|
|
 |
|
James
J. Hill: Empire Builder
|
|
|
James J. Hill arrived in Saint Paul in 1856. He followed the massive flow of agricultural products south from Ontario. At age 17, he began working as a clerk at a steamboat landing.
|
|
In 1866, Hill got a job as an agent for the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. During the 1870’s, he became involved in the Red River ox cart trade and gradually established a considerable network of the steamboat lines in the Upper Midwest.
|
|
In 1883, Hill became president of the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railroad Company. In 1890, he renamed it the Great Northern Railway.
|
 |
|
In 1893, it reached the Puget Sound at Everett, Washington and Hill had created an empire that stretched from Saint Paul, Minnesota to the Pacific Ocean.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
