Distinctly Montana Magazine

DISTINCTLY MONTANA MAGAZINE • WINTER 2022-23 56 CREATING THE FOUNDATION FOR AN EMPIRE Despite his connection with those who work the land, Hill's strength was his vision for integrated industries considering not only farming and ranching, but integrated industries including farming and ranching, along with mining, and eventually tour- ism. "He had a comprehensive view of these resources," explains Weston. Employing multiple systems was critical for creating a solid foundation beneath his railroad, making it immune from the bankruptcies that plagued other lines. Throughout these endeavors, Hill had his thumb on the pulse of every process, earning him the reputation of a micromanager with his belief, "It pays to be where the money is being spent." Every season he traveled in his private car examining tracks and noting failings along the rail line, ranging from structural de- fects to whether a depot was not well-kept. During the flurry of activity of the constant expansion, Hill knew many of the names of the men and was known to pick up a tool and fill in while a worker grabbed a cup of coffee. While he respected those who toiled for him, he was a task master, push- ing the men and routinely firing them if their work did not meet his expectations. In 1884, Hill visited Paris Gibson, a business associate from St. Paul who was plotting the new town of Great Falls. While standing on the edge of the Missouri River, Hill recognized the potential of the region. In short order, he brought together other savvy investors, forming the Great Falls Water Power & Town- site Company, along with creating an alliance with Marcus Daly, owner of the Anaconda Mining Com- pany in Butte. With cop- per dominating the scene, Hill built the Central Montana Railway in 1886 from Butte to Great Falls, eventually connecting it to the St. Paul, Minneap- olis & Manitoba Railway, which became the Great Northern Railroad in September 1889. Even with this boundless potential in central Montana, his westward-bound rail line was roughly 700 miles east of Great Falls. Beginning in the spring of 1887, 8,000 men graded the route, and hundreds of track layers and timber workers laid the rails at a feverish pace. In August, they celebrated a single-day record of 8.3 miles of track set, and by mid-October, the line mi- raculously reached Great Falls. With the creation of the first hydroelectric facility in 1890, at the current location of the Black Eagle Dam, there was power for the Boston & Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Com- pany smelter in 1892 to process the ore from Butte. The coal mines in Sand Coulee, roughly 18 miles outside of Great Falls, produced upwards of 2,000 tons of coal each week to fuel the trains. Every- thing worked toward the benefit of the Great Northern Railroad. Paris Gibson

• Cover