On Oct. 1, 1905, railroad baron James J. Hill and a celebration of executives arrived in Vancouver about midday. Residents greeted them with whistles, bells, cheers and the 14th Infantry band performed. President Charles M. Levey of the Portland & Seattle Railway organized the get together. Hill handed via the group with humor, shaking fingers with locals, introducing himself as “the old man Hill,” then met with native enterprise leaders and officers. His go to set the stage for constructing a brand new rail line working alongside Vancouver’s facet of the river, benefitting Southwest Washington commerce.
The brand new railroad, ultimately renamed the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway, was a three way partnership of Hill’s two transcontinental railroads, the Northern Pacific Railroad and Nice Northern Railway. Quickly tracks had been constructed alongside the Columbia River’s north financial institution.
Earlier than his October arrival, Hill labored behind the scenes, buying inventory and grabbing management of the NP and manipulating the Portland, Vancouver and Yakima Railroad, which linked Vancouver with Yacolt (however by no means reached Yakima).
Typically Hill acted via others engaged on his behalf. Again in Minnesota, Hill knew Issac Grey, who grew to become president of the PV&Y Railroad in 1901, wherein Vancouver brick-maker Lowell Hidden and different locals held inventory. Grey’s ascent pushed Louis Gerlinger to vp. Whereas Hill’s signature appeared on no paperwork, Gerlinger’s demotion steered Hill’s invisible hand pushing Grey, a Minnesota pal, into place, giving him affect over the PV&Y.