USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 44
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Work was not commenced at once and when, in 1875, Congress passed a general railway act, a committee of Montana citizens was appointed to solicit propositions from the Utah & Northern, the Union Pacific and other railroad companies to build lines into that territory. Representatives of the Utah & Northern went before the Montana Legislature of 1877 and offered to build some three hundred miles of narrow gauge railway, from Franklin, Idaho, to the Big Hole River country in Montana, the same to be completed within three years, for a consideration of $5,000 per mile in state bonds. The Montana Legislature suggested another route, via Fort Hall to Helena, but adjourned without any definite action. Subsequently a special session of the Legislature was called to consider the subject. Senator W. S. Sanders, leader of the Upper House, advocated the advantage of railroads, but the opposition was too strong to be overcome.
By the act of June 20, 1878, Congress modified the act of March 3, 1873, "so as to enable the Utah & Northern and its assigns to build by way of Marsh Valley, Portneuf and the Snake River Valley, instead of by way of Soda Springs and the Snake River Valley." A conference was then held at Fort Hall to consider an agreement by which the railroad company might obtain a right of way through the Indian reservation. The conference was attended by the Shoshone and Bannock chiefs and head men, the leading officials of the rail- road company and Joseph K. McCammon, assistant attorney general of the United States, who represented the Government in the negotiations. The agree- ment made by the conference was approved by act of Congress on July 3. 1882.
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
On July 1, 1878, the company gained a financial standing by placing a bond issue of $4,891,000. The road was completed across the southern boundary of Idaho on November 1, 1877, when work was suspended pending the negotiations" with Montana. After the act of June 20, 1878, and the issue of bonds, construc- tion work was resumed and pushed with greater vigor, northward via Marsh Valley and Pocatello to the Snake River at Blackfoot, thence up the east bank of that stream to Idaho Falls (then called Eagle Rock). There a bridge was built and on June 12, 1879, the first train crossed the Snake River. The road was completed to Silver Bow, Mont., in 1880 and the next year it was extended to Butte and Garrison. A little later that part between Butte and Garrison was leased for ninety-nine years to the Northern Pacific.
Compared with railroads of the present day, this first railroad of Idaho was an insignificant affair. The rails on this narrow gauge road were only three feet apart, twenty and one-half inches less than the standard gauge road. The rails weighed only thirty-five pounds to the yard, while few railroads of the present day use on their main lines rails weighing less than ninety pounds to the yard, and the rolling stock was correspondingly light. However, this "toy" railroad played a conspicuous part during the decade following its completion in building up the Snake River Valley.
OREGON SHORT LINE
When John W. Young was contemplating the construction of the Utah & Northern, he considered also a road to start from the little station of Hamsfork, on the Union Pacific in Western Wyoming, and follow the Oregon Trail in a northwesterly direction to its intersection with the Montana Trail between the Montana mines and Corinne, Utah. He finally selected Ogden instead of Hams- fork as the point of junction with the Union Pacific, but the attention of rail- road builders was thus called to the Oregon Trail as a possible line for a railroad to the Northwest.
A preliminary survey for a railroad over this route was made in 1878 and in 1879 location maps were filed for a railroad to run from Granger, Wyo., through Idaho to Oregon, on or near the Oregon Trail. Right of way was secured and in 1880 work was begun at Granger. About the middle of June, 1882, the track was laid to the Idaho line. Before the close of the next year 390 miles had been built, and in 1884 the line was completed to Huntington, Ore., giving the Oregon Short Line a total mileage of 540 miles, virtually following the Oregon Trail.
At Huntington the road made connection with the Oregon Railway & Naviga- tion Company-now the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company -which was then being built. On January 1, 1885, the first through passenger train from Granger to Portland passed through Idaho. Crowds gathered at the stations to celebrate the event and all along the route the opening of the road was hailed with the wildest enthusiasm by a people who had been striving for nearly a quarter of a century for improved methods of travel and transporta- tion.
CONSOLIDATION
The Utah & Northern was operated as part of the Union Pacific system until August 1, 1889, when it was consolidated with the Oregon Short Line
RAILROAD BRIDGE OVER CLEARWATER RIVER, LEWISTON
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
Railway Company. In 1897 the name was changed to the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, the word "railroad" being substituted for "railway." In 1899 the Utah & Northern was made a standard gauge road.
