James Hill - "The Empire Builder"

               At the age of 18, James Jerome Hill leaves Canada for good, eventually arriving in St. Paul Minnesota in 1856.  He uses his knowledge gained through 9 years of formal education to hold down his first two jobs as a Bookkeeper for a  Steamboat company, and freight transfer supervisor for a wholesale grocer. Hill innovated the shipping industry in several ways: He created weather proof transfer bays with a railway going alongside a river for easy, weatherproof shipping transfers from railway to waterway.  He was well known for tracking down lost shipments, caused by the complexity of shipping routes. Hill was very smart, and in 1870 he began diversifying his business to other areas, such as Steamboats.  In 1872, his Steamboat business on the Red River merged with another, creating an essential monopoly in the immediate region. During this time Hill had also expanded his wood fuel business into the Coal industry, and in 1874, after seven years in the Coal business, Hill had expanded it dramatically.

                Using his control of both the fuel and transportation businesses, he not only became extremely wealthy, he was vital in the creation of the Northwestern Fuel Co. in 1877.  This alliance of interests made Minneapolis and St. Paul, also known as The Twin Cities, into one of the biggest fuel distribution centers in the world.  Using his money and influence from his banking, fuel, transportation, and steamboat businesses, Hill then entered into the Railroad industry.  In 1877, 39 year old Hill forms  a group of partners, including Norman Kittson, from the Steamboat business, Donald Smith, George Stephen, and John S Kennedy.  These five members were known as "The Associates" and together they bought the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, and greatly expanded it throughout Montana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota.  In the 1890's Hill eventually expands his railway all the way to Seattle, Washington, making it a transcontinental railroad.  During the Panic of 1893, Hill's management skills not only prevented his companies from going out of business, but he managed to turn a profit where others could not even stay solvent. In 1900, with the help of J.P Morgan, Hill acquired the Northern Pacific Railroad. 

                Hill's last expansion included the Colorado and Southern railway lines the run to Galveston Texas, and he also created the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railroad.  By the time of Hill's death in 1916, he was worth over $53,000,000 dollars, which today is equivalent to about $1,250,000,000. His legacy as a Robber Baron will be known for a long time, and his railways stand as proof of his influence and the expanse of his power through the break of the 20th century.


By Chris Carlton


References:
Stewart H. Holbrook, The Story of American Railroads (New York: Crown Publishers, 1947) 174.