Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
White settlement was charted by the steamboats that navigated the area along the Mis-
souri all the way to Fort Benton as early as 1859 and the rapid construction of the Great
Northern Railway in 1887. Under the direction of James J. Hill, 643 miles of track were
laid in less than eight months by a crew of 9,000 men and 6,600 horses. In an attempt
to populate this now reasonably accessible place, in 1908 Hill sent agents and exhibition
cars to county fairs across the Midwest and on the East Coast to entice optimistic farmers.
