The Sunday Oregonian., February 21, 1915, MAGAZINE SECTION, Page 3, Image 71

THE SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAXD, FEBRUARY 21, 1915.
THOMAS JEfMSON
REALIZED IN
DAf Mi )A lA 1 w -E$i
Interesting Events in History of Railroad- That Was
Granted Charter Fifty Years Ago.
T yyfxr? ' 'Jp
I I St
BT ADDISON" BEXNTCTT.
HEN Thomas Jefferson proposed
to the American Philosophical
Society, In 1792. that a public
eubscrpitlon be raised for the purpose
of engaging some competent person to
explore the country lying between the
Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean,
. "by ascending the Missouri River,
crossing the Stony Mountains and de
scending the nearest river to the Pa
cific," he practically laid out the route
for the first projected transcontinental
railroad the Northern Pacific
Dr. Marcus Whitman, and
they made the trip in 1836.
Mr. Parker spent two seasons hero
and then returned from Astoria by sea.
After arriving home he wrote a book of
travels, which had a large circulation In
this country, as well as In Europe, an
edition being published In London. In
this work Mr. Parker was the first
There came as a result of Jefferson's prophet, so far as known, of a railway
entreaties to the Philosophical Society, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as well
the organization of a party under Mer- as the first person to mention "the
lwether Lewis and Andre Michaux. the northern route." to pay 10 cents an acre. But the bill nent&l road came up as a war measure
latter then stationed In the United in a review of this book in 1838 died a-bornin". he was willing and anxious to be count
States In the employ of the French Willis Gaylord Clark, In the Cnlcker- After the failure of Whitney's project ed in and become one of the incorpora
government. France held great landed bocker Magazine, spoke of Mr. Parker's n which he had practically lmpover- tors; but neither his name nor the name
Interests here at that time and It prediction. In this article there Is a 'shed himself, there entered into the of any of his friends was mentioned In
seemed fitting that the two govern- name given to the prophesied road for fray a man who had far more to do the charters granted the Union or Cen
ments should share the responsibilities the first time, "The Atlantic & Pacifio with making the road a reality than tral Pacific, wch was on the 20th. of
for such an exploration. However, the Railroad Company." any of Its former proponents Edward June, 1862.
Perhaps it may be well to state here, F- Johnson, an engineer in the employ Then Mr. Perham transferred him
althoagh far out of the regular se- of the New York & Lake Erie, then the self and his friends bag and baggage
quence of the story of the Northern greatest railway In the country. Mr. to the northern route. With the as
Pacific, that It was not until the first Johnson's arguments were so strong sistance of Thad Stevens he saw his
charter w. c-r.nt.rf n th. -Vnt-thom and so lucid and his knowledge of the bill presented In the House In May,
t
5- Swsi
Hue I
3
"VSIC-"-'-" - '
s.r 'evfr-.T .i
terests" agreement, 12 men agree- the Northern Pacific The company was
ing to pay In $8500 each to reimburse practically bankrupt.
Perham and his associates for what Then, at the darkest hour, arose the
phical Society, Jefferson first publicly pacific Railroad Company" by the Leg- subject so clear and evident that the 1864, where it passed and went to the they ha(j expenjed during the previous savior of the company Frederick Bill-
expedltlon was scarcely on Its way ere
Michaux was recalled by the French
Minister, and nothing further was done
in the matter at that time.
While In his letter to the Philoso-
made the route he had in mind known, isiar. f th Ti-i-itn- f withinn. attention of many members of both Senate.
.let it be remembered that a dozen ton, on January 28, 1857, that the name branches of Congress were attracted After passing back and forth several
years before, as far back as 1780, the of the northern road was thus ex- and In 1853 there was added to the bill times for amendments it was finally
great statesman had thought much pressed. (As a matter of local Interest making appropriations for the Army passed by both branches and received
about a route to our Western posses- the names of some of the northern In- clause authorizing the Secretary of the signature of Abraham Lincoln on
stons. In an autograph letter to
George Rogers Clark, dated at Annapo
lis. December 4, 1783. he had outlined
a trip add has asked Clark to take
charge of It But nothing seems to
have come from this overture. It is
not possible even to find an answer
from Clark.
