The Ward County independent., 1921-01-27
RICHARD mills GIVES HISTORY
OF G. n. RAILWAY co. IN NiINOT

Richard F. Mills, General Agent of
the Great Northern Railway Co., with
headquarters in Minot, recently read
a very interesting paper before the
Minot Rotary, part of which is CIV
en-:
) "Now few words about the par
ticular Transportation Company,
which I represent, if may be per.
mitted that opportunity. One could
not correctly speak of the develop
ment of that company or the changes
which have been wrought in this great
northwest during the past 40 or 45
years without making mention of that
dominating figure, who had so great
an influence in the building up of
both, the late Mr.. James j. Hill, very
properly referred to as the Empire
Builder The Practical Dreamer. 1t
was in 1878 that Mr.. Hill with his as.
sociates, George Stephen, later Lord
Mount Stephen, Donald A. Smith, lat
er Lord Strathc0na, and Norman y.
Kittson, bought the defaulted bonds
of the old St. Paul & Pacific Ry. Co.,
which property consisted of COM
pleted lines from St. Paul to Melrose,
a distance of 1O4 miles and from
Minneapolis to Breckenridge, dis
tance Of 2O7 miles. The story of
the reorganization, financing and ex-
tension from that time to the present
day, is a most interesting story in
itself. From May, 1879, the proper
ty was operated under the name of
the st. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba
Railway Co., until in 1889, when the
Great Northern Ry. Go. was organized
to bind into compact whole the var
ious properties that had grown too
large for the charter limitations of
the old Manitoba. The most intens-
i've period of development on what is
now the Great Northern Ry. prob
ably occurred in 1887, when 1443.97
miles of new railroad was constructed
or 95.5 per cent of the mileage under
operation at the beginning of the
same year. By 1893 the line was
opened thru to Puget Sound. From
time to time as the country settled
up and was developed branch lines
or feeders were constructed across
our state running generally in
northwesterly direction from the main
line towards the Canadian boundary.
ut was on July l, 1912, that Mr..
Hill voluntarily relinquished active
control as chairman of the Board Of
Directors, at which time in his let
ter to the stockholders he said, The
Great Northern is now wrought so
firmly into the economic as we'll as
the corporate body of the land as to
have fitted itself permanently into the
natural frame of things. So far as,
and creation of human effort can be
made it will be proof against the at
tacks of time. Not lightly may the
relation between a man and the work
in which he has had vital part be
set side. My personal interest in the
Great Northern remains as keen as
ever. While l shall be no longer the
responsible head Of the Great North
ern, will contribute heneeforth such
counsel and advice as may seem best
from one no longer holding the throt-
tie valve or controlling the brake.
Most men who have really lived have
had their great adventure. This rail
road is mine. l feel that labor and
service SO called into being, touch
ing at so many points the lives Of so
many millions, with its ability to serve
the country, and it's firmly establish
ed credit and reputation will be the
best evidence Of it's permanent value
and that it no longer depends upon
the life or labor Of any single indi-
vidual.'
Now word in regard to the Great
Northern and our own city of Minot.
1t was in October, 1886, that the COM
pany, then the Manitoba, opened up
the first little depot here, with Pat
rick Kelly in charge as agent. For
the benefit Of any rea! old timers who
may be present, might say that Mr..
Kelly is now engaged in the banking
business at Conrad, Mont, and is
very prosperous. At that time the
rails ended at point IA miles west
Of town or at the east approach OF the
present high bridge. Prior to 1907
this territory did not produce much
grain, the crop of that year amount
ing to about $3.50 tons, shipped from
this station. To realize the rapid de-
velopment Of this section, agricultur-
ally, it is only necessary to compare
those figures with the 1915 shipments
Of grain from Minot, which totaled
approximately $4,000 tons,. notwith-
standing the fact that two large mills
were supplied from wheat raised in
this territory. Along about 1900 when
settlers were coming into this terri
tory it was considered as being only
fit for stock raising. In 1907 We
shipped from Minot station 43 cars Of
stock. In 1915 we shipped AZ cars,
which really shows large increase in
the livestock industry in view Of the
increase in agricultural products dur
ing the same period, and the fact
that the farmers had driven out the
big ranchers.
1T might be interesting to mention
a few figures in connection with what
the Great Northern is doing in our
city and community at present. Dur
ing one Of the busy days this fall,
we handled around 1900 box cars thru
this terminal. To do this requires
quite number Of employees, and there
are living In Minot OF making Minot
their headquarters, In the neighbor-
hood Of 600 employees, whose salar-
les for each month averages around
$126,00o.0O. The major portion Of