The story of Charlie’s involvement in the affairs of the railroad magnate, James Jerome Hill, is long and involved and I will here only touch upon the specifics of the founding of the city of Kalispell, Montana. There is much confusion and misinformation surrounding this aspect of Charlie’s life, but I will here discuss only what we have discovered, and not take the time to refute the existing errors on an individual basis.
When Hill was expanding his main railroad—the Great Northern—westward, he decided to route it through northwestern Montana to put it well north of the Northern Pacific. This necessitated a route over the Rockies. A route over the newly scouted Marias Pass[1] was Hill’s preferred route. James J. Hill needed a town in which to locate his division point, and he needed someone with, as he put it, “the capital and the disposition to open up that country.”[2]
He found his man in Charlie.[3] Using his own capital, Charlie formed the Kalispell Townsite Company with three other men,[4] all of whom had connections to J. J. Hill. It appears, however, that the majority of capital for the Townsite company was Charlie’s.[5] One of the other men[6] did purchase some land and transferred title to the Townsite company, apparently in exchange for his share of the stock. Charlie spent a great deal of time in the Flathead and actively participated in platting the new town. The town was duly platted and lots began to sell by Spring of 1891, and they sold rapidly. With the establishment of the new town, the Great Northern was pushed through from the east and the west, the tracks meeting in Kalispell on 31 December 1891 and the division point established at Kalispell.
It is apparent from the land records on file at the Flathead county courthouse that Charley was a busy man in those early days and the pages of the county deed books are replete with his signature, with ten or more transactions per day, each transaction requiring multiple signatures.[7] It is a wonder his hand didn’t seize up!
Concerning Charlie’s generosity towards family and others, there are many records which show that he would charge his relative—or a minister—one dollar ($1.00) for a lot in the Townsite records, then record the sale in the county records at full price, having made up the difference out of his own pocket. It is this behavior which prompted his youngest brother, Warren Ashby Conrad, to write to W. G. Conrad, the oldest of the brothers, and complain—loudly. This letter, as well as W. G.’s letter to Charlie about it, is in the University of Montana archives, Missoula.
----------------------------------
NOTES
1. Credit is often given to John L. Stevens for “discovering” the Pass, but it was well-known to those already in the area. A great deal of ink has already been spilled over this issue, so I won’t add to it.
2. James J. Hill. Letter to E. H. Beckler. James J Hill Letter Book, 6/11/90 - 10/21/90, p. 480, James J. Hill Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
3. I should note here that despite the family tales, J. J. Hill and Charlie were not “good friends.” Charlie always referred to J. J. as “Mr. Hill” and Hill always called Charlie “Conrad” or by some other formal term which denoted his superior position. Further, Hill visited Charlie in Kalispell but once and then he stayed in his custom Pullman car. It was C. E. Conrad who traveled to Minnesota at Hill’s beck and call to discuss business matters. They were business associates only, and Charlie was well aware of Hill’s superior position on the ladder of wealth and power.
4. The Kalispell Townsite Company was incorporated under Montana law, but in St. Paul, Minnesota on 20 Jan 1891. [Articles of Incorporation, Kalispell Townsite Co. Flathead County Permanent Files, Document No. 80.]
It would appear by the filing date (20 Jan 1891) that the instrument had been previously executed in St. Paul, transported to Missoula (Flathead county not yet having been formed out of Missoula co.) and filed there on the date given in the document.
5. “The KTC [Kalispell Townsite Company] moved quickly to purchase the land it needed for the town and by 16 March 1891 had spent in aggregate $34,000.00 to that end.” [Hardesty, Richard. Some Notes Regarding the Incorporation of the City of Kalispell, Montana. Hungry Horse: Rising Wolf Press, 2010, p. 1.]
That does not sound like much today, but back then, that was a sizeable sum, roughly equivalent to $972,400 in today’s (2023) dollars.
6. This was Almond A. White, who had a long history of founding towns in co-operation with J. J. Hill. The other two gentlemen involved in the Kalispell Townsite Company were W. P. Clough & J. B. Conner. These three men all had connections with J. J. Hill, but had little to do with the day-to-day operations of the townsite company.
7. These records are on file at the Flathead county courthouse. See Grantor Book A & Deeds Book 2, Flathead county red legers, for these records.
No comments:
Post a Comment