Jefferson's Opportunity Cornea.
Jefferson's opportunity came after he
was elevated to the presidency In 1801,
and while France still held her Ameri
can territory. Meriwether Lewis was
President Jefferson's private secretary.
On January 18. 1803, a special message
was transmitted by the President to
Congress, asking for an appropriation
of $2500 for the expenses of an ex
pedition. This being made, the Presi
dent appointed Meriwether Lewis as
chief and he selected as his companion
corporators are here given: General
Isaac I. Stevens, Colonel William
Cook, Elwood Evans, A. A. Denny.
Judge William Strong, W. S. Ladd, ex
Senator Ramsey, of Minnesota, and
General James Shields, also of Minne
sota. There were many others.
War to make such exploration as he the second day of July, 1864.
might deem advisable to ascertain the Perham and his friends were named
most practical and economical route to as the incorporators, the capital stock
the Pacifio Coast. was fixed at $100,000,000, and when
two years. Mr. Smith was continued ings, who was one of the directors,
as president and the others became Under his plan the company was
directors. thrown into bankruptcy and President
These parties later furnished about Cass was appointed receiver. He qual-
$250,000 with which to make certain ified in April. 1875, and C. B. Wright,
surveys, and E. F. Johnson, the chief of Philadelphia, was elected president,
engineer, was put into the field with By the end of October, 1875, the road
several crews. Johnson continued his had been sold and was In possession of
work as ranldlv as he could get the the new company; but for the follow
It fell to Jefferson Davis, then Sec- $2,000,000 of the stock had been sub- funda to pay the binai but that ls about ing two years about all that was ac
retary of War, to carry out this pro- scribed for and 10 per cent of this paid aU that wfts don(J untu 1869 except complished was to operate the finished
vision and he put five parties In the in the company was to proceed to or- that a MU had bgen paaged by congress portions of the road and take care of
Credit fur Advocacy Varied.
field to Investigate as many routes. It ganize regularly. Construction, under
must be remembered that even at that the charter, was" to begin within two
Several historians give the credit early date sectional feelings were years, and the road was to bo finished
for the first advocacy of a road by this strong and the South was the domi- by July 4, 1876.
northern route to Dr. Samuel Bancroft nating power and the South wanted Unlike in the case of the Union and
the road to lead from New Orleans west Central Pacific, the Northern Pacific
extending the time for beginning the the floating debt.
road for two years, and the same ex
tension for its completion.
Financial Giant Appears.
Now came into the councils of th,e
Pa rlrpr nrnrttrfna- ivi?l an vhfi t-a
sided at Granville Mass. Dy wnat was cauea me oouinern rouio. ranroaa was 10 receive no nnanciai as- Northern Pacific. Jay cook, one or mo
Dr. Parker is by some epoken of as To tako char ot the northern party sistance from the Government, but was financial giants of those days. It was
li (.iha. r.t 11,. w...i.n.- towi Becreiary uavis appointed t x. 10 usivu a srani 01 janu mnes wiuo Cooke wno was me rigni nana 111
The eastern section of the road soon
began to pay good returns, during 187
and 1877 the affairs of the company
took an upward turn, the earnings of
the eastern portions were sufficient to
build a line from Tacoma into the coal
mines and to continue on a large scale
the building in Minnesota, Montana,
, bankers to embark In the entrprlK
that more than double the amount
asked for was subscribed. In fact near
ly $!0,000.000 was the amount of th
subscription.
Katlniatra Off S12.000.00.
Vllljj-d then went Into the open mar
ket and secured a majority of the out
standing stock of the Northern Taclflo
and In September,. 1881. Pllllnce re
siirned and Vll'ard became president of
the Northern Pacific Railroad. Work
now began to be pushed both on the
main line and the branches with re
newed energy. I:ut It was anon found
that there was a difference to the bad
of $12,000,000 between the estimates
and actual cost.
