Illustrated album of biography of the famous valley of the Red River of the North and the park regions of Minnesota and North Dakota : containing biographical sketches of settlers and representative citizens, Part 107

Author: Alden, Ogle & Company
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Alden, Ogle & Company
Number of Pages: 872

USA > Minnesota > Illustrated album of biography of the famous valley of the Red River of the North and the park regions of Minnesota and North Dakota : containing biographical sketches of settlers and representative citizens > Part 107
USA > North Dakota > Illustrated album of biography of the famous valley of the Red River of the North and the park regions of Minnesota and North Dakota : containing biographical sketches of settlers and representative citizens > Part 107

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

When the question came up of connecting by railroad Boston and Burlington, two routes were proposed, one via Montpelier and Concord, and the other via Rutland and Fitchburg. There was much difference of opinion among the citizens which would be most for the interest of Burlington, or in other words, which would injure it the least, or least interfere with its already prosperous business. Public meetings were held, much excitement and feeling prevailed ; one party, headed by the old established house of J. & J. H. Peck & Co., advocating the Vermont Central route via Montpelier, of which Gov- ernor Charles Paine became president, and the other party, represented by Bradley & Canfield, urging the Rutland line, of which Judge Follett became president, who main- tained that as Burlington had always derived its business more or less from eastern and northeastern Vermont, and parts of New Hampshire adjacent, that a railroad from Boston, penetrating these sections, would divert the trade direct to Boston, and thereby injure Burlington correspondingly ; while from the south Burlington had never

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had any trade, the connection with market from that portion of Vermont being made directly with the different shipping ports on the lake, and hence it was evident that while Burlington had nothing to lose, but every thing to gain by opening a trade with the towns of western and southern Vermont, at the same time the line to Boston would be shorter than by Montpelier, and, besides, a connection could be made at Rutland with railroads to Troy and Albany, and thus have a direct rail communication with New York and the West in the winter as well as in the summer. The result of this controversy was the building of both lines, which. was greatly accelerated by the powerful aid and influ- ence contributed by the two contending parties, and on the 18th of December, 1849, the first train from Boston via Rutland came into Burlington, and on the 25th day of the same month the first train via Montpelier arrrived at Winooski, the bridge over the river at that place not being finished to admit it to Burlington. With the advent of the Vermont Central train the fine ten-horse teams of Governor Paine and others ceased their trips forever to Burlington, and the elegant and celebrated six-horse teams and coaches of Mahlon Cottrell, of Montpelier, took their departure for the last time, as had before much of the business from that part of the State; and the prostration and decline of Burlington began, and stagnation in busi- ness reigned supreme, as Bradley & Canfield had maintained would be the case if the Vermont Central line was built.

Originally, to counteract the injury to a certain extent which might arise to Burling- ton from a diversion of its business by the Central line, it was contended by its friends that, its terminus being in Burlington with its shops, offices, etc., new business would be created to offset in part the loss of the old. It was also understood that an independent railroad should be built from Burlington

north to Canada to accommodate both the Boston lines, which were to make their termini in Burlington. But the excitement ran so high during the building that Gov- ernor Paine, after becoming sure that his line would be built, gave up coming to Burling- ton, and arranged, with the aid of John Smith and Lawrence Brainerd, of St. Albans, and Joseph Clark, of Milton, three of the shrewdest and most capable business men ever raised in Vermont, to make a line north from Essex Junction, thus practically extend- ing the main line of the Central to Rouse's Point, leaving Burlington at one side to be reached by a branch of six miles. This move gave the final blow to Burlington, and left the Rutland Railroad without any rail connection north, and forced it to make its connections with the Ogdensburgh and Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroads to Montreal, at Rouse's Point by boat. To meet this emergency, as the Rutland Rail- road Company had not the right by its charter to build boats, Bradley & Canfield came to the rescue, and within ninety days, early in the spring of 1850, constructed four barges of the capacity of 3,000 barrels of flour each, and the steamer "Boston" to tow them between Burlington and Rouse's Point; and this enabled the Rutland line to compete successfully for the western business with the Vermont Central.

