see also-
Great Northern Dining Car Recipes
The Empire Builder
As tracks for the Great Northern were being laid, its new director began a constant round of travel during which he sought to create commerce for the railroad. With promotional appeals aimed at new immigrants, he gave public speeches from the platforms of what became known as "farm demonstration" trains.
From his own early expeditions, Hill was keenly aware that the unspoiled lands to the west held a rich yield of natural resources and could be developed in the same manner as had been the territory which lay east of the Mississippi. He taught farmers how to improve land use and methods of cultivation. He spoke authoritatively about the benefits of soil diversification and introduced improved strains of crop seeds.
Hill himself established experimental farms in Montana and, armed with the combination of eloquent publicity and proven modus operandi whence new migrants could earn their livelihoods, he persuaded many thousands to settle throughout the northern territories. This formula paved the way not only for the expansion of his railroad, but for the foundation and establishment of other industries throughout the north and northwest.
In the young history of the United States, there had never been a corporation which advocated such a prodigious undertaking without government help. Whether support came in the form of land grants or financial backing, federal assistance was considered to be requisite. James J Hill clearly had other ideas. He saw the potential of unsettled lands, and understood what people would need to make their communities thrive.
Just as he was determined to to find the straightest and shortest route across the northwest to the Pacific, James Hill was equally determined to proceed without incurring government subsidies of any kind. Critics scoffed at his single-minded strategy. Given the history of the Northern Pacific, such an extraordinary vision and mission, on the part of one man, strained credulity. Public derision soon christened the magnate's aspiration "Hill's Folly."
