James J. Hill
James J. Hill at about age 35, ca. 1875
Born	September 16, 1838
Died	May 29, 1916

James J. Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916), was a noted American railroad tycoon. James J. Hill at about 35 years of age (~1875). ... September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a mogul or a tycoon, is a person who controls a large portion of a particular industry and whose wealth derives primarily from said control. ...

Hill showed his aptitude for the intellectual side of the world early in life; although he only ever had nine years of formal schooling, by the time he had finished (he was forced to leave school in 1852 due to the death of his father), he was adept at algebra, geometry, land surveying, and English. His particular talents for English and mathematics would be critical later in his life. An intellectual is a person who uses his or her intellect to study, reflect, and speculate on a variety of different ideas. ... A school is most commonly a place designated for learning. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Algebra is a branch of mathematics which may be roughly characterized as a generalization and extension of arithmetic, in which symbols are employed to denote operations, and letters to represent number and quantity; it also refers to a particular kind of abstract algebra structure, the algebra over a field. ... Geometry (from the Greek words Ge = earth and metro = measure) is the branch of mathematics first introduced by Theaetetus dealing with spatial relationships. ... Surveying is concerned with the application of mathematics and physics in obtaining accurate measurements for the determination of the position of points on the Earths surface. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Mathematics, often abbreviated maths in Commonwealth English and math in American English, is the study of abstraction. ...

After working for a while as a clerk (at which job he learned bookkeeping), Hill settled in St. Paul, Minnesota at the age of 18. His first job at St. Paul was with a steamboat company, where he worked as a bookkeeper. His talents at this earned him a great deal of respect, and by 1860 he was working for wholesale grocers, for whom he handled freight transfers, especially dealing with railroads and steamboats. This work made him learn, by necessity, about all aspects of the freight and transportation business. Like everything else Hill tried his hand at, he was quite successful at it. During this time period, Hill began to work for himself for the first time. During the winter months when the Mississippi River was frozen and steamboats could not run, Hill started bidding on other contracts, and won quite a few. Particularly of note was his contract to provide wood fuel to a US fort. These experiences made him quite the valuable employee, and by 1865, Hill was worming his way up through the business world. A clerk can be someone who works in an office and whose duties include record-keeping or correspondence. ... Accountancy (British English) or accounting (American English) is the process of maintaining, auditing, and processing financial information for business purposes. ... State capitol building in Saint Paul Saint Paul is the capital and second-largest city of the state of Minnesota in the United States of America. ... Paddle steamers - Lucerne-Switzerland Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... In commerce, a wholesaler buys goods in large quantities from their manufacturers or importers, and then sells smaller quantities to retailers, who in turn sell to the general public. ... A grocer is a dealer in staple foodstuffs -- meats, produce, dairy products, etc. ... Cargo is a term used to denotes goods or produce being transported generally for commercial gain, usually on a ship, plane, train or lorry. ... For other article subjects named transport see transport (disambiguation). ... In many parts of the world, winter is associated with snow. ... Length 6,270 km Elevation of the source 450 m Average discharge 16,200 m³/s Area watershed 2,980,000 km² Origin Lake Itasca Mouth Gulf of Mexico Basin countries United States (98. ... This article describes the wood that comprises trees and boards. ... 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ...

If there is one thing to be said in favor of James J. Hill, it is this: he did absolutely nothing by halves. Because of his previous experiences in shipping and fuel supply, Hill was able to aggressively enter both the coal and steamboat businesses. In 1870 he entered the steamboat business; by 1872 he had monopolized it, by way of a merger (with Norman Kittson). In 1867 Hill entered the coal business; by 1874 it had expanded five times over; by 1877 James Hill had virtually monopolized the Anthracite coal business. During this same time period, Hill was also entering banking—he had managed to become Member of the Board of several major banks. And with all of this, Hill still managed to grab at any extra business opportunities that came his way. Even at this early age (Hill was not yet forty), Hill had established the habit of buying out bankrupt businesses, building them up again, and then reselling—often to a huge profit. For the internet phenomenon of involvement with fictional romance, see Shipping (fandom). ... For information on the band, see Fuel (band). ... Coal Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground either by underground mining, open-pit mining or strip mining. ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1872 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about economic monopoly. ... Norman Wolfred Kittson ( 5 March 1814 – 10 May 1888) was variously a fur trader, steamboat-line operator, and railway entrepreneur. ... 1867 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Events January - April January 1 - New York City annexes The Bronx January 23 - Marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, to Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, only daughter of Emperor Alexander III of Russia. ... 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Anthracite coal Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster. ... The essential function of a bank is to provide services related to the storing of value and the extending of credit. ... A habit is the usual condition or state of a person or thing, either natural or acquired, regarded as something had, possessed, and firmly retained. ... Bankruptcy - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Profit is defined as the residual value gained from business operations. ...