Previous to this, as early as 1847, Mr. Canfield felt that a change in the character of the business at Burlington was inevitable so soon as the railroads should be completed, and to supply what would be destroyed new branches would have to be built up. All the flour and salt heretofore, for northern Vermont and New York, came from Troy and Albany by canal via Whitehall, while that for the rest of New England, after pass- ing through the Erie canal, found its way to Boston and other ports either by water, by way of New York, or by the Boston &

PARK REGIONS OF MINNESOTA.

Albany Railroad to the inland towns. He thus early took the ground that, with the new proposed lines of railroads completed between the Atlantic and River St. Lawrence, a new route would have to be opened by that way and the upper lakes to the wheat regions of the West. Upon consultation with leading forwarders at Troy and Albany, a movement of this kind, he found, would incur the hostility of New York and all parties interested in the navigation of the Erie canal, which at that time was the main channel of trans- portation between the lakes and Hudson river. But Mr. Canfield, nothing daunted by such intimations, went in the spring of 1848 to Montreal, and laid his views and plans for a northern route before Messrs. Holmes, Young & Knapp, the most promi- nent merchants in Canada, and who carried on an extensive business with Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago in wheat, flour and pork. They concurred with him in tlie desirability, but not the practicability of the scheme. From thence he went up the St. Lawrence river, stopping at Ogdensburgh, Kingston, Sackett's Harbor, Oswego, Roch- ester and Buffalo, to Cleveland. Here he met Messrs. A. H. & D. N. Barney, who were engaged in boating on the western lakes, and who have since become so promi- nent in the railroad and express business in New York City, and engaged them to send a vessel with a load of flour to Montreal, which he purchased on his own account. This vessel, although passing the locks in the Welland and St. Lawrence canals to Mon- treal, was too large to pass those of the Chambly into Lake Champlain, and hence Mr. Canfield had to unload the flour at Montreal, and after much trouble with the custom-house officers transferred it by ferry- boat to La Prairie, nine miles above Mon- treal, on the opposite side of the St. Law -. rence, thence by rail to St. Jolins, at the

foot of Lake Champlain, and then by steamer to Burlington. This was the first cargo of flour ever sent from Lake Erie to Lake Champlain via Welland canal and St. Lawrence river, and the entering-wedge which Mr. Canfield then believed, and still believes, to a great water communication from the west end of Lake Superior to Lake Champlain, by which steam vessels of much larger size than any now on the lakes, will make the whole passage without break- ing bulk, and ultimately going through to New York by the conversion of the Champlain canal between Whitehall and Troy into a ship canal. Although it was an expensive experiment, yet it showed that there was another route than that by the Erie canal, which was sooner or later to be developed into an important one. The next season Bradley & Canfield, in order to more fully demonstrate the practicability of their new route, chartered the steam propeller "Earl of Cathcart " to run between Detroit and Montreal, agreeing to furnish at Detroit 1,500 barrels of flour every two weeks, at a fixed rate of freight, to be paid whether the flour was shipped or not; and to enable them to comply with this contract they purchased a. large flouring mill at Battle Creek, Michigan, to manufacture the flour, and stationed Eli Chittenden at Detroit to attend to the shipments, and thus opened a regular trade via Montreal to Burlington the whole season. Meanwhile the Ogdensburgh Railroad was completed, and Mr. Canfield, still determined to carry out his original plan of opening a more practicable northern route for much of the business between New England and the West, went to Oswego and Buffalo, and after investigating more fully the operations of steam propellers on the lakes and Welland Canal, made a contract with E. C. Bancroft, of Oswego, to build two propellers of full size for the Welland Canal locks, costing $20,000 each, and arranged with Chamberlin

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& Crawford, at Cleveland, to supply two more, with which to make a regular line from Detroit to Ogdensburgh. The Erie Canal forwarders, becoming alarmed at this new departure, procured from the legislature of New York a reduction of tolls on wheat and flour, which interfered seriously with the new route, compelling a reduction of price of freight to about actual cost. This reduction was unnecessary, as it did not alter the pro- duction, and Mr. Canfield contended that the increased production of grain in the new-developed Western States would keep pace with all the increased facilities of transportation, which has since proved to be true, notwithstanding there are now eight through lines of railroad, as well as the Erie Canal and various water lines on the St. Lawrence river. Very few peo- ple at that day could be induced to concur in Mr. Canfield's views of the future development of the great Northwest, and in looking back now it is as difficult to realize why they could not. But for the broad views and almost prophetic ideas of a few such mnen, backed up by tremendous energy and perse- verance, the great internal improvements of this country might yet be comparatively in their infancy.

