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107-597: The American Inn was the sole hotel on the grounds of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition held in Portland, Oregon, in 1905. As advertised in a local newspaper, the Inn was "beautifully located on the main esplanade on the shore of Guild's Lake" and provided guests with easy access to the Exposition's many wonders. It was also touted in the paper as "A Woman's Enterprise," "a monument to

214-412: A log cabin which was said to be the world's largest. It was constructed of 54 long unhewn logs, and contained exhibits of local forestry products, wildlife, and Native American photographs. The building was 206 feet (63 m) long, 102 feet (31 m) wide, and 72 feet (22 m) high (63 m x 31m x 22m), and cost nearly $ 30,000 The building stood until destroyed by fire in 1964 and inspired

321-452: A committee appointed by the government with the intent of sharing the burdens of planning. On this date, they chose a president, Jefferson Myers , who "made a speech ... urging hearty co-operation with the Lewis and Clark directors to bring about the best results. He later repeated these assurances of help to the directors." This seemed to go well, and their assistance helped guide the fair through

428-775: A cricket match at the fair between the Portland Cricket Club founded in 1876 and the Victoria Cricket Club founded in 1852. Consequently, the Pacific Coast tournament was played in Victoria until 1914. (David Sentance US Cricket Historian & author of Cricket in America 1710-2000) The fair, by all economic measures, was a major success. Over the entire run of the fair, the box office recorded almost 1.6 million paid admissions, an average of 11,600 visitors per day. Tickets to

535-474: A daring raid. Using his European connections and a reputation for having "bested" Jay Gould in a battle for control of the Kansas Pacific Railroad years before, Villard solicited and raised $ 8,000,000 million dollars from his associates. This was his famous "Blind Pool," Villard's associates were not told what the money would be used for. In this case, the funds were used by him to purchase control of

642-501: A garbage incinerator , a landfill , a rail switching yard , wartime housing, and warehouses. Today the ground formerly occupied by the lake (and the fairgrounds itself) is still used for primarily industrial purposes, and has been designated an Industrial Sanctuary by the City of Portland. Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway ( reporting mark NP ) was an important transcontinental railroad that operated across

749-525: A large area, including extensive trackage in the western Federal territories and later states of Idaho , Minnesota, Montana , North Dakota , Oregon , Washington , and Wisconsin . In addition, the N.P. had an international branch running north to Winnipeg , capital of the province of Manitoba , in the newly organized Canada . The main activities were shipping wheat and other farm products, cattle, timber, and minerals; bringing in consumer goods, transporting passengers; and selling land. The Northern Pacific

856-686: A long time, most famously the Forestry Building, which was reinforced with a concrete foundation and converted into a forestry museum. It burned to the ground in August 1964. A replacement museum was built in Portland's Washington Park and is today known as the World Forestry Center . A few buildings from the fair remain standing today, including the Fairmount Hotel , the American Inn , and

963-524: A major economic center, largely fueled by the arrival of the railroads. Three transcontinental railroads used Portland as their Pacific coast terminus – the Northern, Southern, and Union Pacific Railroads . Meanwhile, Portland's wheat and flour industries were growing at an amazing rate, and Portland held "the largest flour mill on the Pacific coast." The unparalleled timber industry continued to grow, as "Oregon

1070-558: A mile and half (2.4 km) of track each day. In early September, as the line neared completion. To celebrate, and to gain national publicity for investment opportunities in his region, Villard chartered four trains to carry guests from the East to Gold Creek in western Montana Territory No expense was spared, and the list of dignitaries included Frederick Billings, former 18th President Ulysses S. Grant (served 1869-1877), only two years before his tragic death from cancer, and Villard's in-laws,

1177-715: A provisional committee" to begin planning some sort of fair. Soon, a permanent board was conceived, and the head of the Portland General Electric Company, Henry W. Goode, became the president of the Board of Directors. Others included I. N. Fleischner, First Vice-President; Oskar Huber, Director of Works; Colonel Henry E. Dosch , Director of Exhibits; Henry E. Reed, Secretary; and J. A. Wakefield, Director of Concessions and Admissions. These were some of Portland's most wealthy and powerful men, working together to create an event of unmatched grandeur and power. Although

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1284-400: A ride to the site for 10 cents. The site was sold for private development prior to the fair and was leased back to the city for the event. Numerous individuals were involved in the design and construction of the fairgrounds and buildings. The Olmsted Brothers design firm was hired to develop a plan for the grounds, for $ 5,000. The plan designed by John Charles Olmsted took advantage of

1391-442: A short amount of time for completion, and a large penalty if the deadline were missed. While crews worked on the tunnel, the railroad built a temporary switchback route across the pass. With numerous timber trestles and grades which approached six percent, the temporary line required two M class 2-10-0s —the two largest locomotives in the world (at that time)—to handle a tiny five-car train. On May 3, 1888, crews holed through

