The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-11-26
Johnson's Railroad Monument to
Pluck for Nez Perez Farmer.

zonhaniah A. Johnson, the farmer
,rom Neg Perce prairie, has done the
,n,nossible. At least, he has built the
-uroad which all bankers and railroad
IAN said he could not build in these
dov. Of timid money. The first train
tod Of wheat came into Lewiston this
,aak over the new line. 1t was not
,ono train. to be sure, but 1t was all
that could be hauled with one engine
mill the road is ballasted, and the
sormers who had grain in the new
,,arehouse in Tammany and were Of
,orod more than dollar bushel for
.ho,r wheat didn't propose to wait for
ballast and Johnson didn't intend they
should have to wait on him.
Monumet to One Man.
This railroad has another name, but
everyone calls 1t the Johnson road
and If ever a road represented the dog
ged persistence of one man 1t Is this
line In Boise, somewhere under the
dome of the beautiful new capitol its
official name is given as the Nez Perez
q Idaho Railroad company, and this
name is soon to be changed to the
Tawiston. Nez Perez & Eastern Rail-
road company; but the johnson"
road 1t has been and will be for many
a wear to come. 1t was conceived by
Johnson, was financed by him, was
built by him, and is owned by him; and
although he is now taking into part
nership with him Lewiston business
men, the farmers Of Waha and Nez
Perce prairies and the merchants of
Nez Perez. Vollmer and lilo, with whose
aid he will extend the line, it will con-
tinue to go by his name.
An important Link.
Eleven miles Is all there is to the
piece of the road just completed, which
is the second section of the line thus
far built; but IL miles is more than
many a great railroad system has built
in the past year, and this IL miles,
with the IA miles of line heretofore
constructed, is a small part of what
will be an important system in the
commercial welfare of central Idaho,
and is the first railroad to be built as
a feeder for the Columbia Snake open
river to the sea- steamer lines.
The desire Of farmers and business
men of Idaho interior points to get in
touch with this waterway has had
great deal to do with the construction
of this road. With an independent
railroad connecting with steamer lines,
which the interstate commerce com
mission will not permit the railroad
companies to control, the farmers and
merchants believe they will have the
same commercial advantages which
Lewiston jobbers and manufacturers
expect to enjoy when the Cello canal
is completed.
Connect With Water Lines.
Farmers of Nez Perez prairie who
are far from the Snake river will be
able to ship their grain by way of the
Johnson line, the open river, the Pa
cific ocean, Panama canal and the At
lantic to Liverpool without any aid
from any of the big railway corpora
TONS Merchants of Lewiston, Voll-
mer, lilo and Nez Perez will be able to
land their goods from Atlantic sea-
board factories in their own towns
without shipping over the lines Of any
of the great railway systems.
Plans to Go Further.
Mr.. Johnson first built IA miles of
road from Nez Perez to Vollmer. to
give the former town railroad connec-
tons with the Northern Pacific. Now
he has started another line from Lew
iston to the southeast, to connect with
the IA miles heretofore built, and he
has gone II miles and put that much
into operation. His next step will be
to continue this second branch next
year to Waha, a distance of 20 miles
out Of Lewiston. After this much Is
finished he believes he will be able to
bond the rs miles Of road out of Lew
iston and the IA miles of the line be-
tween Nez Perez and Vollmer for
enough to connect the two branches
which will give rs miles of road
through a section Of Idaho which needs
transportation, and will be the first 10
miles Of railroad built as feeder FOR
the open river.
No man ever met with more discour-
agement than did 2. A. Johnson, the
farmer from the Nez Perez Indian res
ervation, when he attempted to finance