It’s 1892, and the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway has changed its name to the Great Northern, signifying a completely different set of ambitions. But James J. Hill has not forgotten the importance of the Red River Valley, which … Continue reading
To promote construction of a northern railway, Congress in 1864 offered the most generous land grant in U.S. history: roughly 44 million acres consisting of every other square mile of land within 20 miles on either side of the rail … Continue reading
Whereas pre-war brochures assumed that the only easy way to get to Glacier Park was by train, GN devoted a fifth of the front of this brochure to promoting the Western Star, which was having to compete with auto travel … Continue reading
There are “four ways to see Glacier Park,” says this 1939 brochure: hiking, motoring, horseback riding, or boat. Each of these are illustrated by one or more of the eight black-and-white photographs on the front of the brochure. Click image … Continue reading
The cartoon-style map of Glacier Park in this brochure shows hikers hiking with walking sticks and backpacks, bears hiking with walking sticks and backpacks, mountain goats ice skating on a glacier, and golfers imbibing at the 19th hole of the … Continue reading
The front of this brochure features eighteen photos of sights along the Great Northern from St. Paul to Seattle. Instead of a full-spread map, the map on the back covers only about a third of the page with the rest … Continue reading
The Great Northern published many “aeroplane maps” of Glacier National Park over the years, and David Rumsey has several in his collection. The one I’ve presented here before is undated but is from sometime after 1927 (when the Prince of … Continue reading
In 1900, James J. Hill negotiated the purchase of nearly all of the stock of the Burlington Route, half of which was held by the Great Northern and half by the Northern Pacific. This created the co-marketing opportunities for the … Continue reading
It’s hard to believe today when Disney is the leading studio in Hollywood, but a continuing theme for most of Walt Disney’s life was a shortage of funds to accomplish his dreams, even though most of them ended up being … Continue reading
Driven by the Depression, Santa Fe dropped its one-way fare between Chicago and California to just $40 in the summer of 1932. Fares from St. Louis and New Orleans to California were even lower, just $36.50. These compare with $90.30 … Continue reading