Virtually all of this early and stunning success was due to a few key traits of Hill's—traits that would reappear again and again as Hill made his way through the world of business. Firstly, he was incredibly hard-working. It takes a huge amount of diligence to tackle more than one grand project at the same time, and Hill was not only undertaking to monopolize the steamboat business, he was monopolizing coal, getting friendly with bankers, and buying out other businesses at the same time. That takes quite a level of dedication. Hill was once quoted telling a questioner that the secret to success was, "Work, hard work, intelligent work, and then more work." Secondly, he was almost maniacally competitive. This "crusty" man took it almost as a point of personal honor to be the best, the biggest, the most competitive, of any business out there. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, Hill was simply a brilliant man, and a brilliant leader of men. he was able to quickly pick up the nuances of working in any new business; his business strategy was amazing; he was able to convince almost anyone to come to his side. All of these traits had a role in James Hill's precipitous rise to power—most especially his almost uncanny ability to predict the future of business, as shown by the way he entered the railroad business in 1877. In biology, a trait or character is a genetically inherited feature of an organism. ... Secrecy is the condition of hiding information from others. ... In psychiatry a maniac is a person who suffers the mental disease called mania. ... 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

During the Panic of 1873, a number of railroads, including the St. Paul and Pacific, had gone bankrupt. The SP&P in particular was caught in an almost hopeless legal muddle. For James Hill, a man with the intelligence and perseverance to sort out this muddle, it was a golden opportunity. For three years Hill researched the SP&P, finally concluding that it would be possible to make quite a deal of money off of the SP&P, provided that the initial capital could be found. So Hill teamed up with Norman Kittson (the man he had merged steamboat businesses with!), Donald Smith, George Stephen, and John S. Kennedy, and together they not only bought the railroad, but rather vastly expanded it, by bargaining for trackage rights with Northern Pacific Railway. In May 1879 the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway Co. formed—with James J. Hill as general manager. His first goal? To expand and upgrade still more. The Panic of 1873 was touched off on September 18, 1873, when the Philadelphia banking firm Jay Cooke and Company closed its doors and declared bankruptcy. ... Donald Alexander Smith (August 6, 1820-January 21, 1914) was a Scotch-Québécois fur trader, financier, railroad baron and politician in Canada. ... George Stephen George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen ( June 5, 1829 – November 29, 1921) was a Scots-Quebecer banker and railway executive in Canada. ... Northern Pacific Railway Categories: Stub | Defunct railroad companies of the United States | Idaho railroads | Minnesota railroads | Montana railroads | North Dakota railroads | Oregon railroads | Washington railroads | Wisconsin railroads ... 1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... In computing, an upgrade is the process of replacing an older system with more recent hardware or software in order to bring the system up to date. ...

By all accounts, James J. Hill was a hands-on, detail-obsessed manager. Did he want people settling along his rail lines? He sold homesteads to immigrants, and then imported them to their new homes (on his rail lines, of course). He imported grains from Russia and sold this to farmers - he sold wood to farmers in order to encourage them to buy his wheat. When he was looking for the best path for one of his tracks to take, he went out on horseback and scouted it out personally. Under his skillful management, SPM&M prospered. In 1880 their net worth was $728,000; in 1885 it was $25,000,000. One of his challenges at this point was the avoidance of federal action against railroads. If the feds believed that the railroads were making too much profit, they might see this as an opportunity to force lowering of the rates. Hill rather cleverly ducked this by investing a large portion of the railroad's profit back into the railroad itself—and charged those investments to operating expense. It was at this point that Hill became the official president of SPM&M (not that he hadn't been the man behind the curtain far before this), and decided to expand the rail lines even further. Management (from Old French ménagement the art of conducting, directing, from Latin manu agere to lead by the hand) characterises the process of leading and directing all or part of an organization, often a business, through the deployment and manipulation of resources (human, financial, material, intellectual or intangible). ... 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1885 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

