One of the most spectacular chapters in the history of railroading in the Northwest was that of the "blind pool" by which Henry Villard, president of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Co., obtained in 1881 the control of a majority of the stock of the N. P. and became its president. The essential aim of this series of occult finances was to divert the northern road from its proposed terminus on Puget Sound and annex it to the interests centering in Portland.
In 1883 the road was pushed on from Duluth to Wallula and thence by union with the O. R. & N. was carried on down the Columbia. The feverish haste, reckless outlay, and in places dangerous construction of that section along the crags and through shaded glens and in front of the waterfalls on the banks of the great river, constitute one of the dramas of building. Even more spectacularly came the gorgeous pageantry of the Villard excursion in October, 1883, in which Grant, Evarts, and others of the most distinguished of Americans participated, and in which Oregon and the Northwest in general were entertained in Portland with lavish hospitality, and in which Villard rode upon the crest of the greatest wave of power and popularity that had been seen in the history of the Northwest. But in the very moment of his triumph he fell with a "dull, sickening thud." In fact even while being lauded and feted as the great railroad builder he must have known of the impending crash. For skillful manipulations of the stock market by the Wright interests had dispossessed Villard of his majority control, a general collapse in Portland followed, and the Puget Sound terminal was established at the "City of Destiny," Tacoma. Not till 1888, however, was the great tunnel at Stampede pass completed and the Northern Pacific fairly established upon its great route.
Since the completion of the main line of the N. P. R. R. it has sprouted out feeders in many directions. The most interesting and important of these to the Walla Walla Valley is the Washington and Columbia River Railroad, commonly known in earlier times as the Hunt Road. That road was started as the Oregon and Washington Territory R. R. by Pendleton interests in 1887. Mr. G. W. Hunt, a man of great energy and ability, and possessed of many peculiar and original views on religion and social conditions as well as railroads, came to the Inland Empire at that time and perceiving the great possibilities in this region, made a contract to construct the line. Finding within a year that the projectors were not succeeding in raising funds Mr. Hunt took over the enterprise. In 1888-90 he carried out a series of lines from Hunt's Junction, a short distance from Wallula, to Helix and Athena and finally to Pendleton in Umatilla County, Ore., and to Walla Walla, Waitsburg and Dayton, with a separate branch up Eureka Flat, that great wheat belt of Northern Walla Walla County. The hard times of the next year so affected Mr. Hunt's resources that he felt obliged to place his fine enterprise in the hands of N. P. R. R. interests. But it still retained the name of Washington and Columbia River Railroad and was operated as a distinct road. The first president following Mr. Hunt was W. D. Tyler, a man of so genial nature and brilliant mind as to be one of the conspicuous figures in Walla Walla circles during his residence in this region and to be remembered with warm friendship by people in all sorts of connections, afterward living in Tacoma until his lamented death. He was followed by Joseph McCabe who was a railroad builder and manager of conspicuous ability and who continued at the head of the line until he was drawn to important railroad work in New England. The third president of the road was J. G. Cutler who ably continued the work so well begun. In 1907 the line was absorbed by the Northern Pacific and has since that date been managed as a section of that line. Mr. Cutler continued for a time as the general manager until failing health compelled his retirement and to the deep regret of a large circle of friends and business associates he died within a few months of his retirement. S. B. Calderhead, who had been during the presidencies of Mr. McCabe and Mr. Cutler the traffic manager of the original road, became the general freight and passenger agent of the division in 1907 and continues to hold the position at this time. The road has been extended to Turner in the heart of the barley belt of Columbia County. It does an extraordinary business for the amount of mileage and population. Within the year of the completion of the lines to Dayton, Pendleton, and the Eureka Flat branch, a total mileage of 162.73 miles and with a scanty population at that date of 1890, the road conveyed about forty thousand tons of freight into the regions covered and carried out about a hundred and thirty thousand tons of grain and 20,000 tons of other freight.