But the main line from the Fast and
the main line from the West wero com
ing together, so Vlllard concluded to
make the event ot drlvlns; tlie laat
spike as spectacular as possible and
he surely did his reputation for spec
tacular stunts full justice. Five spe
cial trains two from the Atlantlo
cities, one from Chicago, one from St.
Taul and on from the Pacific Coast
brought to the bleak plains of Montana
about 3000 guests. Among them were
practically all of th leading bankars
of those section, as many Congress
men and Senators as could be rorralad,
several members of President Arthur'
Cabinet, many German von and Eng
lish lords, Governors of over a dosen
states, and all of the newspapermen
he could Induce to take th junket
But times were tightening, the monev
market was in bad condition, thrre wni
a heavy debt hanging over botli of th
Vlllard properties, and, to make mat
ters far worse, Vlllard' health broko
down. 80. late In December. 188.1, !i
resigned as president of the O. II. A N
and from the Northern Pacific Hall
way early the following January. Rob
ert Harris, former vice-rrealdent of th
Erie, succeeded him, and he was suc
ceeded in a short tlm by T. F. Oakea.
a protege of Vlllard, who had been
general manager.
Vlllard Take Hold Aaaln.
Business became now very bad. th
earnings falling off in many Instances
over 60 per cent below the former year.
In 1887. Vlllard, with health restored,
returned to Oregon and assisted In re
financing both the Oregon road and the
Northern Pacific, although ha declined
to become president of clthor. 11a how
ever, was made chairman of the hoard
of directors. As such ho brought
forth a plan unequaled, up to that time
In the financial operations of the coun
try. That waa the placing of a blanket
mortgage for $160,000,000 on all the
property of the company, this to be
used In paying ail obligations, taking
up all bonds making, in file t, a clean
financial slate and leaving $:in.ooo,ono
for constructing new lines and other
betterments.
This was carried out siicrersfiilly
and nine branches were built, mnatly
In Washington. Then the panic of 1N9J
struck. The great fires in Spokane
and Seattle paralysed traffio from those
centers, the decline In silver cut off
large revenue In the mining sectional
all conditions were bad. Vlllard saw
the storm approaching and notified Ma
German friends that hn would no
Railroad," and it is practically certain Stevens, an Army officer who had through Minnesota and Oregon, and 40 salmon P. Chase during the dark days the rkotai and Washington. The In- longer "mln to look after their In
that he was the first man publicly to Berved ,n tDe MIcn War and had miles through the Intervening territory. of the Civil War. He had undertaken ruan of peoplo along the road , the y5e"t nd rf" , ' .,'k .J
set forth a detailed plan for the con- later been connected with the Coast It was estimated that this would to sell the bonds . of the Government ,atter ute was so rapld that Oregon, JVI'" 0 ' H 1 ,ll
tminn. .,,ek a Survey. Stevens appointed as his chief amount to 47.360.000 acres, which Per- and had made a marvelous success. His -.h,.- ha(, . tha rirer Donulatlon
ie. I- ,. -.fi- assistant George B. McClellan, of the ham estimated would be worth $10 an advertising was brilliant and wide- ,. on,,rnnefl i rr(lib. the latter
ln-charge a younger brother of George that be w not th first to a4yoct 8"is i-orps-mo mB aro, or M.ouvu.uuw-uenriy uo muu spread. Some or ms meraiure, nouiu.jr Bate &anlng 92.2o per cent in th
Rogers Clark Captain William Clark.
It Is not pretended that either Jef
ferson, Lewis or Clark ever contem
plated that the Journey of the two lat
ter was the first step In the building
of a transcontinental railway. Indeed,
at that time, and for years after, rail-
such a road. But Dr Barlow's article wuo i"r cut bucu a. ui5 j.i6uio iwuj uiuuguu nis pampniet enimea a iiaiion.i ucul
it saouia do matea nere mat xnere a National Blessing,
was one clause in the charter which termed classical. The house
ls worthy of more than passing men-
tion for the reason that he therein Stevens', Work Thorough.
goes Into details as to the manner in Mr. Stevens had just been appointed
which such a work could be financed Governor of Washington Territory.