James J. Hill ca. 1890

Between 1883 and 1889, Hill built his railroads across Montana, across Wisconsin, across North Dakota and around the Great Lakes. Hill and his men worked in spite of all obstacles—including a presidential veto of a bill that would allow Hill to build legally through American Indian territory (Cleveland later changed his mind). When there wasn't enough industry in the places Hill was building, Hill brought the industry to him, often by buying out a company and placing plants along his railroad lines. Then, in 1889, Hill decided that the future was in transcontinental railroad - and so he embarked on his great project. James J. Hill unknown date, probably near 1890 or 1900. ... James J. Hill unknown date, probably near 1890 or 1900. ... 1883 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... State nickname: Treasure State Other U.S. States Capital Helena Largest city Billings Governor Brian Schweitzer Official languages English Area 381,156 km² (4th)  - Land 377,295 km²  - Water 3,862 km² (1%) Population (2000)  - Population 902,194 (44th)  - Density 2. ... One of the periods of glaciation was also termed the Wisconsin glaciation. ... State nickname: Peace Garden State, Roughrider State, Flickertail State Other U.S. States Capital Bismarck Largest city Fargo Governor John Hoeven Official languages English Area 183,272 km² (19th)  - Land 178,839 km²  - Water 4,432 km² (2. ... The Great Lakes from space The Great Lakes are a group of five large lakes on or near the United States-Canadian border. ... For the pop band, see Presidents of the United States of America. ... The word veto comes from Latin and literally means I forbid. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... Stephen Grover Cleveland ( March 18, 1837 – June 24, 1908) was the 22nd ( 1885– 1889) and 24th ( 1893– 1897) President of the United States, and the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms. ... An industry is generally any grouping of businesses that share a common method of generating profits, such as the movie industry, the automobile industry, or the cattle industry. It is also used specifically to refer to an area of economic production focused on manufacturing which involves large amounts of upfront... A transcontinental railroad is a railway across a significant portion of a continent. ...

"What we want," Hill is quoted as saying, "is the best possible line, shortest distance, lowest grades, and least curvature we can build. We do not care enough for Rocky Mountains scenery to spend a large sum of money developing it." Hill got what he wanted, and in January 1893 his transcontinental railroad was completed—the only transcontinental built with no public money or land grants. This is the only transcontinental that did not go bankrupt. Rocky Mountain National Park (photo courtesy of NPS) View of Colorado Rockies. ... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A land grant is a gift of land made by the government for projects such as roads, railroads, or especially academic institutions. ...

Six months after this amazing feat came the depression of the 1890s. Hill, in his usual calm manner, handled this crisis brilliantly. Firstly, in order to ensure that he did not lose his patronage during the crisis, Hill lowered prices for farmers and gave many of the businesses he owned credit, so they were able to continue paying their workers. He also took strong measures to economize—in just one year, Hill cut the expense of carrying a ton of freight by 13 percent. (Of course, this was partially due to his ready exploitation of the cheap cost of labor during the depression.) Because of these measures, Hill not only stayed in business, but increased the net worth of his railroad by nearly 10 million dollars. Meanwhile, every single other transcontinental railroad went bankrupt. This feat raised Hill quite a bit of fame and admiration. However, he wasn't quite done yet. Before long, Hill would nearly cause an economic crisis of his own. A recession is usually defined in macroeconomics as a fall of a countrys Gross National Product in two successive quarters. ... The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no connotation of homosexuality as in current-day usage. ... Crisis is also the name of a British comic published from 1988 to 1991 — see Crisis (comic) — and a heavy metal group Crisis (band) — and a 1946 film directed by Ingmar Bergman — see Crisis (film) Crisis is a term meaning a testing time or emergency event. It is a concept... For people whose family name is Price see Price (disambiguation). ... A percentage is a way of expressing a proportion or a fraction as a whole number. ... Labour (or labor) can mean any one of the following things: Physical or mental work; exertion. ...

To recap briefly: James Hill now had control of both the Great Northern Railroad (what he had renamed the SPM&M), and the Northern Pacific, as well (which he had obtained with the help of his friend J. P. Morgan, when that railroad went bankrupt in the depression of the 1890s). Hill also wanted control of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad because of its Midwestern lines. Unfortunately for Hill, Union Pacific Railroad, the biggest competitor of Great Northern and Northern Pacific, also wanted control of Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. And while Great Northern and Northern Pacific were backed by the monies of J. P. Morgan and James J. Hill, the Union Pacific was backed not only by its president, Edward H. Harriman, but by the extremely powerful William Rockefeller. Great Northern may refer to: the Great Northern Diver, Gavia adamsii, a bird the Great Northern War, a war fought by Russia, Denmark-Norway, and Saxony-Poland against Sweden the Great Northern Railway, an Irish railway the Great Northern Railway, a United States railroad the Great Northern Railway, a British... Northern Pacific Railway Categories: Stub | Defunct railroad companies of the United States | Idaho railroads | Minnesota railroads | Montana railroads | North Dakota railroads | Oregon railroads | Washington railroads | Wisconsin railroads ... John Pierpont Morgan John Pierpont Morgan, Jr. ... Categories: Defunct railroad companies of the United States | Defunct companies | Defunct railroads | Colorado railroads | Illinois railroads | Iowa railroads | Missouri railroads | Montana railroads | Nebraska railroads | Wisconsin railroads | Wyoming railroads ... Midwest States (United States of America, ND to OH) The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... The Union Pacific Railroad (NYSE: UNP) is the largest railroad in the United States. ... William Rockefeller (May 31, 1841-June 24, 1922), American financier, was a cofounder of the prominent United States Rockefeller family. ...