1498-502: A simulated village, engaging in traditional activities. Some of these activities, such as preparation and consumption of dog meat , would be viewed as primitive to most visitors. Many exhibitors had to be turned away due to lack of space. In addition to the major exhibits and pavilions, the site also featured an amusement park , various sideshows , concerts, free motion pictures (a novelty in those days), blimp excursions, and numerous vendors selling food and other items. The site

1605-587: A stable path to that important interchange. At the same time, E. H. Harriman , head of the Union Pacific Railroad , was also looking for a road which could connect his company to Chicago. The road both Harriman and Hill looked at was the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. To Harriman, the Burlington was a road which paralleled much of his own and offered tantalizing direct access to Chicago. For Hill as well, there

1712-565: A threat in certain quarters. German-born former war correspondent / journalist and later newspaper / magazine publisher Henry Villard (6th President N.P.R.R. 1881-1884), had raised capital for western railroads in Europe (especially in the recently unified German Empire ), from 1871 to 1873. After returning to New York City in 1874, he invested on behalf of his clients in railroads in Oregon . Through Villard's work, most of these lines became properties of

1819-465: Is estimated a million out-of-town guests came to Portland, resulting in millions of dollars (in 1905 figures) added to the economy. In addition, construction of the fairgrounds provided 1,000 construction jobs. Very little of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition remains today. The vast majority of the structures were designed to be temporary and were torn down the following year, in 1906. A few structures were moved elsewhere and remained in use for

1926-413: Is said, can be utilized to great advantage and made a scene of beauty." With this voting, "the Lewis and Clark Exposition had its site – a grove of trees, 180 acres (0.73 km ) of pasture, and 220 acres (0.89 km ) of waist-high stagnant water at the site's center." Guild's Lake had numerous other advantages. As the site was located on the edge of settlement in Portland, it was easily accessed by

2033-514: Is second [in wooded area], with 54,300 square miles" and "in quantity of standing lumber, Oregon leads the Union, with 300 billion feet ..." Oregon's shipping was growing, too, fueled by a $ 1.5 million project to dike and dredge the Columbia River . During this time, Oregon's population grew from 13,294 in 1850 to 413,536 in 1900, a 3,000-percent growth, compared to the 1000-percent growth of

2140-539: The Balch Creek watershed. Guild's Lake was a site "everyone in Portland was vaguely aware of ... [though] no one on the site selection subcommittee could remember whether it evaporated during the dry season." Inspections showed it remained at a depth of 2.5 feet (0.76 m) through the summer, and therefore would be an appropriate site. By September 4, 1902, the Oregon Journal reported: "the fair officials are hot on

2247-705: The Cape Horn to the Pacific Ocean. In Minnesota, the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad completed construction of its 155-mile (249 km) line stretching from Saint Paul east to Lake Superior at Duluth in 1870. It was leased to the Northern Pacific line six years later in the American Centennial celebration year of 1876 and was eventually absorbed by the Northern Pacific. The famed North Coast Limited

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2354-565: The Great Lakes ). The backing and promotions of famed New York City / Wall Street financier Jay Cooke , in the summer of 1870 brought the first real momentum to the railway company. Over the course of 1871, the Northern Pacific pushed westward from Minnesota Territory into the newer Dakota Territory (present-day state of North Dakota ). Surveyors and construction crews had to maneuver through swamps, bogs, and tamarack forests. The difficult terrain and insufficient funding delayed by six months

2461-600: The National Cash Register Building (now the McMenamins St. Johns Theater and Pub). About half a million pink hybrid tea rose bushes, all "Mme Caroline Testout," were planted along the streets of Portland for the Lewis and Clark Exposition. Many of these remain today. Many people moved to Portland following the fair, which is why many houses around Portland were built in the years that followed. There were also many street paving and sidewalk projects in

2568-706: The Northern Securities Company , a move which would be undone by the Supreme Court in 1904 under the auspices of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act . Harriman was not immune either; he was forced to break up his holdings in the Union Pacific Railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad a few years later. In 1903, Hill finally got his way with the House of Morgan. Howard Elliott , another veteran of

2675-626: The Smithsonian Institution ; numerous famous artists such as Claude Monet were featured. Some of the exhibits were controversial (and by modern standards, offensive), such as an exhibit of Philippines Igorot tribespeople; displayed in order to convince the American populace of the legitimacy of the recent U.S. conquest of the Philippines, taken from Spain in the recently concluded Spanish–American War . The exhibit included Igorots living in

2782-581: The Snake River near Wallula, Washington . The Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines had completed the first trans-continental route 12 years earlier in 1869. Within a decade of his return, Villard was head of a transportation empire in the Pacific Northwest that had but one real competitor, the Northern Pacific Railroad. The Northern Pacific's trans-continental route completion threatened

2889-856: The Western Forestry Center as a replacement. It also inspired the lobby of the Glacier Park Lodge in Montana. The fair was lit up by night with incandescent lights , as well as large searchlights on the Government Building. These were designed by Thomas H. Wright , working for Portland General Electric . In addition, numerous statues adorned the grounds. Several of the statues remain today, including Alice Cooper 's Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste which now stands in Washington Park. Over 100 thousand light bulbs were used to outline