The next season, 1850, opened with the line of propellers between Ogdensburgh and Detroit. But the fates were against them. One of the new ones with a large cargo ran onto a rock in the upper St. Lawrence and sank on the first trip, and another was wrecked on her second voyage, entailing a very heavy loss upon Bradley & Canfield. Others were immediately procured to take their places, and the line was kept up, so that it was demonstrated at the end of the season that with proper vessels a regular line could be supported, the result of which was the establishment of the Northern Transporta- tion Line from Ogdensburgh to Detroit and Chicago, consisting of a fleet of ten or fifteen

propellers, which forever settled the prac- ticability of the Northern route, so that at the present day nearly all the business between northern New England and the West is done that way, either by rail or water. During the four or five years of its inauguration Mr. Canfield was the main advocate and promoter of it, and it was through his persistent efforts and repeated journeys between Burlington and the various ports on the St. Lawrence and upper lakes, and after various trials and experiments and great loss of time and money, that he saw his plans succeed and the route thoroughly opened and maintained. But there were some obstacles which he still encountered, and especially the delay and damage incident to transshipment at different points, which led him to consider the plan of a continuous water route without transshipment from the upper lakes, involving the construction of a ship canal from Caughnawaga, above the Lachine Rapids, in the St. Lawrence river, to Lake Champlain. He had frequent inter- views in Montreal with the Hon. John Young, Benjamin Holmes, Harrison Stephens, Peter McGill, Messrs. Holton & McPherson, for- warders, all of whom were men of broad views and extended knowledge of the resources of the vast West on both sides of the line. Mr. Young had already agitated the subject in Canada, and there was no man in the States or Dominion who was better informed upon the subject, or who could present it in a more convincing and magnetic manner. Mr. Canfield arranged a series of meetings to bring the scheme before the pub- lic. One was held in Burlington, August 14, 1849, which was addressed by Mr. Young, Judge Follett and Charles Adams, Esq., of Burlington, the later gentleman entering into it very enthusiastically as well as intelli- gently. Another was held at Saratoga, August 21, over which General John E. Wool presided, which was also addressed by

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Mr. Young, Mr. Adams, Chancellor Wal- worth and many other prominent men from Montreal, Troy, Albany, Whitehall and other cities. A committee was appointed, consist- ing of prominent citizens in the States and Canada, to devise measures to carry on the enterprise. A survey was made, and it looked as though the project might be accomplished. But when the matter came up in the Parliament of Canada for a charter an unexpected resistance arose from Mon- treal, and although the charter was finally granted, there were so many impracticable conditions attached to it that Mr. Young and his friends did not deem it wise to proceed under its provisions.

The fact that the large lumber trade with Canada and Michigan has grown up since at Burlington, even with the much inferior and more distant connection by the way of the Chambly Canal, demonstrates the necessity of a canal of much larger dimensions, and had the original plan of Mr. Canfield and Mr. Young been carried out, Burlington would long since have become the distributing point for the flour and grain of the West as well as lumber for nearly all of New Eng- land ; the large steamers leaving Duluth and Chicago would have discharged their cargoes on the docks at Burlington without breaking bulk, thereby creating a business which would have added greatly to its population and prosperity, and made it one of the most important cities of New England. Mr. Canfield still believes that this canal will, sooner or later, be built ; that the necessities of trade and commerce will demand it, and that nothing would conduce so much to the growth and advancement of Burlington as the construction of the Caughnawaga Ship Canal.

