Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-12-02

building could proceed only by difficult
feats Of engineering II at almost pro-
hibitive expense. 1t was important not
to warn competitors of their danger;
equally important not to frighten IN
vestors already associated with Mr.. HIS
system with the prospect OF an under
taking that many thought to be rash or
doubtful, and most believed could never
pay q satisfactory return.
Mr.. Hills determination to build into
Montana was definitely expressed In
June. 1884, to Paris Gibson, the father
of Great Falls, when Mr.. Hill visited MI.
Gibson on the site of the present city.
Mr.. Gibson who had known MIR. Hill in
ST. Paul, had come west a few years
before and in 1882 became interested In
developing q site for a city at he falls
Of the Missouri river, near the base OF
the Rocky mountains.
Mr.. Gibson's account Of Mr.. HIS de-
cision to build his railway into Montana
is told in the following words:
IT at once opened communication with
Mr.. Hill with a view Of interesting him
In the enterprise, and In November tl6o2)
went to st. Paul and placed before him
such information as l had been able TO
collect, bearing upon this region and the
founding OF a city here. I was at once
impressed with the rapidity with which
he grasped the whole subject at that In
terview, as scarcely an our elapsed be-
fore we had concluded q plan for locating
a city at the head Of the falls OF the
Missou. river.
nill Emissions New Empire
"a year and a half subsequent to this
meeting Mr.. Hill came to Montana for
the first time and spent a day with me
looking over the townsite, the water power
and the adjacent coal fields. AS night
came on, and Just before leaving for
| uayo~o Ynn voi1nc onav uyhovo ho uac
to take a Northern Pacific train for st.
Paul, he stood on the river bank and
outlined to me a plan for extending his
railway line westward from the Red
River valley to the falls OF the Missouri:
assuring me that he would build the pro-
posed road in a shorter time than any
road of equal length had been built on
this continent. h plan. as I have
reason to believe, came full fledged from
the brain of this remarkable man and
was the result of what he had seen dur
ing that one memorable day.
II can bear testimony to the fact that
the plan outlined to me on that occasion
was carried out almost to the letter. 1t
has ever been my belief since that event.
full day when Mr.. Hill saw for the first
time the falls Of the Missouri river and
their immediate surroundings, that no
other capitalist and railway builder in
the world could have c-omprehended at
a. glance the and the POSSIBLE
ties of this great Rocky mountain region,
would have dared at this early date in
the history of the far west to build a
railway line through a trackless wilder
ness then composed largely OF Indian
reservations.
LET it also be understood that, In ex-
tending his road into this unsettled
country, he was paralleling the Northern
Pacific railway that had been heavily
endowed by The national government,
while his projected line was to be built
without the aid of a dollar from that
source. Among the great achievements
of our country, in railway building, this
extension of the Great Northern rail-
way system from the Red River valley
to the falls of the Missouri In central
Montana easily stands as the first"
The time was not ripe for Mr.. Hill to
disclose anything to either his railroad
rivals or his own stockholders. Therefore
he had long before gone quietly to work,
with n through a small number OF
personal friends, to lay a foundation.
The Montana Contra Railway
In January, 1886, the Montana Central
railroad company organized, ostensibly
to onnec the new town of Great Falls
with Helena, Butte. and any other points
in the territory that 1t might elect. 1t
issued So. 900 900 Of stock and in May,
1887. the issue Of $40, 900 900 in bonds
was authorized. At the same meeting
the directors entered into an agreement
with MIR. Hill ito evidence in the main
and to supercede q verbal agreement
between the parties long since made and
partly executed" by which he was to
furnish, in addition to past advances,
the money necessary to construct and
equip the line, and was to receive the
stock and bonds Of the company in ex-
| oh N Thu NNn,fa-o C.~+~o1 .-~- - III
intents and purposes, James j. Hill. 1t
was organized to occupy the Montana
field until the Great Northern should
be ready to push westward from Minot,
which was to break the worlds record
for railroad building.
; The principal obstacles which in 1886
lay across MIR. Hills path between Mi
not n Great Falls were the Indian and
military reservations, beginning in north
western Dakota and covering most Of the
country from a little west of Minot to
the summit Of the Rock mountains. Not
q foot Of road could be built within ti1ts
sacred area without federal permission
The enemies and rivals OF the Great
Northern succeeded for some time In
blocking action by congress. Finally, or
Feb. is, 1887, President Cleveland ap-
proved a bill granting a right Of way
through the Indian n military reser-
vations in northwestern Dakota and
northern Montana.
The right Of way granted was rs feet
on each side Of the railway track. and
included the right to TAX materials for
the construction Of the road from ad-
1acent lands, and also additional lands
for station purposes, 5000 feet long and
800 feet wide, but not to exceed a grant
for n station for each continuous
length of 10 miles of road. The price
paid by the Great Northern for this
right of way averaged SO cents an acre,
with some additions where small i'm
provements had been made.
The Monumental Achievement
To forestall the Northern Pacific, the
Great Northern commenced active opera
lions to extend its lines Immediately
after the right of way had been granted