2996-445: The northern Great Plains of central Canada to the northern states of the U.S . and especially its Midwestern big cities, manufacturing centers and markets. The U.S. Congress granted the Northern Pacific Railroad a generous potential bonanza of 60 million acres (94,000 sq mi; 240,000 km ) of land adjacent to the line in exchange for building rail transportation to an undeveloped western territory. Josiah Perham

3103-528: The 1870s, began anew. Virgil Bogue , a veteran civil engineer , was sent to explore the Cascades again. On March 19, 1881, he discovered Stampede Pass . In 1883, John W. Sprague , the head of the new Pacific Division, drove the Golden Spike to mark the beginning of the railroad from what would become Kalama, Washington . He resigned a months later due to impaired health. In 1884, after the departure of Villard,

3210-484: The American Inn Condominiums, still stands at 2129 Northrup Street as one of the few remaining relics of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. Photo of The American Inn from Oregon Digital 37°05′55″N 88°41′02″W  /  37.09857°N 88.68391°W  / 37.09857; -88.68391 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition Since its founding in 1845, Portland had evolved into

3317-469: The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, became president of the Northern Pacific on October 23. Elliott was a relative of the Burlington's crusty chieftain Charles Elliott Perkins, and more distantly the Burlington's great backer, John Murray Forbes . He had spent 20 years in the trenches of Midwest railroading, where rebates, pooling, expansion and rate wars had brought ruinous competition. Having seen

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3424-687: The Commission that came with it), the Board of Directors then began the process of choosing a site on which to hold this fair. There were a number of locations considered, on both the east and west sides of the Willamette River. The three main sites on the eastern side were University Park, now the site of the University of Portland ; City View Park, now Sellwood Park and Oaks Park ; and Hawthorne Park, now an industrial area. The western sites considered were City Park, now Washington Park ; and Guild's Lake in

3531-548: The Dakota Territory conducted expeditions to protect the railroad survey and construction crews in Dakota and Montana Territories. In 1877, construction resumed in a small way. Northern Pacific pushed a branch line southeast from Tacoma to Puyallup, Washington and on to the coal fields around Wilkeson, Washington . Much of the coal was destined for export through Tacoma to San Francisco, California , where it would be thrown into

3638-585: The East after 1873, led by the Credit Mobilier Scandal and the Union Pacific Railroad stock fraud, caused a nationwide economic recession and financial panic in New York City's Wall Street financial district, stopping further railroad building for twelve years during the latter 1870s and early 1880s. In 1886, the company restarted and put down 164 miles (264 km) of main line across the northern Dakotas, with an additional 45 miles (72 km) from

3745-619: The European creditors' holding company, the Oregon and Transcontinental Company . Of the lines held by the Oregon and Transcontinental, the most important was the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company , which ran east from Portland, Oregon along the left bank of the Columbia River to a connection with the Union Pacific Railroad 's Oregon Short Line at the confluence of the Columbia River and

3852-517: The Gladstone Shops, which closed in 1915. On May 24, 1879, Frederick H. Billings became the fifth president of the company. Billings' tenure would be short but ferocious. Reorganization, bond sales, and improvement in the U.S. economy allowed Northern Pacific to strike out across the upper Missouri River by letting a contract to build 100 miles (160 km) of railroad west of the river. The railroad's new-found strength, however, would be seen as

3959-496: The Lewis and Clark Athletic Games and Championship Contests. The largest exhibit by a foreign nation was Italy 's, whose pavilion contained a large collection of marble statues. Germany and France also spent enormous sums on their exhibits, the latter providing a replica of the drawing room of King Louis XIV . Japan spent $ 1 million (a significant sum in 1905) on its exhibit, including numerous cultural artifacts such as porcelains, silks, and lanterns. States with exhibits at

4066-653: The Mississippi River as the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy had done, Villard chose to lease the Wisconsin Central . Some backers of the Wisconsin Central had long associations with Villard, and an expensive lease was worked out between the two companies which was only undone by the Northern Pacific's second bankruptcy. The ultimate result was that the Northern Pacific was left without a direct connection to Chicago,

4173-494: The N.P. reached the shores of the upper Missouri River at Edwinton, Dakota Territory (now the state capital of Bismarck, North Dakota) . In the west sector, the N.P. track extended 25 miles (40 km) north from Kalama. Surveys were carried out in the Dakota Territory protected by 600 troops of the horse cavalry of the United States Army , under command of Civil War hero, General Winfield Scott Hancock , nicknamed "Hancock

4280-543: The Northern Pacific Corner. By the end of the day, he was short just 40,000 shares of common stock. Harriman placed an order to cover this, but was overridden by his broker, Jacob Schiff , of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Hill, on the other hand, reached the vacationing Morgan in Italy and managed to place an order for 150,000 shares of common stock. Though Harriman might be able to control the preferred stock, Hill knew