While Mr. Canfield was thus engaged in these various enterprises he formed the ac- quaintance of Mr. Edwin F. Johnson, then perhaps the most experienced railroad engi-

neer in America, who spent most of his time at Burlington in the stone store of Bradley & Canfield. Mr. Johnson, having been pro- jector of the Erie Railroad in 1836 from New York to the lakes, as well as having been engaged in the construction of the Erie Canal, had given much thought, and col- lected from army officers, trappers and traders much information relative to the belt of country between the great lakes and the Pacific ocean, and had become so thoroughly impressed with the importance of a railroad to the Pacific coast that he was constantly talking with Mr. Canfield upon the project to induce him to take hold of it. Mr. Can- field, who was then about thirty years old, became so much convinced by Mr. Johnson's arguments, as well as by his own study of the country, of the practicability of a rail- road across the continent, that he resolved to make it the business of his life and devote his energies and talents to the accomplish- ment of it, believing he could in no way be so instrumental in promoting the happiness and welfare of his fellow-men as in opening to settlement that immense tract of fertile land in the Northwest, and which would furnish homes for millions of the poor and down-trodden of all nations.

The first active step toward it was the taking of a contract in 1852, by himself and partners, to build the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Railroad, now known as the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, from Chicago to St. Paul, Minnesota, and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Mr. Edwin F. Johnson was made chief engineer. At this time there was no railroad into Chicago from the East, and the materials and supplies were trans- ported from Buffalo by boat through the lakes and straits of Mackinac to Chicago. Robert J. Walker, secretary of the treas- ury of the United States, N. P. Tall- madge, ex-United States senator from New York, and other prominent men were the

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directors of the company. It was while Mr. Johnson was thus engaged on this road that he used to have long talks with Mr. Canfield about a line of railroad to the Pacific ocean from St. Paul, and wrote an exhaustive treatise upon Pacific railroads, showing that the northern via the Missouri, Yellowstone and Columbia rivers was the most feasible route, as well as passing through the most productive country. This made a volume of 150 pages, with an extended map, which Mr. Canfield and his partner published at their own expense, upon which was traced the isothermal line, showing that the climate became milder from Minnesota to Puget Sound, until a mean temperature there was warmer than Chesapeake Bay.

The Hon. Jefferson Davis at this time was secretary of war, and with the prominent leaders of the South was very desirous to extend Southern territory, and doubtless had in mind at some future time the acquisition of Mexico. Hearing from his associate in the cabinet, the Hon. Robert J. Walker, that Mr. Johnson had in manuscript the above-mentioned volume, he came to New York and sought an introduc- tion to him, whom he knew to be an engineer of extensive knowledge and that whatever he had written was reliable and im- portant. At his request Mr. Johnson loaned him the manuscript for a few days, and after reading it, and seeing the conclusion to which Mr. Johnson had come, that the northern route was the most feasible, not only with respect to its topographical feat- ures, soil, climate and mineral resources, but also of great importance, being so near to the British line in the military and commer- cial point of view, he came on to New York to return the manuscript and see Mr. John- son again. Inasmuch as this came in con- fict with Mr. Davis' cherished plans, he endeavored to convince Mr. Johnson that he must have greatly underrated the difficulties

of the northern route, the obstruction by snow, the elevation of the main summit of the Rocky mountains, which was really 3,000 feet lower than those by the Union Pacific, and that he did not realize how rapidly the ground rises near the source of streams ; while to any pratical engineer the most feasible point for crossing the Rocky mountains which would naturally strike him, would be at the divide, where the waters of the two rivers to the Pacific ocean and the Gulf of Mexico take their rise-the Mississippi and Columbia. Mr. Johnson lis- tened attentively to what Mr. Davis had to say and replied: "that he had given the subject much thought and patient investiga- tion, but his conclusions were strictly logical from the facts, and that he had no doubt of the full verification of his estimates by actual measurement hereafter to be made," which the actual surveys for the- Northern Pacific Railroad have since con- firmed; and if the profile of the Northern Pacific of to-day be compared with the profile accompanying the above manuscript of Mr. Johnson, the coincidence would be found wonderful.

Mr. Davis, finding he could not change Mr. Johnson's views and that Mr. Johnson was going to publish his manuscript, returned to Washington and on the 3d of March, 1853, procured the passage of a resolution by congress, authorizing him, the secretary of war, to make such explorations as he might deem advisable, to ascertain the most practicable route for a railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean. He at once organized three expeditions, one by the way of the Southern route, one by the middle or Central route, and the other by the Northern route. He placed in charge of the expedition at the eastern end of the Northern route, Major Isaac I. Stevens, then the secretary of the national demo- cratic committee, and Lieut. George B.

