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Auction archive: Lot number 360

Archive of Villard's Northern Pacific Railroad Last Spike Excursion

Estimate
n. a.
Price realised:
US$8,813
Auction archive: Lot number 360

Archive of Villard's Northern Pacific Railroad Last Spike Excursion

Estimate
n. a.
Price realised:
US$8,813
Beschreibung:

Lot of 9, featuring 5 albumen photographs by F.J. Haynes, and 4 documents including a typed report from the Daily Oregonian, Sept. 14 & 17, 1883, part of a printed article, a handwritten note signed by Henry Villard, and an ANS from his son. These are from a personal collection not specifically identified. The 5 "Imperial Views" are from The Villard "Gold Spike" Expedition; three are on Haynes' pre-printed cards with list of views on verso, the other two have handwritten titles on verso, but printed expedition identification on recto. The views included here are: 1550 Group of Section Four at Last Spike with handwritten note Father 1st in first row on steps with hands on knee; 1551 Multnomah Falls, O. R. and N. with handwritten note Father and Joe in first row 2nd & 3rd on the right; 1547 Indian Council at Last Spike; (handwritten) 1548 Crow Indians at Last Spike; and 1549 First train over Last Spike. ALS 2pp, Berlin, 13 March 1885, in German, signed H. Villard. ANS from son is supposed to be a provenance statement that the letter is indeed from Villard, also in German. Neither translated. The 12-page typewritten report from the Daily Oregonian recounts the speeches given at Tacoma on the 17th and Seattle on the 14th as Villard's train finally reached the western terminus. There is a partial article without title or author on the Haynes photographs and the Villard expedition. Apparently, many of the images, especially landscapes and Indian photos, were not actually taken during the journey over the NPRR line, but indeed came from Haynes' stock (much of it taken along the right of way, but some years earlier). The last item is the Northern Pacific Railroad Report of the president to the Stockholders at their Annual meeting, September 21st, 1882, just a year before the line was completed. Map in rear with various sections of Northern Plains line plotted, now in about 10 pieces, but all present. One of the more interesting sections of the Stockholders' report is the aggressive recruiting of Northern European settlers to work and settle along the NPRR line. Villard notes that the company had 83 recruiting offices in England, Ireland and Scotland, and had sent out "feelers" to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and more. Formed by an act of congress in 1864, the Northern Pacific Rail Road was the first northern transcontinental railroad. Charged with connecting Lake Superior with Puget Sound, the project got off to a slow start. A group of eastern businessmen under Frederick Billings reorganized the company in 1878, streamlining finances and infusing $40 million in bond sales, and construction began again. Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard was born in 1835 in Bavaria. Something of a revolutionary even as a child, he finally emigrated to Illinois, where a number of relatives had settled, with about $1.50 (Prussian) in his pocket in 1853 at the age of 18. His lack of English skills was a bit of a disadvantage, forcing him to take unskilled jobs for a pitance. Eventually, he became involved in journalism; there were still a number of German newspapers at the time. He covered the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and, although initially though Lincoln something of a country bumpkin, changed his opinion over the campaign. By the election, Henry Villard, for he had by then legally changed his name, he was a Lincoln supporter and traveled with the president-elect from Springfield to Washington. The next years, as with most other journalists, were spent covering the war. He not only was able to get a number of "scoops" in battlefield reports, but he was able to relate the information directly to the President. After the war, he returned to Europe for a period, although the motivation for that is not clear. He did, however, become fascinated with railroads and found that he had a talent for negotiation. He got together several million in investments, and returned to the states. He acquired the Oregon and California Railroad. With his "blind pool" of

Auction archive: Lot number 360
Auction:
Datum:
8 Dec 2009
Auction house:
Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Este Ave 6270
Cincinnati OH 45232
United States
info@cowans.com
+1 (0)513 8711670
+1 (0)513 8718670
Beschreibung:

Lot of 9, featuring 5 albumen photographs by F.J. Haynes, and 4 documents including a typed report from the Daily Oregonian, Sept. 14 & 17, 1883, part of a printed article, a handwritten note signed by Henry Villard, and an ANS from his son. These are from a personal collection not specifically identified. The 5 "Imperial Views" are from The Villard "Gold Spike" Expedition; three are on Haynes' pre-printed cards with list of views on verso, the other two have handwritten titles on verso, but printed expedition identification on recto. The views included here are: 1550 Group of Section Four at Last Spike with handwritten note Father 1st in first row on steps with hands on knee; 1551 Multnomah Falls, O. R. and N. with handwritten note Father and Joe in first row 2nd & 3rd on the right; 1547 Indian Council at Last Spike; (handwritten) 1548 Crow Indians at Last Spike; and 1549 First train over Last Spike. ALS 2pp, Berlin, 13 March 1885, in German, signed H. Villard. ANS from son is supposed to be a provenance statement that the letter is indeed from Villard, also in German. Neither translated. The 12-page typewritten report from the Daily Oregonian recounts the speeches given at Tacoma on the 17th and Seattle on the 14th as Villard's train finally reached the western terminus. There is a partial article without title or author on the Haynes photographs and the Villard expedition. Apparently, many of the images, especially landscapes and Indian photos, were not actually taken during the journey over the NPRR line, but indeed came from Haynes' stock (much of it taken along the right of way, but some years earlier). The last item is the Northern Pacific Railroad Report of the president to the Stockholders at their Annual meeting, September 21st, 1882, just a year before the line was completed. Map in rear with various sections of Northern Plains line plotted, now in about 10 pieces, but all present. One of the more interesting sections of the Stockholders' report is the aggressive recruiting of Northern European settlers to work and settle along the NPRR line. Villard notes that the company had 83 recruiting offices in England, Ireland and Scotland, and had sent out "feelers" to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and more. Formed by an act of congress in 1864, the Northern Pacific Rail Road was the first northern transcontinental railroad. Charged with connecting Lake Superior with Puget Sound, the project got off to a slow start. A group of eastern businessmen under Frederick Billings reorganized the company in 1878, streamlining finances and infusing $40 million in bond sales, and construction began again. Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard was born in 1835 in Bavaria. Something of a revolutionary even as a child, he finally emigrated to Illinois, where a number of relatives had settled, with about $1.50 (Prussian) in his pocket in 1853 at the age of 18. His lack of English skills was a bit of a disadvantage, forcing him to take unskilled jobs for a pitance. Eventually, he became involved in journalism; there were still a number of German newspapers at the time. He covered the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and, although initially though Lincoln something of a country bumpkin, changed his opinion over the campaign. By the election, Henry Villard, for he had by then legally changed his name, he was a Lincoln supporter and traveled with the president-elect from Springfield to Washington. The next years, as with most other journalists, were spent covering the war. He not only was able to get a number of "scoops" in battlefield reports, but he was able to relate the information directly to the President. After the war, he returned to Europe for a period, although the motivation for that is not clear. He did, however, become fascinated with railroads and found that he had a talent for negotiation. He got together several million in investments, and returned to the states. He acquired the Oregon and California Railroad. With his "blind pool" of

Auction archive: Lot number 360
Auction:
Datum:
8 Dec 2009
Auction house:
Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Este Ave 6270
Cincinnati OH 45232
United States
info@cowans.com
+1 (0)513 8711670
+1 (0)513 8718670
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