Conquest And Catastrophe
Subtitle: The Triumph And Tragedy Of The Great Northern Railway Through Stevens Pass
Publisher: Authorhouse
Published: November 2004
Place of publication: Bloonington, Indiana
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 243
ISBN-13: 9781418495756
Subjects: General; Education; Education / Teaching
First sentence: "So far as loss of life and damage to property is concerned, I believe this is the worst experience we have ever had."  This is the tragic observation made by H.R. Parkhouse, a Great Northern Railway official on the scene at Wellington, Washington on March 4, 1910.  His coded telegram was sent to Louis Hill, president of the Great Northern...who wanted to know exactly what happened during that fateful, early morning of March 1, 1910. on Stevens Pass, in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State.
Description: It is fair to say that the arrival of the Great Northern Railroad to Seattle and Puget Sound in 1893 remains the most historically important economic event in the Pacific Northwest.  James J. Hill's relentless ambition to tap the resources of the Northwestern United States and also the Orient, prompted the 'Empire Builder,' to put the great engineer, John Frank Stevens in charge of finding a pass through the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, as quickly as possible. This crossing would cause Hill and the Great Northern to experience continuous difficulties that would cost the railroad unknown fortunes in man-made and natural disasters.  Accidents and disasters that would finally culminate in the worst avalanche disaster in North American history.
The Welling Avalanche of 1910 is described in this book in the most detailed manner ever published.  In addition, this book also explores an aspect of railroading and this disaster that has never before been examined.  It is the story of a number of prominent businessment who enhanced their personal fortunes and power by the illegal importation and exploitation of thousands of Japanese laborers to build and maintain the Great Northern; and the thousands who perished. 
"Gary's book is a well documented story of both the best and worst of how the Northwest grew, from struggling logging communities, to diverse cities of aerospace, high technology, and important international port cities."  His telling of the Wellington avalanche disaster is remarkable.  And the Japanese connection has finally been told!  -Ruby El Hult - author of "Northwest Disaster."
Table of contents: title: The Empire Builder and the Engineer; title: Wellington; title: Wellington: The Avalanche; title: The GN's "Jap Gang"