Quietly, Harriman began buying stock in Northern Pacific with the intention of gaining control of Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. He was within 40,000 shares of control when Hill learned of Harriman's activities and quickly contacted J. P. Morgan, who was on vacation in Europe at the time. Morgan, acting on behalf of his friend, ordered his men to buy everything they could get their hands on. See stock (disambiguation) for other meanings of the term stock A stock, also referred to as a share, is commonly a share of ownership in a corporation. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ...

James J. Hill's home, 240 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota

The result was chaos on Wall Street. Stock was forced up to $1,000 per share. Innumerable speculators were ruined. The threat of a real economic panic loomed. Neither side could win a distinct advantage, and the parties soon realized that a truce would have to be called. The winners of that truce shook down to be Hill and Morgan, who immediately formed the Northern Securities Company with the aim of tying together their three major rail lines. Unfortunately for the Hill-Morgan alliance, on the same day they formed the Northern Securities Company, President McKinley was assassinated, placing Teddy Roosevelt—the trust-busting Teddy Roosevelt—solidly in presidential office. Download high resolution version (1024x737, 135 KB)House of James J. Hill, 240 Summit Avenue, St. ... Download high resolution version (1024x737, 135 KB)House of James J. Hill, 240 Summit Avenue, St. ... View up Wall Street from Pearl Street Wall Street is the name of a narrow thoroughfare in lower Manhattan running east from Broadway downhill to the East River. ... Speculation is the buying, holding, and selling of stocks, commodities, futures, currencies, collectibles, real estate, or any valuable thing to profit from fluctuations in its price as opposed to buying it for use or for income - dividends, rent etc. ... Northern Securities Company was a large railroad conglomerate formed in the late 1800s by financiers J.P. Morgan, Jim Hill, J. D. Rockefeller, E. H. Harriman and others. ... William McKinley (January 29, 1843 - September 14, 1901) was the 25th President of the United States, from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. ... Jack Ruby murdered the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in a very public manner. ... Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858–January 6, 1919) was the twenty-fifth (1901) Vice President and the twenty-sixth (1901-1909) President of the United States, succeeding to the office upon the assassination of William McKinley. ... The term trust has several meanings: In sociology, trust is the willingly acceptance of one persons power to affect another. ...

Roosevelt wasted little time in busting this trust. On March 14th, the Northern Securities Company was ordered dissolved under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Not that this would stop Hill, who, without the benefit of a central company, managed to acquire the Colorado and Southern lines into Texas, and the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle railroad. By the time of his death in 1916, James J. Hill was worth more than 53 million dollars. March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in Leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ... The Sherman Antitrust Act was the first government action to limit trusts (A combination of firms or corporations who agree not to lower prices below a certain rate for the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices throughout a business or an industry). ... State nickname: Lone Star State Other U.S. States Capital Austin Largest city Houston Governor Rick Perry Official languages None Area 696,241 km² (2nd)  - Land 678,907 km²  - Water 17,333 km² (2. ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ...

Hill was a rabid supporter of free trade and was one of the few supporters of free trade with Canada. He also helped President Wilson arrange the Anglo-French Loan of 1915, and was the one to insist that we should not aid the warring parties with ammunition—only with humanitarian goods. Hill's decent acts towards the farmers that lived on his rail lines also cannot be forgotten. He was immortalised as the (absent) character Nathaniel Taggart in Ayn Rand's classic novel Atlas Shrugged. Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... Canada is a sovereign state in northern North America, the northern-most country in the world, and the second largest in total area. ... Wilson is a 1944 biographical film about President Woodrow Wilson. ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 5. ... Farmer spreading grasshopper bait in his alfalfa field. ... Minor characters in Ayn Rands novel, Atlas Shrugged. ... This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, etc. ... Atlas Shrugged cover Atlas Shrugged (ISBN 0451191145) is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the USA. A movie is currently planned to be made out of it. ...

Whatever personal feelings may be, however, the fact remains that James J. Hill was one of the most powerful figures in American history.

External links

• James J. Hill Reference Library (http://www.jjhill.org)
• James J. Hill and the Building of His Railroad Empire (http://www.railserve.com/JJHill.html)
• A criticism of government intervention into the business of James J. Hill (http://www.neo-tech.com/neotech/global/appendix4.html)]

References

• Martin, Albro. James J. Hill and the Opening of the Northwest. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. ISBN 0195020707.
• The American Nation: A History of the United States, John A. Garraty, pgs. 469, 481, 587
• A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn, pg. 343
• http://voteview.uh.edu/jjhill.htm, Keith T. Poole
• The World Book Encyclopedia
• Encyclopedia Encarta