4387-652: The Northern Pacific Railway Company on July 2, 1864, with the goals of connecting the Great Lakes with Puget Sound on the northwestern coast of the United States on the Pacific Ocean , opening vast new lands for farming, ranching, lumbering and mining, and linking the Federal territories and later newly admitted to the Union as states of Washington and Oregon to the rest of the country (plus connecting

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4494-410: The Northern Pacific began building toward Stampede Pass from Wallula in the east and the area of Wilkeson in the west. By the end of the year, rails had reached Yakima, Washington in the east. A 77-mile (124 km) gap remained in 1886. In January of that year, Nelson Bennett was given a contract to construct a 9,850-foot (1.9 mi; 3.0 km) tunnel under Stampede Pass . The contract specified

4601-551: The Northern Pacific closer to the orbit of James J. Hill. In the late 1880s, the Villard regime, in another one of its costly missteps, attempted to stretch the Northern Pacific from the Twin Cities to the all-important rail hub of Chicago, Illinois . A costly project was begun in creating a union station and terminal facilities for a Northern Pacific which had yet to arrive. Rather than build directly down to Chicago, perhaps following

4708-537: The Northern Pacific experienced the first competition in the form of James Jerome Hill and his Great Northern Railway . The Great Northern, like the Northern Pacific before it, was pushing west from the Twin Cities towards Puget Sound, and would be completed in 1893. Mismanagement, sparse traffic, and the Panic of 1893 sounded the death knell for the Northern Pacific and Villard's interest in railroading. The company slipped into its second bankruptcy on October 20, 1893. Oakes

4815-474: The Northern Pacific still completed the line north along the Pacific Ocean and U.S. west coast from Kalama to Tacoma, a distance of 110 miles (180 km), before the end of 1873. On December 16, the first steam locomotive train arrived in Tacoma. But by the next year in 1874 the company was approaching insolvency. Northern Pacific slipped into its first bankruptcy on June 30, 1875. President Cass resigned to become

4922-595: The Northern Pacific's bankruptcy. Things came to a head in 1896, when first Edward Dean Adams was appointed president, then less than two months later, Edwin Winter . Ultimately, the task of straightening out the muddle of the Northern Pacific was turned over to J. P. Morgan . Morganization of the Northern Pacific, a process which befell many U.S. roads in the wake of the Panic of 1893, was handed to Morgan lieutenant Charles Henry Coster. The new president, beginning September 1, 1897,

5029-401: The Northern Pacific. Despite a tough fight, Billings and his backers were forced to capitulate; he resigned the presidency June 9, 1881. Ashbel H. Barney , former President of Wells Fargo & Company (bankers and famous Western stagecoach line), served briefly as interim caretaker of the railroad from June 19 to September 15, when Villard was elected sixth president by the stockholders. For

5136-670: The Superlative" but defeated Democratic Party candidate in the 1880 presidential election . Fabricating shops and foundries were established in Brainerd, Minnesota Territory , a town named by the N.P. second President John Gregory Smith for Lawrence Brainerd , the father of his wife Anna Elizabeth Brainerd and a close friend and colleague. It was here further back on the line where the Railway established its first temporary offices and headquarters. A severe stock market crash and financial collapse in

5243-515: The Union has ever given to an exposition held within its borders." He was also specifically grateful for the City of Portland's assistance, and noted that their "cordial and enthusiastic backing" was invaluable to the success of the Fair. These praises of Portland were repeated by the State Commission, further supporting the city's great assistance. After gaining the necessary financial backing (and

5350-496: The United States and even growing exports overseas to Europe. Most of the settlers were German and Scandinavian immigrants who bought the land cheaply and raised large families. They shipped huge quantities of wheat to Minneapolis, then Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis connected by rail. while buying all sorts of farming equipment and home supplies (some ordered and delivered through the beginnings of published mail-order catalogs from

5457-663: The Yellowstone region by Sioux , Cheyenne , Arapaho , and Kiowa native warriors in northern Dakota and Minnesota Territories became so prevalent that the company received protection from additional mounted troops in units of the U.S. Army. In 1886, the Northern Pacific also opened colonization / emigration offices in Europe especially the newly unified German Empire and north to the kingdoms of Scandinavia , with good reliable steamship lines, attracting Nordic farmers with package deals of cheap land and transportation and purchase deals in

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5564-548: The big cities warehouses, to be shipped in by rail. The N.P. used its federal land grants as security to borrow money to build its system. The federal government kept every other alternate section of land, and gave it away free to native and immigrant homesteaders / farmers under the Homestead Act of 1862. At first the railroad sold much of its holdings at low prices to land speculators in order to realize quick cash profits, and also to eliminate sizable annual tax bills. By 1905,

