values fell to 10
cents on the dollar. | am not sure,
cut some sales were made at a less
sum, but the great bulk of the bonds