To the Columbia Gateway: The Oregon Railway and the Northern Pacific, 1879-1884

by Peter J. Lewty

Overview

The excitement of the frontier comes alive in this history of early-day railroading in the Pacific Northwest. Combining narrative with fascinating photographs and maps, the author successfully conveys a sense of the enormous time, money, and hard work required to build the first Pacific Northwest rail lines. To the Columbia Gateway covers the origins of the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Oregon Railway and Navigation companies, the rise and fall of Henry Villard's first empire, and the completion of transcontinental tracks that converged on the Columbia Gateway in the late nineteenth century. Tales of personal sacrifice and hardship, for both laborers and railroad entrepreneurs, echo through Lewty's account of this formative era in Pacific Northwest history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874220292
Publisher:	Washington State University Press
Publication date:	11/28/1987
Pages:	202
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Peter Lewty received his formal education in England and has been a mining engineer living in Powassan, Ontario.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

1 Northern Pacific
2 Oregon Steam Navigation
3 Henry Villard's Debut
4 Walla Walla & Columbia River
5 Oregon Railway & Navigation
6 The Lake Pend d'Oreille Division
7 The Blind Pool
8 The Upper River and the Southern Interior
9 Through to Portland
10 Pend d'Oreille, Clark's Fork, and the Last Spike
11 Henry Villard's Downfall
12 The Bridge at Ainsworth
13 Columbia & Palouse
14 Blue Mountain Station and Centerville
15 Over the Blue Mountains
16 "On the Road, and Off"

Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"The book is well researched and contains a long list of references and original documents used in its writing [and] covers the early railroad era very well."

—National Railway Bulletin

"An entertaining and readable chronicle of railroad development in Seattle."

—Charles Mutschler, archivist/historian, Eastern Washington University

From the Publisher