5671-462: The buildings were in the style of the Spanish Renaissance and decorated with architectural flourishes such as domes , cupolas , arched doorways and red-colored roofs. The buildings, not intended to be permanent, were largely constructed of plaster over wooden frames, which resulted in rather low construction costs (79 cents per foot). The major exception to this was the Forestry Building,

5778-477: The buildings, bridges, and statues; the result was a spectacular nighttime view. Some exhibits took up to three years to assemble. The exposition opened on June 1, 1905, and ran until October 15, 1905, a four and a half month span. It included exhibitions from 21 nations and 16 U.S. states, as well as numerous branches of the federal government, and private organizations. The Multnomah Athletic Club , an amateur club from Portland, Oregon , assisted in organizing

5885-465: The business ability of women, as it was planned and is now managed by Mrs. J. T. McCready." After the end of the Exposition, the materials used to build the Inn were sold, and a portion was used to build an apartment building at a nearby location. According to a local newspaper, "Although the American Inn, like most of the buildings upon the Exposition grounds, is to be razed to the ground by the hand of

5992-761: The civilian Pennsylvania Railroad , organized the Northern Pacific Beneficial Association in 1881. Inspired by the progressive medical care and insurance program then being introduced in the German Empire in Europe and a forerunner of the modern health maintenance organization , the N.P.B.A. ultimately established a series of four medical hospitals across the N.P.R.R. route system in Saint Paul, Minnesota ; Glendive, Montana ; Missoula, Montana ; and Tacoma, Washington , to care for its railroad employees, retirees, and their families. On January 15, 1883,

6099-481: The company bylaws allowed for the holders of the common stock to vote to retire the preferred. In three days, the Harriman-Hill imbroglio managed to wreak havoc on the stock market. Northern Pacific stock was quoted at $ 150 a share on May 6 and is reported to have traded as much as $ 1,000 a share behind the scenes. Harriman and Hill now worked to settle the issue for brokers to avoid panic. Hill, for his part, attempted to avoid future stock raids by placing his holdings in

6206-418: The construction phase in Minnesota. The N.P. also began building its line north from Kalama, Washington Territory , on the Columbia River just outside of Portland, Oregon , towards the Puget Sound . Four small construction locomotive engines were purchased, the Minnetonka , Itaska , Ottertail and St. Cloud , the first of which was shipped to Kalama by ship all around the continent of South America and

6313-433: The court-appointed receiver of the company, and Charles Barstow Wright became its fourth president. Frederick Billings , namesake of future Billings, Montana , formulated a reorganization plan which was put into effect. Throughout 1874 to 1876, elements of the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer , operating out of Fort Abraham Lincoln and Fort Rice in

6420-444: The decade between 1881 and 1890. The Northern Pacific reached Dakota Territory at Fargo in 1872 and began its career as one of the central factors in the economic growth of the future Dakotas Territory and later its twin states North and South. The climate, although very cold in the continental interior heartland was still suitable for wheat, which was in high demand in the eastern and Mid-Western rapidly developing industrial cities of

6527-417: The easy access of cheap lumber. The Brainerd Shops to the east remained as the largest locomotive repair facility throughout the steam era. Another shops / foundry site was located at the center mid-way of the mainline in Livingston, Montana , which became the primary diesel engine maintenance facility after 1955. In St. Paul, Minnesota were the Como Shops, which maintained most of the passenger car fleet, and

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6634-403: The effects of having multiple railroads attempt to serve the same destination, he was very much in tune with James J. Hill's philosophy of "community of interest," a loose affiliation or collusion among roads in an attempt to avoid duplicating routes, rate wars, weak finances and ultimately bankruptcies and reorganizations. Elliott would be left to make peace with the Hill-controlled Great Northern;

6741-470: The exact amounts of which I am unable to give. Thus the fair received funding to hold the exposition. The bill that appropriated the funds also created a special commission to oversee the organization of the fair. As this Commission reported: "The Lewis and Clark Exposition was held jointly, under the authorization of the act creating this Commission, by the Commission and the Lewis and Clark Exposition Corporation." First assembling on May 30, 1903, they were

6848-495: The exposition were: Alaska , Arizona , California , Colorado , Idaho , Illinois , Louisiana , Maine , Massachusetts , Missouri , Montana , Nebraska , New York , North Dakota , Oregon , Oklahoma , Utah , Washington , and Wyoming . Each attending state was granted a day to publicize its exhibit, often attended by visiting dignitaries. There were extensive exhibits on topics such as agriculture, technology, and music. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sent an exhibit, as did

6955-402: The exposition, with 966,000 getting in for free and 1,588,000 paying visitors. 135,000 visitors were from east of the Mississippi River . Unusual for such expositions, the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition was profitable, turning a gross profit of nearly $ 85,000. Capital investors received a 21% return on their investments. In addition, the impact on the local economy was significant. It

7062-447: The fair and the economic prosperity it could provide. In addition, approximately 3,000 average citizens purchased stock certificates both as investment opportunities and to support what they viewed as a worthwhile venture. These individual investments eventually paid off greatly. Seeing the potential benefits of the fair's success, the state legislature began planning appropriations for the fair. Although they "had [little] interest in

