James Jerome Hill, considered a visionary of the transportation industry, played a key role in expanding the railroad into the U.S. Northwest. Known for his sharp mind and strong work ethic, he earned the name “Empire Builder,” a nod to the success of his Great Northern Railway Company.
Early Life
Hill was born in Canada in 1838 and moved to St. Paul, Minnesota at the age of 17. As a clerk and bookkeeper for various businesses, Hill learned a great deal about selling, trading, and shipping goods. He used this knowledge to start several of his own businesses, eventually securing monopolies in the coal and steamboat industries.
Railroad expansion
Seeing an opportunity to expand the railroad in the region, Hill and several business partners took over the bankrupt St. Paul & Pacific and renamed it the St. Paul, Minnesota & Manitoba Railway Company. Hill soon became president of the railroad, and the company prospered under his leadership.
After expanding the railroad locally throughout Minneapolis-St. Paul, Hill set his sights on building a transcontinental railway. Since no other company had attempted such a massive project without public funding, critics characterized the plan as “Hill’s Folly.” Hill was undeterred and sought out to find the straightest, shortest distance across the Northwest. After locating Marias Pass, the lowest crossing of the Rockies in the region, Hill’s newly named Great Northern Railway Company made it to the Pacific in 1893.
As Hill expanded his railroad, he provided discounted transportation to immigrants, provided that they agreed to settle on the route. The approach, coupled with Great Northern Railway’s continued investment in the settlements, fostered the region’s economic development.
Formation of the Northern Securities
At the turn of the century, railroad companies began to consolidate, and Hill developed a rivalry with Union Pacific’s E. H. Harriman. With the assistance of J. P. Morgan, Great Northern Railway acquired Northern Pacific, as well as the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroads. After the rivalry created a stock market panic in 1901, the two railroad magnets joined forces and formed a holding company called Northern Securities. Theodore Roosevelt sought to break up the monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act, which the Supreme Court upheld in controversial decision. Despite the Court loss, Hill went on to build and acquire more railways and had amassed a fortune worth more than $53 million at his death.