by the Government. He says the writer Bill were Introduced In Congress
of the Emigrant articles assumes the from time to time for the building of
roads were unknown. Even the great length of the road would be about 3000 roads over at least three of the routes
Baltimore & Ohio Railway was oper- miles, which the doctor says is about surveyed, but nothing definite came of
ated by horse power until 1832. The right. But he thinks the estimated cost the matter for some years. Then came
first railway in the world operated by made by the writer of the Emigrant the dark days of the Civil War and
steam was from Stockton to Darling- article, $30,000,000, or $10,000 per mile, the people of the North saw the advan-
is too low. tage a road to California would be and
At that time the most stupendous the building of the Union and Central
work the Government had as yet un- Pacific was begun; but of that nothing
dertaken had but recently been fin- need be said In a story of the Northern
ished and paid for. That was the build- Pacific. .
practically, the Lewis and Clark trail, ing of the Erie Canal, reaching from Joslah. Perham. a Maine Yankee, how
It is more than likely, however, that Buffalo to Albany, a distance of S87 ever, had taken up the cudgel for the
when. In 1S19. a celebrated civil en- miles, the cost being almost $64,000,000. northern route In the late 50a. He had
gineer. Robert Mills, made the sug- In addition to thltf a public debt amount- the genius and Intelligence to conceive
gestlon that the Atlantic and the Pa- Ing to $127,000,000 had practically been large projects, and the pertinacity to
cmc be connected by a railway, that wiped out since 1S16,
he had foreseen the comrng of the Nothing much is
steam-operated highways. drift of public opinion towards the rail- which go for actual results. He had
At that time the American people road by "the northern route" between been a man of wealth but had lost his
were tolerably familiar with this 1835 and 1844. But It is far more than fortune when he was a young man In
Washington
decade 1870-1880, while
cained 213.15 ner cent.
of Jay president Wrltfht had resigned In
caused the company later a vast Cooke & Co.. of Philadelphia, the house lg7g and Frederick Billings was elect
amount of money and trouble and de- Df Jay Cooke & Co., of New York, the t -..-...-a h)m. Through the a-enius
layed the finishing of the road for sv- house of Cooke & McCullough. of Lon- of Bnilngs an arrangement was mad
years. inat was mo provision don, and the first National cam 01 , 1XR0 wlth ,h hankinir-houses of
board did not act on Ms resignation
until June. 189$.
Being unable to meets Its Interest
charges on July 1, 1893. the road waa
thrown Into th hands of receivers, T.
F. Oakes, Henry C. Pain and Henry
C. Rouse being appointed by the romt.
They remained In charge until Sep
tember. 1895. when Edwin It Mi-Henry.
Frank O. Blgelow and Andrew F. !!ur-
eral
that the lands were to be patented to Washington. D. C. of which his brother, !,.. r- t-.i Morgan le,Sh succeeded them. They remained in
the company in strips of twenty miles. Henry D. Cooke, was president and Jay & Co Rnd Ausust Belmont & Co. for harg until September. 18, when the
as the road was completed for that dts- Cooke one of the largest owners these th6 f'0&tine of a bond issue of $40,000,- road wa reorganized as th Northern
tance, put only alter tne road naa been financial houses were among me very 000 whlch these houses underwrot
inspected by Government officials and strongest in this country. A contract
ton. In England. 21 years later In 1825.
But one of the first great railways
In this country to be talked about was
one from the Great Lakes to the Pacific
"by the northern route," meaning
a satisfactory report made to the In
terior Department.
It came to pass that at times for
nearly two years, these inspections and
reports were not made, and the only
assets the road had to borrow money
on for construction were these lands.
Perham First President.
and the Northern Pacifio was thought
was made with Jay Cooke to act as the tQ bfl on f,rm flnanclai ground.
financial agent of tne iMormern -a- ......
ciflc. which he did not close until be . oker 1- Charter Menace.
weeks and months, and In one case for had had, the routes and plans fully a110 " wouia "
1 l, ; - rn th. flrut Hnv rjf -T n ml - ihuo juivi. i " -
i.to ntrm nr ib. term of bobbed up to vex tn officials. Bonas . , --rred for about a year and ih
the' contract, advanced the Northern cld only be issued as the road was charIe, g. MeIian was .Leted fr.rl
0n complete! ttiiu lueycticii vj v.- dnt.