The early history of the Oregon Short Line is a story of many ups and downs. As the road passed through a sparsely settled country, freight shipments were light, and the principal source of income was from through passenger traffic to the Northwest. The earnings were not sufficient to defray the expenses of maintenance and operation and the road went into the hands of a receiver. In 1897 E. H. Harriman secured control of the Union Pacific, the Oregon Short Line and the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company. Through the genius of Mr. Harriman, who was one of the greatest railroad men of mod- ern times, a thorough 'reorganization of all these lines was effected and they entered upon an era of prosperity.
BRANCH LINES
In 1883 the branch line from Shoshone to Hailey was built and the next year it was extended to Ketchum. Three years later the branch between Nampa and Boise was built, giving the capital of the state railway service. After the reorganization of 1897 the policy of building branches into the undeveloped portions of the state was pursued with greater activity. At Minidoka a branch connects the towns of Rupert, Burley, Oakley, Twin Falls, Buhl and Rogerson with the main line. This road, known as the "Twin Falls Branch," was built in 1904. The branch between Rupert and Bliss, known as the "Bliss Cut-off," was completed in 1909. Malad City, the county seat of Oneida County, is the terminus of a branch which connects with the main line at Brigham, Utah. A branch eighty-five miles in length connects Mackay, Custer County, with the main line at Blackfoot, and a branch between Ashton and Victor provides rail- road accommodations for Teton County. Other important branches are those between Idaho Falls and the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park; be- tween Nampa and Lakeport, in the western part of Valley County ; between Emmett and Payette, and between Richfield and Hill City. Then there are a number of shorter branches running from the main line to such towns as Aber- deen, Homedale, Murphy, Paris, Preston, Wilder, etc.
NORTHERN PACIFIC
A charter was granted to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company by the Legislature of Washington Territory in 1857, but that body had no power to authorize the extension of the line beyond the territorial boundary. Manu- facturers and builders of the East and Middle West urged the building of the road, as it would bring the timber of the Washington forests into market, while the fruit growers and fisheries of the West were anxious to find a wider market for their products. Consequently, there was a demand at both ends of the proposed road for its construction. In 1860, when Congress was granting immense tracts of land and subsidies to railroad companies, the Northern Pacific barely failed of being one of the participants. Agitation of the subject was continued and on July 4, 1864, President Lincoln approved the bill chartering the Northern Pacific Railroad Company.
Some work was done during the next five years and in the early 'zos that
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
portion between Portland, Oregon, and Tacoma, Washington, was completed and placed in operation. The Union Pacific had just been built, capitalists were inclined to believe that one railroad to the Pacific coast was sufficient, and the Northern Pacific Company encountered many difficulties in trying to finance the undertaking. Then came the panic of 1873 and work was suspended. The company passed through bankruptcy, was reorganized, and active work was resumed in 1878.
Three routes across the territory of Idaho were proposed. I. Via Coeur d'Alene Pass and Lake Pend d'Oreille; 2. Through Lolo Pass and down the Clearwater River to its junction with the Snake; 3. Via Big Hole or Nez Perce Pass and down the Salmon River. The first was objectionable on account of the supposed marshy character of the ground about Lake Pend d'Oreille. The Salmon River Route was surveyed in 1872 by Colonel DeLacy, who reported it 150 miles shorter than the northern route, with solid ground for a road bed, and that most of the route lay below the snow line. The people of Lewiston, desirous of having the road pass through that city, urged the selection of the Clearwater route. In the spring of 1881, when the railroad company was debating which route should be selected, about twenty citizens of Idaho and Nez Perce counties organized the Idaho, Clearwater & Montana Transporta- tion Company. Alfred J. Beall was employed to make a survey for a railroad from Lewiston up the Clearwater River. Beall began work in August and on September 22 reported that he had found "Skakaho" Pass, with an elevation of only 4.550 feet and easy approaches both east and west of the Bitter Root Mountains. The Idaho, Clearwater & Montana Transportation Company had not sufficient capital to build a road, and it was afterward asserted that Beall's survey was merely a "bluff" to influence the Northern Pacific to build down the Clearwater via Lewiston.