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McClellan in charge of the Western end, both of whom were particular friends of his and whom he had expected would probably report unfavorably to the Northern route. In Lieut. McClellan he realized his expecta- tions, but Major Stevens, although entering upon the work with strong predjudices against it, become a convert as he progressed to the Northern route, and fully confirmed all Mr. Johnson had predicted. Major Stevens became so convinced of the superior- ity of this route that he got the appointment from President Pierce of the governorship of Washington Territory, and removed there and devoted most of his life in presenting to the public the great importance of this route, and enlightening public opinion with respect to its wonderful resources. To Edwin F. Johnson, more than any other man, at that early day, is due the true presentation to the public of the merits of the Northern Pacific, based upon reliable facts, when there were but very few people in this country who knew anything of its real merits and the re- sources of the country through which it was to pass; and fewer still who believed it was pos- sible ever to build it. Then and there was inaugurated the first practical steps toward the construction of a railroad by the North- ern route in 1852 from Chicago.

In those days railroad building was slow compared with what it is now, materials difficult to get, capital timid, contractors inexperienced, and, before the railroad was finished to Fond du Lac, the panic of 1857 overtook it and stopped all work, embarrass- ing the company and contractors. Before the company could be reorganized the War of the Rebellion came on, when the urgent necessity of a railroad to the Pacific became apparent, and the Government selected the middle route, or Union Pacific, as the first line to be built, granting it lands and a money subsidy, it being understood at the time that the same money subsidy should at

some future time be given to each the Northern and Southern routes. But this was never carried out by congress, and the rail- roads by both these routes had to be built by private enterprise, with only the land grant, but without any money subsidy from the United States Government.

Soon after the war broke out and the Government assumed control of the rail- roads of the country, Col. Thomas A. Scott, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, was made assistant secretary of war, having for his special duties the collecting of the armies of the United States. He sent for Mr. Canfield and placed him in charge of all the railroads about Washington as assistant manager. At this time Washington was surrounded by the rebels, and all communication was cut off, both by land and water, except by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, with a single track-all the materials and supplies for the daily support of all the citizens, the army and everything, as well as all passengers and troops, had to be taken over this line. It required from thirty to forty trains a day each way, of about thirty-five cars each, and the fear that the enemy might intercept them at any time caused no little uneasiness to the president and his cabinet. Even the western end of this road was in the hands of the enemy, its officers and managers, with one honorable exception, the superintendent, William Prescott Smith, were in sympathy and co-operating with the rebels. That portion between Baltimore and Washington was guarded, especially at the culverts, embankments and bridges, by a regiment under the command of Col. John H. Robinson, of Binghamton, New York.

It was a very responsible and trying posi- tion. The flower of the Confederate army, under their experienced and popular leader, General Lee, was encamped upon the " sacred soil" in sight of the capitol ; rebel spies and allies were everywhere present in

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$ disguise, occupying positions of trust in the different departments of the Government, keeping up a constant secret communication with the rebel leaders ; the whole North in a state of anxiety and excitement lest the capital of the Union, with its treasures and archives, should fall into the hands of the enemy, while the South was hourly ex- pecting to hear of its surrender to General Lee, and its occupation by their troops.

Every avenue of communication by land and water with the District of Columbia was in the hands of the rebels, except the single iron track to Baltimore, over which the 300,000 soldiers for the Army of the Potomac were to be transported for the de- fense of Washington, as well as everything for the support of man and beast in and about Washington. It was only after fre- quent interviews and repeated assurances that Mr. Canfield could satisfy President Lincoln that he could, on the single track, keep open a communication with Washington until the Army of the Potomac should be collected, provided the Government would furnish troops enough to protect the line from destruction.

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Illustrated album of biography of the famous valley of the Red River of the North and the park regions of Minnesota and North Dakota : containing biographical sketches of settlers and representative citizens, Part 107

Author: Alden, Ogle & Company Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Alden, Ogle & Company Number of Pages: 872

Author: Alden, Ogle & Company
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Alden, Ogle & Company
Number of Pages: 872