The other transcontinental line in which the Walla Walla country is especially interested is the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company's line. This acquired the Walla Walla and Columbia River line in 1878 and the property of the O. S. N. Co. in 1879. Henry Villard was the great organizer of the O. R. and N. line, which was a portion of the Union Pacific system, covering the territory between Huntington and Portland. Of Villard's operations in this connection with the N. P. R. R. we have already spoken. Although the attempt to divert that system down the Columbia proved a failure, the O. R. and N. R. R. has become one of the great systems of the United States, and as a part of the present Oregon and Washington system it performs a vast commercial service in the regions covered by its lines. By the acquisition of the Walla Walla and Columbia River R. R. (Dr. Baker's road) and the O. S. N. Co. lines and steamboats (for that was mainly a river system) the O. R. and N. R. R. succeeded practically to the whole pioneer system of steamboats and stage lines of the previous era. It has become a vast factor in the commercial life of the Columbia River region and by its branches north and west has become a competitor with the Northern Pacific and Great Northern systems throughout the state. Its chief lines in the counties covered by this work are that from Pendleton to Spokane, going right through the heart of the region, with branches from Bolles Junction to Dayton and Starbuck to Pomeroy. It joins with the N. P. R. R. in a line from Riparia on the north side of the Snake River to Lewiston, by which the splendid country centering around that city is reached and by which the equally beautiful and productive region of Asotin and Garfield counties on the west and south of Snake River are indirectly touched. To reach that highly productive region the company maintains several steamers which ply during the proper stage of water and convey millions of bushels of grain from Asotin and other points down the river to railroad connections. One of the important developments of the line is the Yakima branch, extending from Walla Walla to that city and projected, as is supposed, to ultimate connections on Puget Sound and possibly through the Klickitat country about the base of Mount Adams to Portland, tapping an entirely new country of great and varied resources. In 1914 the main line between Portland and Spokane was constructed down the Snake from Riparia to Wallula.
The Northern Pacific and Oregon-Washington railroads have not far from the same mileage in these counties, the latter somewhat larger, and do approximately the same amount of local business. A general estimate by one of the best informed railroad men of Walla Walla is that the combined receipts for freight in Walla Walla County alone—the present county—for the last year was about one million dollars for outgoing and about six hundred thousand dollars for incoming freight.
WALLA WALLA AND COLUMBIA RIVER RAILROAD
We have reserved for special consideration the most interesting and from the historical standpoint the most important of all the railroads of Walla Walla, the Walla Walla and Columbia River, Doctor Baker's road. The history of this enterprise is most intimately connected with the development of this region. It is not only a rare example of the growth of a local demand and need, but constitutes a tribute to the genius of its builder, one of the most unique and powerful of all the capable and original builders of the "Upper Country."
To trace the movements leading to the creation of this vital step in the commercial evolution of Walla Walla, we must turn to the files of the Washington Statesman. In the issue of May 3, 1862, we find the leading editorial devoted to urging the need of a railroad. It notes the fact that Lewiston and Wallula are endeavoring to divert the trade from Walla Walla and that with $500,000 invested in the city, as much more in the country, and with crops yielding $250,000, besides stock, the people of Walla Walla cannot rest content with the exorbitant expense of freighting by teams to and from the river. It says bitterly that those engaged in freighting have thought it a fine thing to get from twenty dollars to one hundred dollars per ton for carrying freight in from Wallula. It urges people to bestir themselves and provide a railroad, which, it declares, if it cost $750,000 or even $1,000,000 to build, will save that amount in the next ten years.
The issue of June 7 returns to the charge, dealing in more specific figures, estimating the probable expense of the thirty miles of road not to exceed $600,000. It appeared from this article that the Legislature of the previous year had granted a charter for the purpose, and as the editor urges, the people have but to take advantage of the opportunity open to them to secure the results.
The Statesman of August 23, 1862, gives the provisions of that charter with the list of those named in it. The names of these men are worthy of preservation, as showing the personnel of the most active business forces of that date. They are as follows: A. J. Cain, E. B. Whitman, L. A. Mullan, W. J. Terry, C. H. Armstrong, J. F. Abbott, I. T. Reese, S. M. Baldwin, E. L. Bonner, W. A. Mix, Charles Russell, J. A. Sims, Jesse Drumheller, James Reynolds, D. S. Baker, G. E. Cole, S. D. Smith, J. J. Goodwin, Neil McGlinchy, J. S. Sparks, W. A. George, J. M. Vansycle, W. W. DeLacy, A. Seitel, W. A. Ball, B. F. Stone, J. Schwabacher, B. P. Standifer, S. W. Tatem, W. W. Johnson and "such others as they shall associate with them in the project."