7169-418: The fair cost 50 cents for adults, a quarter for children. Forty-thousand visitors attended on the opening day; 50,000 attended on the Fourth of July , and on the anniversary of Portland's incorporation, the daily attendance record of over 85,000 visitors was set. The vast majority (nearly 75%) of visitors were from the Pacific Northwest, with almost half being local residents. In all 2,554,000 people visited

7276-413: The family of famed longtime abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison , who had just died four years earlier. On September 8, 1883, the Gold Spike was driven near Gold Creek in the Montana Territory . Villard's fall was swifter than his ascendancy. Like Jay Cooke, he was now consumed by the enormous costs of constructing the railroad. Wall Street bears attacked the stock shortly after the Golden Spike, after

7383-429: The fireboxes of Central Pacific Railroad 's steam engines locomotives. This small amount of construction was one of the largest projects the company would undertake in the years between 1874 and 1880. That same year the company built a large shop complex at Edison, Washington (now part of south Tacoma metropolitan area ). The Edison Shops became the largest on the system for building and repairing freight cars due to

7490-454: The first N.P.R.R. train reached Livingston, Montana , at the eastern foot of the Bozeman Pass . Livingston, like Brainerd and South Tacoma before it, would grow to encompass a large backshop handling heavy repairs for the Northern Pacific Railroad equipment. It would also mark the east–west dividing line on the Northern Pacific route system. Villard pushed hard for the completion of the Northern Pacific in 1883. His crews laid an average of

7597-432: The governmental hurdles inherent with the planning of such a venture. After the closing of the fair, Henry Reed, Secretary for the Exposition Corporation, created a hefty volume documenting the whole process of planning and running the event. He, too, spoke highly of the government's involvement, and wrote that "The State of Oregon gave more solid help ... to the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, than any other state of

7704-637: The historical heroes and their 2,000-mile (3,200 km) trek ... they [shared] the vision of Pacific trade that had motivated the exploration and settlement of the Oregon Country." Thus, the Legislature passed "An Act Celebrating the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Exploration of the Oregon Country," which appropriated a sum of approximately $ 500,000 for the fair. After the Fair's completion, it

7811-509: The holdings of Villard in the Northwest, and especially in Portland. Portland unfortunately could possibly become a second-class city if the Puget Sound 's deeper and larger ports at Tacoma and nearby Seattle, Washington , were further developed and connected to the East by rail. Villard, who had been building a monopoly of river and rail transportation in Oregon for several years, now launched

7918-454: The mounting construction costs. Cooke overestimated his managerial skills and failed to appreciate the limits of a banker's ability to be also a promoter, and the danger of freezing his assets in the bonds of the Northern Pacific. Cooke and Company went bankrupt on September 18, 1873. Soon the financial Panic of 1873 engulfed the United States, business and financial community extending to numerous industries beginning an economic depression that

8025-448: The nation as a whole. Despite all these positive factors, though, Oregon was not unaffected by the nationwide Long Depression , which had particular effect in 1893. Jobs were lost across the country as railroads grew too fast on a weak banking system and agricultural values fell. The state's elite business leaders all attempted to devise plans to boost the economy. Dan McAllen, a dry goods merchant, suggested in 1895 "that Portland mark

8132-515: The new German Empire ), for construction funding. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean , just south of the United States-Canada border when Ulysses S. Grant , drove in the final "golden spike" completing the line in western Montana Territory (future State of Montana in 1889), on September 8, 1883. The railroad had about 6,800 miles (10,900 km) of track and served

8239-474: The new century and pull itself out of its economic slump by holding some sort of international fair." Since the area's focus was on other issues, his proposal went unnoticed for a few years. The idea of a fair came up again occasionally, but no concentrated effort was made for various reasons. It was not until mid-1900 that this sort of action began, when "J.M. Long of the Portland Board of Trade put together

8346-532: The next four years, until the return of the Villard group, Harris worked at improving the property and ending its tangled relationship with the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. Throughout the mid-1880s, the Northern Pacific pushed to reach Puget Sound directly, rather than by means of a roundabout route that followed the Columbia River. Surveys of the Cascade Mountains , carried out intermittently since

8453-405: The next two years, Villard and the Northern Pacific rode the whirlwind. In 1882, 360 miles (580 km) of main line and 368 miles (592 km) of branch line were completed, bringing totals to 1,347 miles (2,168 km) and 731 miles (1,176 km), respectively. On October 10, 1882, the line from Wadena, Minnesota , to Fergus Falls, Minnesota , opened for service. The upper Missouri River

8560-640: The northern tier of the western United States , from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest . It was approved and chartered in 1864 by the 38th Congress of the United States in the national / federal capital of Washington, D.C. , during the last years of the American Civil War (1861-1865), and given nearly 40 million acres (62,000 sq mi; 160,000 km ) of adjacent land grants , which it used to raise additional money in Europe (especially in President Henry Villard's home country of

