A HISTORY OF TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROADS AND COAL MINING ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS TO 1920 (MONTANA, NORTH DAKOTA, WYOMING).

摘要

This history examines the symbiotic relationship between three transcontinental railroads--the Union Pacific, Northern Pacific, and Great Northern--and coal mining in Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming through 1920. Throughout their dual existence, American railroads and the coal industry enjoyed a mutually beneficial association. On the Northern Plains, however, this partnership assumed new dimensions.;This relationship, moreover, proved significant for both the railroads and the region. Only the Union Pacific, which tapped deposits in southern Wyoming, found the indigenous coal an enduring source of motive power. But even the marginal North Dakota and Montana coals fulfilled the transcontinentals' needs temporarily. By reducing operating expenses, the native fuel correspondingly made railroading on the treeless prairies more economical than it would have been otherwise. Most importantly, the transcontinentals' influence in shaping the coal industry invigorated the Northern Plains' general development. Their rails supported other mines and their coal fostered additional activities, including smelting, brickmaking, town-building, and agricultural settlement. In all these ways, the marriage of coal and rails contributed greatly to the region's economic growth.;There, the coal and rails exerted unique influences upon one another. The location of deposits determined many of the transcontinentals' early decisions, especially route selection. The native fuel also was used to promote settlement on railroad lands. Two of the roads, the Union Pacific and Northern Pacific, held land grants containing valuable deposits. The Great Northern, having no such subsidy, acquired coal lands in northern Montana. On these properties, the three railroads pioneered the region's commercial coal mining industry. Eventually, each formed subsidiaries to direct their coal operations. While much of their production supplied steam locomotives, some was sold to the public. Furthermore, the policies of the Northern Pacific and Great Northern especially enabled their coal to stimulate non-railroad enterprises. In addition, all three provided the transportation which made exploitation by others economically feasible. In short, the transcontinentals shaped the Northern Plains coal industry during its formative years by owning much of the resource, consuming most of the production, making independent mining possible, and encouraging other domestic and industrial consumption.