Talk:Henry Villard

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This article is part of WikiProject Oregon, a comprehensive WikiProject dedicated to articles about topics related to the U.S. state of Oregon. If you would like to participate, you can edit this article, or join by visiting the project page, or contribute to the project discussion.

Henry Villard, after his career in journalism, became a railroad promoter in the West, particularly in Oregon where he eventually came to control a good portion of the state's transportation system. This led him to the idea of developing the country's second transcontinental railroad. In 1880, through bold and deft financial maneuvering in which he was able to raise $8 million for unspecified purposes (it was dubbed a "blind pool"), he was able to finance his plans, which included purchase of control of the struggling Northern Pacific Railroad. Within three years (Sept. 9, 1883), Villard and others drove the spike that completed the Northern Pacific near Gold Creek, Montana.