8667-473: The populace. Two local trolley lines (the Portland Railway and City Suburban Railway) ran to within one block of the proposed entrance. Guild's Lake also had the advantage of being located adjacent to the recently constructed Vaughn Street Park , a baseball stadium that would prove rather useful during the operation of the fair. The site was also accessible from the river, and steamers provided visitors

8774-430: The previous three years the financial house of Jay Cooke and Company in New York City had been throwing money into the construction of the Northern Pacific. As with many western transcontinentals , the staggering costs of building a railroad into a vast wilderness prairie had been drastically underestimated. Cooke had little success in marketing the N.P.R.R. bonds in Europe and overextended his house in meeting overdrafts of

8881-495: The primary interchange point for most of the large U.S. railroads. Fortunately, the Northern Pacific was not alone. James J. Hill , controller of the Great Northern Railway , which was completed between the Twin Cities and Puget Sound in 1893, also lacked a direct connection to Chicago. Hill went looking for a road with an existing route between the Twin Cities and Chicago which could be rolled into his holdings and give him

8988-503: The railroad company's land policies changed, after it was judged a costly mistake to have sold much of the land at wholesale prices. With better railroad service and improved more educated and scientific methods of farming and soil conservation in future decades in the special unique conditions on the Great Plains. The Northern Pacific then easily sold what had been heretofore termed "worthless" land directly to farmers at good prices. By 1910

9095-489: The railroad's holdings in the new state of North Dakota had been greatly reduced. In 1873, Northern Pacific made impressive strides before a terrible stumble. Rails from the east reached the Missouri River on June 4. After several years of study, Tacoma, Washington Territory near the Pacific Coast and Puget Sound for waterborne shipping port facilities was selected as the road's western terminus on July 14, 1873. For

9202-475: The realization that the Northern Pacific was a very long road with very little business. Villard himself suffered a nervous breakdown in the days after the driving of the Golden Spike, and he left the presidency of the Northern Pacific in January 1884. Again, the presidency of the Northern Pacific was handed to a professional railroader, Robert Harris , former head of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad . For

9309-474: The scenic views available from the site, including Mount St. Helens and the river. (Olmsted also developed a plan for Portland's park system during the same visit.) Ion Lewis , of the firm Whidden & Lewis , supervised a board of seven architects responsible for designing the fair's buildings. The six other architects were Edgar M. Lazarus , Emil Schacht , Justus F. Krumbein , David C. Lewis , Richard Martin, Jr. , and Henry J. Hefty . The majority of

9416-569: The similar cold higher latitudes of climate of the north-central North America continent, but with richer unplowed expansive soil. The success of the N.P. was based on the abundant crops of wheat and other grains already grown and the attraction to settlers of the lower Red River Valley of the Red River of the North, Minnesota, Missouri and Mississippi Rivers basins along the Minnesota-Dakota border in

9523-583: The trail of a site and it is confidently predicted that 'something will be doing' shortly." The next day, they reported the committee narrowed its choices to "two tracts ... Willamette heights on the west side and Hawthorne Park, with a portion of the Ladd tract, on the east side," and that Willamette Heights was to be chosen, as "It is claimed that the natural advantages offered by the Willamette Heights outweigh all other considerations and that ... Guild's Lake, it

9630-528: The true motivation for the fair came from an economic and business standpoint, it was still crucial to have a theme for publicity and décor. The theme for the Portland fair came from the advice of the Oregon Historical Society . They suggested that the centennial anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 's stay in Oregon would be a perfect event to commemorate. As the directors wanted to include their dreams of economic growth as well, they combined

9737-601: The tunnel, and on May 27 the first train passed through directly to Puget Sound. Despite this success, the Northern Pacific, like many U.S. roads, was living on borrowed time. From 1887 until 1893, Henry Villard returned to the board of directors. Though offered the presidency, he refused. An associate of Villard dating back to his time on the Kansas Pacific, Thomas Fletcher Oakes , assumed the presidency on September 20, 1888. In an effort to garner business, Oakes pursued an aggressive policy of branch line expansion. In addition,

9844-454: The two ideas into a title that "summed up the dual goals of historic commemoration and regional boosterism: 'The Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair.'" In addition, a motto was decided on, to focus the festivities and bolster publicity: "Westward The Course of Empire Takes Its Way." Once a theme was set, the men began securing exhibits and getting support for their investments. Getting government backing

9951-602: The west in Washington Territory. On November 1, General George Washington Cass (formerly of the U.S. Army), became the third president of the company. General Cass had been a vice-president and on the board of directors earlier of the Pennsylvania Railroad , one of the major dominant Eastern lines and would lead the Northern Pacific through some of its most difficult times in the later 19th century. Attacks on survey parties and construction crews as they approached