The Northern Pacific Company then sent Major Truax to investigate. He reported that he was unable to find any pass answering the description of the "Skakaho" mentioned in Beall's report. Truax examined the Lolo Pass and reported its elevation as less than 5,000 feet, with a maximum grade in the approaches of less than, 100 feet to the mile. Petitions were then sent to the officials of the Northern Pacific by the Lewiston people, asking that the road be built via the Lolo Pass and down the Clearwater, but the land grants to the Northern Pacific had been renewed by Congress late in the year 1878, on the condition that the road should be completed within two and a half years. This condition made it necessary to select the shortest route and the road was built down the Clark Fork to Lake Pend d'Oreille, and thence southwest to Spokane, Wash.
The discovery of the rich lead and silver mines on a branch of the Coeur d'Alene River in 1884, caused the Northern Pacific to build a line of railroad from Missoula. Mont., via the Mullan, or St. Regis Pass, into the new min- ing districts, with Wallace as the western terminus. Branches were soon after- ward built from Wallace to the mines at Sunset and Burke.
In April, 1886, the Coeur d'Alene Railway & Navigation Company was or- ganized by D. C. Corbin, S. T. Hauser (at one time governor of Montana), S. S. Glidden. James F. Wardner and others. Before the close of that year a railroad was completed from Hauser, on the Northern Pacific near the western
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
boundary of the state, to Coeur d'Alene. This company operated under the protection of the Northern Pacific Company, which later obtained control of the road. It is now known as the Coeur d'Alene branch.
For thirty years the inhabitants of the rich Clearwater country used every means at their command to induce some railroad company to build a line into that region. Late in the year 1897 the Northern Pacific proposed to the people of Lewiston to build a road between that city and Palouse, Wash.,, on con- dition that they would donate the right of way and grounds for a depot, etc. The proposition was promptly accepted, work was immediately commenced, and on September 8, 1898, the first passenger train steamed into Lewiston. The event was celebrated with appropriate ceremonies and the "Palouse & Lewiston" branch marked the beginning of railroad development in the Clearwater Valley. The Clearwater Short Line, between Lewiston and Stites, was built soon after- ward, and this was followed by the Genesee branch, between Genesee, Idaho, and Pullman, Wash.
OREGON RAILWAY & NAVIGATION COMPANY
The oldest lines of this system were built by the Oregon Central Railroad Company, the Northern Pacific Company chartered by the legislature of Wash- ington Territory in 1857, and the Oregon Narrow Gauge Company, Limited. Henry Villard. a native of Bavaria, became a resident of Oregon through his position of financial agent for the German bondholders in the Oregon & Cali- fornia Railroad Company. In 1872 the Northern Pacific chartered by the United States Government obtained a controlling interest in the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and hypothecated this interest for loans to build the Northern Pa- cific Railroad. When the failure of Jay Cooke & Company precipitated the great panic of 1873, the price of all railroad stocks was greatly depreciated. Villard took advantage of the situation by buying the stocks of the Oregon Central and the Oregon Steam Navigation Company until he owned a controlling interest, and then organized the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company (now the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company). The holdings of this company were leased soon after its organization to the Union Pacific Rail- road Company, and Villard became president of the Northern Pacific.
In the early 'Sos, when the Oregon Short Line and the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company were working on their lines, the people of Lewiston made an effort to induce the former to build down the Snake River to its mouth, but they were again to be disappointed, as the two companies agreed to build via the Burnt River Canyon and effect a junction at Huntington. Shortly after the completion of the main line, the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company built a branch from Wallula to Riparia and later extended it to Rosalia, in the Palouse country.
In 1883 right of way was obtained for a branch between Moscow, Idaho, and Winona, Washington. Wednesday, September 23, 1885, was a red-letter day in Moscow's calendar, as on that day the first train arrived in that city. Salutes were fired, speeches made, and the celebration closed with a grand ball in the evening, at which several of the officials of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company were present.
In the spring of 1887 the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company, under Vol. 1-25
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
the name of the Washington & Idaho Railroad Company, projected a line from Farmington, Wash., through Kootenai and Shoshone counties to the Mon- tana line. The first train on this division reached Wallace on Thursday, Decem- ber 9, 1889. From Kingston, on this branch, a line was built to Murray and Monarch, near the Bitter Root Mountains.
GREAT NORTHERN
One of the most conspicuous figures in the railroad development of the North- west was James J. Hill, of St. Paul, Minn. About the time the Northern Pacific was under construction, Mr. Hill began laying his plans for a railroad across Northern Montana and Idaho to connect St. Paul with Puget Sound. Railroad men scoffed at the idea of a railroad so far north, called Hill a visionary, and some went so far as to advise him that he was courting financial disaster in under- taking such a project. Ignoring the comments and warnings of his pessimistic friends, he went on with his plans and by 1890 the Great Northern was com- pleted almost to the eastern boundary of Idaho.
