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In 1864, Abraham Lincoln signed into law a bill authorizing the building of a transcontinental railroad. That bill, combined with existing policies and attitudes toward populating new regions of the west, paved the way for individuals to obtain land and become permanent citizens of the territories and ultimately, the states. Although they were granted enormous land holdings by the government, the railroads understood that their future was in the transportation, not in land ownership. To this end, the railroads decided to distribute land to as wide a populace as possible - to farmers who would settle and farm and provide business in the form of freight and passengers. In addition to making land available to individuals, the railroad sold huge tracts of land to investors and land companies with the goal of creating large-scale, highly profitable ventures, known as Bonanza Farms, that would dramatize the regions' potential. The railroads were ingenious in their efforts to settle the land. They commissioned real estate agents to sell land on their behalf. In 1884 the Northern Pacific Railroad advertised its lands in 200 American and Canadian newspapers, 68 German, and 32 Scandinavian-American papers. In addition, through the mails and traveling agents, the company distributed 500,000 sectional land maps and folders, and 650,000 sheet circulars throughout the British Isles and Europe. The railroads commissioned steamship companies to encourage passengers to disembark in Northern Pacific lands. They sold train tickets at full price but credited the cost of the ticket toward land purchases. Branch line railroads without land to sell offered reduced rate tickets to induce workers to come and work the harvest and to see, and perhaps own, a piece of the land where "wheat is king". While bringing settlers was the primary goal, the railroads also brought over 17,000 workers from dozens of backgrounds including Irish, Scandinavian, German, Mediterranean, Mexican, Oriental, and Baltic-Slavic. While most of these workers returned to urban centers following the construction of the railroad, thousands stayed and became farmers, craftsmen, merchants, and often, lifelong railroad employees. The North Dakota state map shows the widespread and lasting influence of the Northern Pacific Railroad on settlement with the names of officials enshrined on sites including Fargo, Dickinson, Kindred, Carrington, Steele, Hunter, Tower City, and Colgate and a host of places. |
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