Stock Cornered la ISO I
t m T..nnAn Ulnn a Tl (1 J J rr
Pacific Railway Company a nam
which It ls not likely will ever be
changed.
With th advent of th new eompaur
Edward D. Adams was elected chair
man of th board nd l.'dwln W. Win
ter waa mad president. Thran o ra
ti
ti m T?nii f-H k nnn noo and
February 15. 1870,, ground was broken ernment officials, and for nearly two
No story of the Northern Paeinn
A meeting of the commissioners was " lf -t'-., n Hence work on both the main Hn and ,u nrnn.eiv ha written without
hang to them like a bulldog; but he beld in Boston on the first day of Sep- . . . ,1 .1 branches was greatly hampered. Plana tl f ih. Mrn.nnr of
known about the lacked those constructive qualities tembert 1864i and josiah Perham was" .rinn tttlrt Jore than six years were also mateured for the building of th ,tock of the company In Arm and
.. 1 w nnrth lln.l In flrotrrtn wnlfh .... . . . . . ,
"'M"-" ... v.ov juav. 1:101. At inn urn ins roaa waa
northern route. In addition to the probable that many were thinking and his 30s. He became a bankrupt and
Lewis and Clark trip It had been used even writing on the subject. However, then began anew as a wool commission
for many years by the fur traders, there ls practically nothing to be merchant in Boston, and accumulated
The discovery of the Columbia River by learned about the matter between the another considerable fortune, where'
elected the first president of the North- 0f struggling since it was chartered,
ern Pacific Railroad. But alack and T -,. rinrlntr 1871. '71 and '72.
There was not a dollar in the rk1 eoid more than $30,000,000 of the
treasury! Perham and the other sub- Northern Pacific bonds. This money
scribers had subscribed sufficient to came from aU parts of the United
cover wnat expenses tney nad incurred statea. jiore than 11.000 people sub
Captain Gray, of Boston, called atten- day of Barlow and Parker until Asa non he discharged all of his debts, of .7v." acribed. But In tne , late jmui oe
tion to this northern route. The land Whitney, the generally accepted "father which he was legally free. Soon he J T "TArj, thero came a lulL resm,enl E,ra""'
portion of the Astor party traveled by of the Northern Pacific" took the mat- w .arain on his uppers. Then he fell I nd h'S f"BV , having been appointed receiver of the
thi. route, later Wyeth and Bonneville ter vp in 1844. At that time there t with a man who had what he called Zlc"? "J ", Central Vermont, resigned at a critical
did the same. Indeed up to nearly 1840 were about 4000 miles of railways In the "Seven-Mile Mirror," a sort of pan-
. It was practically the only roadway operation In the United States, but a orama of Nlgara and the great lakes,
north of Mexico known between tha new era of building had just set In and and was very successful. In 1853 the
East and the Pacific the mileage waa more than doubled pacifio Railroad dawned upon him and
Indiana Trip Epoeh-Xaklns. during the five or six years Whitney he threw up all other business and put
There ,was one of th aftermath of WM "tlve. all of his wonderful versatility and
the wls and Clark trip that had much Project U to Senate In 1848. energy Into his new hobby.
