Not an accurate portrayal of Sam Hill in the March 15 posting. He was James J. Hill's son-in-law, having married Mamie (Mary Frances Hill), J. J.'s oldest daughter in 1888. For a number of reasons, in 1903 Mamie and children left Seattle to live in the East. Sam earned a fortune in his own right and invested some of it to establish a new town on the Columbia River. "In April 1908, Sam wrote asking his congressman to approve a post office for the town he first intended to name Maryland, ' . . . so called after Mrs. James J. Hill, my wife, and my daughter.'" Hill later wrote: "I desired to call the place Maryland, but the government objected, advising me to that effect by telegram at my expense. I handed the telegram to Jusserand [the French Ambassador, who, with his wife, was visiting Sam], who said, 'Call it Maryhill. You have the name right in your hand, after your daughter, your wife and [her] mother.'" (see "Sam Hill", John E. Tuhy, Timber Press, 1983, pp. 201, 203) In a manner of speaking, all Oregonians are empire builders. The opening line of the state song is "Land of the Empire Builders." Bob To: OREGON-TRAIL-L@rootsweb.com From: Jim Tompkins <tompkins@bctonline.com> Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 10:45:48 -0800 Subject: Re: Trains >The route became the Great Northern and is now part of the UP, and >is the route taken by the Empire Builder (I think that's the name) >between Portland and Chicago. The first train from the east arrived >at Portland on September 8, 1883. I believe the Empire Builder (Jim Hill's nickname) linked Seattle and St Paul, but close enough with the SP&S link between Portland and Seattle. I know the Burlington Northern bought out the NP (terminus at Tacoma, WA) and the Great Northern (terminus at Everett), but I think the UP merger fell through. The Northern Pacific (Jay Cooke, Henry Villard, et al on the government dime) main route goes from Duluth to Billings to Spokane to Yakima to Tacoma then Seattle. It was stalled in Montana by the same Panic of 1873 that stalled the O&C at Roseburg. The construction reached Billings, MT, Sept 1, 1883, and crossed the Rockies on Sept 8th (the date cited above). When the NP reached Pasco, a train was sent down a local line (Rawhide RR from Wallula toWalla Walla) to the ORNC (building the south bank line to meet the UP Oregon Short Line) then to Portland, arriving Sept 11, 1883. The GN main line from Pasco to Tacoma over an Oregon Trail bypass called the Naches Pass Trail was not completed until 1888. The Spokane, Portland, and Seattle RR (north bank of the Columbia railroad) was completed in 1905 and technically never reached Seattle. Trains out of Portland were called the Pioneer, Oregon Pioneer and Portland Rose. To kep things straight in my student's minds I suggest the following. 1) If it ends in Pacific (UP, CP, SP, NP) it was a government subsidized transcontinental. 2) Almost all others were private ventures that connected with the big boys. 3) JJ Hill's The Great Northern was the only privately financed transcontinental. (This can be argued by ATSF fans , but up here in the Great Pacific Northwet the ATSF is not a player.) 4) Henry Villard tried to buy out everybody starting with the NP and the SP. 5) Jim Hill was the uncle and Sam the nephew. Sometimes Sam didn't even know where the Sam Hill he was. His wife was Mary Hill and her dry side palace was Maryhill. 6) The modern UP mergers are complicating everything as well as slowing down traffic. jim

>Not an accurate portrayal of Sam Hill in the March 15 posting. He was James >J. Hill's son-in-law, having married Mamie (Mary Frances Hill), J. J.'s >oldest daughter in 1888. For a number of reasons, in 1903 Mamie and >children left Seattle to live in the East. Sam earned a fortune in his own >right and invested some of it to establish a new town on the Columbia >River. "In April 1908, Sam wrote asking his congressman to approve a post >office for the town he first intended to name Maryland, ' . . . so called >after Mrs. James J. Hill, my wife, and my daughter.'" Hill later wrote: "I >desired to call the place Maryland, but the government objected, advising >me to that effect by telegram at my expense. I handed the telegram to >Jusserand [the French Ambassador, who, with his wife, was visiting Sam], >who said, 'Call it Maryhill. You have the name right in your hand, after >your daughter, your wife and [her] mother.'" (see "Sam Hill", John E. Tuhy, >Timber Press, 1983, pp. 201, 203) > >In a manner of speaking, all Oregonians are empire builders. The opening >line of the state song is "Land of the Empire Builders." > >Bob I concede to the more knowledgeable authority. Although I think the train Empire Builder was named for James Hill's nickname more than the Oregon state song. jim