10058-401: The wrecker, the materials of which it is composed are destined to be of more permanent service than those of some of the other buildings. Dr. John Carlyle, the purchaser of the Inn, is now erecting a large apartment-house on the north side of Northrup street, ... and the woodwork used in its construction is to come almost entirely from that building." As of 2020. This apartment building, now named

10165-474: The years that followed the fair, and many of the sidewalks in Portland (East Portland especially) are dated from 1910 to 1920. Guild's Lake , a cutoff meander of the Willamette River around which the fairgrounds were built, was slowly filled in by industrial developers (and the Port of Portland ) in the years after the fair; by the 1920s the lake had vanished entirely. Over the years, the grounds have been used for

10272-499: Was Charles Sanger Mellen . Though James J. Hill had purchased an interest in the Northern Pacific during the troubled days of 1896, Coster and Mellen would advocate, and follow, a staunchly independent line for the Northern Pacific for the next four years. Only the early death of Coster from overwork, and the promotion of Mellen to head the Morgan-controlled New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1903, would bring

10379-501: Was bridged with a million-dollar span on October 21, 1883. Until then, crossing of the Missouri had had to be managed with a ferry boat service for most of the year; in winter, when ice was thick enough, rails were laid across the river itself. Former Union Army General Herman Haupt , another veteran of the Civil War , builder then of the wartime United States Military Railroad lines and

10486-539: Was crucial due to the personal investments already made: "The Ladd and Tilton Bank [invested] $ 20,000, the Northern Pacific Railroad another $ 20,000, and brewer Henry Weinhard $ 10,000." Many of the substantial investments were from hotels (the Imperial Hotel Company purchased 50 shares worth $ 5,000), restaurants, streetcar companies, and retailers – all groups with much to gain from the success of

10593-504: Was elected its first president on December 7, 1864. It could not use all the land and in the end took just under two-thirds of the allotted grant of 40 million acres. For the next six years, backers of the road struggled to find financing. Though John Gregory Smith , succeeded Perham as second president on January 5, 1865, groundbreaking did not take place until February 15, 1870, at Carlton, Minnesota Territory , 25 miles (40 km) west of Duluth (western port town on Lake Superior of

10700-512: Was headquartered in Minnesota, first in Brainerd , then in the territorial / state capital of Saint Paul . It had a tumultuous financial history; the N.P. merged with other lines over a century later in 1970 to form the modern Burlington Northern Railroad , which in turn merged with the famous Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to become the renamed BNSF Railway in 1996, operating in the western U.S. The 38th United States Congress chartered

10807-661: Was named receiver and Brayton Ives , a former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange , became president. In 1894, the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army was involved in protecting property of the Northern Pacific Railroad from striking workers. For the next three years, the Villard-Oakes interests and the Ives interest feuded for control of the Northern Pacific. Oakes was eventually forced out as receiver, but not before three separate courts were claiming jurisdiction over

10914-420: Was one of the worse in American history prior to the infamous Great Depression of the 1930s, sixty years into the future. The downturn ruined or nearly paralyzed newer railroads throughout the country.. The Northern Pacific however luckily survived bankruptcy that year, due to austerity measures put in place by President Cass. In fact, working with last-minute loans from Director John C. Ainsworth of Portland,

11021-542: Was reported that The money expended by the two departments amounted to about four hundred thousand dollars each, the State appropriating that expended by the Commission, while the stockholders of the Corporation subscribed about an equal amount. The proceeds from the Exposition were expended entirely under the direction of the Corporation. The government of the United States appropriated $ 475,000 and about an equal value in exhibits,

11128-500: Was the Northern Pacific's flagship passenger train and the Northern Pacific itself was built along the trail first blazed by the famed Lewis and Clark expedition first exploring the new Louisiana Purchase and the further American West in 1804 and 1805. The Northern Pacific reached Fargo, Dakota Territory (now North Dakota) on the border between Dakota and Minnesota Territories / states, early in June 1872. The following year, in June 1873,

11235-438: Was the finish line for a transcontinental automobile race (" Hell Gate to Portland") by two drivers sponsored by Olds Motor Works . The Amateur Athletic Union 's National Track and Field Championships were held in Portland at Vaughn Street Park . Portland's Pacific Coast League baseball team, known then as the "Giants" , played the 1905 season at a different venue in Portland. The Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club organized

11342-467: Was the possibility of a high-speed link directly with Chicago. Though the Burlington did not parallel the Great Northern or the Northern Pacific, it would give them a powerful railroad in the central West. Harriman was the first to approach the Burlington's aging leader, the irascible Charles Elliott Perkins . The price for control of the Burlington, as set by Perkins, was $ 200 a share, more than Harriman

11449-441: Was willing to pay. Hill met the price, and control of the Burlington was divided equally at about 48.5 percent each between the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific. Not to be outdone, Harriman now came up with a crafty plan: buy a controlling interest in the Northern Pacific and use its power on the Burlington to place friendly directors upon its board. On May 3, 1901, Harriman began his stock raid which would become known as

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