' to do with the thoughts of the first Therefore the road by "th northern Northern Route Then chosen.
transcontinental railway. That waa route had been merely a matter of
subscribed for by the general public. moment. A aort of reorganization took
But for nearly two years not a cent placo George w. president of
came in ana noming was aone. in jjo- . -pitahiirc- Ft Winn Jk niime-n - -
cember 1865 a meeting of the directors Ptsburg. Ft. Wayne & Chicago. stockholders he had rescued
cemDer. lsoa, a meeting or me directors elected as his successor. Cass an- ... .
tne J. JK. de iM. ana mey naa ri con
fidence In him, aa did also the banker
Mar. 1901.
would interfered greatly with th plans ln excellent condition, the manarement
of Henry Villard s railway operations, of Mp Mellen being safo. consematlv
he being at th time president of the and y(,t nothlng ln th way of far-
Oregon Railroad & Navigation Com- aching efforts for bettering th II n
pany. and securing feeders and traffic a 1 1 1 -
It seems almost like the waste of ances had been overlooked. Covetous
time to write a paragraph or two about eyea of conflicting Interests wer look-
Villard one cannot thus do him Jus- glance at the remarkable growth
tlce. He had become president of th and prosperity of the Northern Pacific.
O. R. & N. through his Influence with Ul) these parties desired to get control
the German stockholders, he being a
native of Speyer, a city on the Rhine.
was held ln Boston and Fernam ad
mitted that he was down and out,
physically and financially, (and a com
plete change of the personnel was ef
fected. J. Gregory Smith, a prominent
and then
was elected as his successor. Cass ap
pointed R, D. Rice vice-president and
J. C Ainsworth, of Portland, Oregon,
as managing director for the Pacific
Coast.
At this juncture the company found
Itself ln financial straits, with a float-
In I860, after various failures to get railroad man of the time
the Journey of the four Flathead In- generalities; Mr. Whitney advocated congressional action and to obtain a president of the Central Vermont Rail- j debt of over j5oo0.000. The bond
dians who. ln 1832. made a trip from something definite "a railroad from charter in Massachusetts, Perham re- road Company, was elected president had DractioallF ceased
their western homes to St. Louis to Lake Michigan to the Pacifio by the ceved a charter for "The People's Pa- Then for the next two sessions of
learn about the white man's God and way of the Upper Missouri and Colum- clno Railway" ln Maine in the Spring Congress many bills were introduced
th white man's bible. The story of bia Rivers." In 1848 his project cam i860. He took himself and his char- toward giving the road some financial
ales had practically ceased.
Cooke' Bank Collapse.
Then followed the panlo of 1873, th
of this country.
Vlllard determined to head off the
encroachments of the Northern Pacifio
by getting control of It To do this
would require from $20,000,000 to $30,
000,000, and Vlllard was far from a
Croesus. However, the moneyed men
of the country believed ln him.
This confidence enabled him to ac-
of It at once. Early ln April, when
the stock was selling at from 81 to
85, they began to buy and finally de
veloped a corner, running th stock up
to 700, ln aom Instances It was salil
It sold for 1000 spot cash.
Wall 6treet went wild, a panic en
sued and a great many failures result
ed. Finally the matter was thrown
into court, th delivery price of th.i
stock was fixed at 151, and all settle
ments mads on that basis. This deal
brought about no chan In the man
agement of tne roaa. Air. Milieu ron-
thls wonderful trip has never been before th Senate of th United States ter to Washington and endeavored to assistance, but nothing came of It Cooke bank went down like houses of compllsh something never before heard tlnued as president until the Fall of
fully explained or fully understood or In definite form, when a bill was ln- rot Congress to take action. At this These bills as a rule died In the com- cards, the company was facing an ln- of ln the history of finance the aecur- ijos. when he resigned and Howard
all together authenticated In detail, troduced authorizing him to construct time he had no very definite plans as mlttees- Then It was decided to Inter- terest charge of 93,000,000 a year, the ing of this money from 50 of his friends Elliott waa elected to succeed him.
Rev. Samuel Parker, of Ithaca. New such a road and giving him a land to the exact route his road waa to fol- est as many of the railroad men ln the 679 miles of road ln operation were without telling them Just what be was por more than 10 years Mr. Elliott
Tork. read this story the year follow- grant miles wide for th entlr iow-. He was not a man of details, country as possible, and this caused barely paying expenses hard times going to do with it This was called conservative hand at th helm brought
Ing. H enlisted the co-operation of length cf tha read, tor which h was so when th matter of a transconti- what was known as "the original In- and tios rough days, of 71 were for th "blind pool," and so eager wer th .(Conclude oa fag j.