That year was one of short crops in Northern Idaho and many of the farmers found employment for themselves and their teams in grading the road across the Panhandle. The Great Northern enters the state near the southeast corner of Boundary County and follows the Kootenai River to Bonners Ferry, where the main line turns toward the southwest and runs via Sandpoint and the Clark Fork to the western boundary of the state. At Bonners Ferry a branch diverges from the main line and runs northward into Canada.
The truth of the old saying, "He laughs best who laughs last," is well illus- trated in the history of the Great Northern Railroad. In 1892 the road was completed to Puget Sound and Mr. Hill lived long enough to see the barren country sneered at by his friends become the great wheatfields of the Northwest, the development of which made his railroad a paying institution.
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL
At the close of the year 1917 the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company operated 10,208 miles of road, being in point of mileage the largest . railroad system of the United States. During the closing years of the last century, this company was gradually extending its lines into the states west of the Mis- souri River, and early in the present century began the work of building from the Missouri River at Moreau Junction, South Dakota, to the Pacific coast.
A survey was made across Montana, following the Yellowstone and Mussel- shell rivers, and then paralleling the Northern Pacific through the St. Regis Pass into Montana. The survey crossed Idaho in the fall of 1906 and the winter fol- lowing, and the graders were not far behind the surveyors. From the St. Regis Pass the road runs in a southwesterly direction until it strikes the St. Joe River, thence down that stream and through Shoshone and Benewah counties to the west line of the state. From St. Maries a branch runs southward to Elk River, Clearwater County. There are also branches of this system between Spokane, Wash. and Coeur d'Alene, and Spokane and Plummer, Idaho. The Idaho & Washington Northern is now controlled by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and is known as the Pend d'Oreille branch.
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
While the early transcontinental railroads received aid from the United States in the way of land grants and bonds, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul was built without outside assistance, except a few subsidies voted by counties along the line. Part of the road along the St. Joe River in Shoshone County was built through an almost unknown region, where the cost of construction was unusual- ly heavy, forty miles here costing about one hundred and seventy- thousand dollars per mile. In May, 1910, the road was opened for freight and local pas- senger traffic, and on May 25, 1911, the first "all-steel" passenger train between Chicago and Puget Sound passed through Idaho over this road.
OTHER RAILROADS
In 1908 the Camas Prairie Railroad (now controlled and operated by the Northern Pacific) was built. The building of this line left the town of Nez Perce, the county seat of Lewis County, about fourteen miles to the east and some local capitalists, headed by Z. A. Johnson, built the railroad from Nez Perce to Ilo, now known as the Lewiston, Nez Perce & Eastern. The Craig Mountain Railroad, a little over six miles in length, leaves the Camas Prairie Railroad at Craig Junction and runs west to Vollmer.
The Spokane International has about one hundred and forty-five miles of track in Idaho. As the name indicates, one terminus of this road is at Spokane, Wash. From that city the main line enters Idaho a short distance south of Hauser and passes through Kootenai, Bonner and Boundary into Canada, touch- ing the cities of Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry on its way. Branches from the main line run to Coeur d'Alene and Bay View.
New Meadows, in the northeastern part of Adams County, is the northern terminus of the Pacific & Idaho Northern, which traverses Adams and Wash- ington counties. This road, about ninety miles in length, forms a junction with the Oregon Short Line at Weiser and gives the farmers and fruit growers of the Weiser Valley an outlet for their products.
The Gilmore & Pittsburg, which runs through the Lemhi Valley from Gil- more to Salmon, was commenced in 1909 and on April 10, 1910, the first train arrived at Salmon. From Leadore a line runs northeast through Bannock Pass to Armstead, Mont., where it connects with the Oregon Short Line.
Then there are a number of short roads, some of which are owned and op- erated by lumber and mining companies, such as the Crystal Creek, Emerald Creek, the Intermountain, Humbird Lumber Company, Rose Lake Lumber Com- pany, the Tyson Railroad, etc.
ELECTRIC LINES
Several of the railroads above described operate trains by electric power on certain sections of their tracks, and there are a few traction companies that use electricity exclusively as a motive power. The Spokane & Inland Empire has three lines in Idaho, running to Coeur d'Alene, Moscow and Hayden Lake. Both steam and electricity are used by this company, the former chiefly for freight traffic. The Boise Valley Traction Company, which operates the street railway system of Boise, has lines running to Nampa and Caldwell; the Lewiston- Clarkston Transit Company has a single line, connecting the cities of Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Wash .; the Ogden, Logan & Idaho operates an electric
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
line between Wellsville, Utah, and Preston, Idaho; and the Twin Falls Railroad Company has a line about six miles long between the City of Twin Falls and Shoshone Falls.
The following table shows the mileage and valuation of the various steam and electric roads in Idaho, as reported by the State Board of Equalization for the year 1918.
Name of Company
Mileage
Valuation
Alder Creek
7.50
$ 11,250
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul.
230.23
7,566,487
Craig Mountain
6.20
24,800
Gilmore & Pittsburg
82.24
740,160
Great Northern
105.29
5.037,975
Humbird Logging
19
14,250
Intermountain
40.32
282,240
Lewiston, Nez Perce & Eastern.
10.98
10,980
McGoldrick Lumber
1.25
1,875
Nez Perce & Idaho
13.80
69,000
Northern Pacific
231.20
11,644,150
Oregon Short Line
1,658.16
52,656,406
Oregon-Washington Railway & Navigation
143.70
3.382,165
Pacific & Idaho Northern.
89.90
134.850
Rose Lake Lumber
6
6,000
Spokane International.
142.95
1,937.705
Utah & Idaho Central.
6.81
68,100
Washington, Idaho & Montana
46.04
640,560
Total
2,841.57
$84,228.953
In addition to the steam roads there are electric lines slightly over 150 miles in length and approximately valued at $1,000,000.
Although Idaho has over 2,000 miles of railways there is no direct com- munication between the northern and southern sections of the state. To go from Boise to Wallace requires the traveller either to journey several hundred miles in Oregon and Washington, or a still greater distance in Montana. This fact has always been detrimental to the best interests of the state, as their re- moteness from each other has prevented that constant visiting between the sec- tions necessary to bring the people of the state into that close propinquity that makes them regard their interests as mutual. A commission was appointed under an act of the Thirteenth Session of the State Legislature intended to ob- viate this inconvenience and under its authority Governor Alexander was author- ized to appoint a commission to investigate and report upon the feasibility of effecting direct railway communication between the two sections. The governor referred the matter to the Public Utilities Commission and that tribunal has recommended a railroad to connect Lewiston with the Pacific & Idaho Northern at New Meadows, the projected road to follow the Salmon and Snake rivers. While without doubt this road will be constructed in the future. there seems but little chance for this generation to avail itself of its benefits, unless by change
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
made in the Constitution of Idaho the state will be enabled to give the project substantial aid.
In fact, the future of the state demands increased railway facilities and its future prosperity will not be assured until this is accomplished. Many projects have been suggested that would double the population and resources of the state, if they were carried out. It is expected that the C. B. & Q. road now in Western Wyoming, will be extended into this state, pass through or near Idaho Falls, and extend from there westward to the ocean. This would open a vast extent of country now practically without railroad communication. A line from Win- nemucca, Nev .. to Boise and extended from the capital city to Butte, Mont., would be of almost incalculable benefit to the three states and would not only open a large timber and grazing area, and supply a ready market for all products of the soil, but more important still, would enable the working of the great bodies of low grade gold and silver, lead and copper ores known to exist in central Idaho and not only would insure great wealth to many of our citizens and in- creased prosperity to them all, but would doubly help by building up in Idaho one or more large cities, as the headquarters of the mining interests. It is a lamentable fact. one that scores of times has impressed itself on every patriotic citizen of Idaho as almost a crime, that there is nowhere in the state a center of population so situated that the people of Idaho can make it their headquarters and build up a great center, and the pitiable spectacle presents itself of our citizens in the northern part of the state building up Spokane in the state of Washington, the residents of our eastern and southern counties making Salt Lake City the mecca to which their pilgrimages on business or for pleasure are directed, while many of the western residents regard Portland, Ore .. in the same way; Wash- ington, Utah, and Oregon growing rich and prosperous at the expense of the citizens of Idaho who, if proper transportation facilities were available. could build up in their own state, a city of which they would all be proud and in which they could all feel a common interest.
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