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Wisconsin Central, The A centennial View Compiled by William Durrwachter Traffic
The Wisconsin Central A centennial View Compiled by William Durrwachter Traffic Department SOO Line Railroad
Soft Cover
Copyright 1971
16 pages.
At the conclusion of the Civil War, the United States and Great Britain were not on the most cordial terms. Britain had displayed far too much sympathy toward the Confederacy during the war and the Federal Government deemed it prudent to solidify its border with Canada. This could be accomplished by settlement and development, but most areas of the Upper Midwest were still virgin pine-lands and wilderness. This was especially true of central and northern Wisconsin.
A method of transportation to the northern boundaries of the mid-west needed to be established. Various military roads were surveyed and cleared, but most of these were little more than rough trails through the woods. Their military value was questionable.
The 1860's brought a period of fervent railroad construction to most areas of the United States. The great transcontinental railroad was completed during this time, and everywhere that the iron horse went, growth and prosperity seemed to follow. A railroad link from the population centers of lower Wisconsin to the shores of Lake Superior seemed to be a good method of bringing development to this vast area of the state. To encourage the building of this railroad, the government would grant as a gift the timber stands and land adjoining the proposed right-of-way. It remained for three gentlemen from Wisconsin to promote this enterprise and secure the valuable land-grant; Judge George Reed of Manitowoc and Menasha, his brother Curtis Reed of Menasha, and Matt Wadleigh of Stevens Point.
The beginning was not easy. It took money to start construction through this wilderness, and only by actual construction could the federal land grants be retained. Boston was the financial center of the nation at this time, thus Judge Reed hastened there to secure the funds needed to construct his road and buy equipment. He found in Gardner Colby a man ready to enlist his financial support in the great potential resources of northern Wisconsin. Gardner Colby was born and raised in the state of Maine. Numerous jobs in his youth accumulated enough capital to enable him to establish his own merchandising store in Boston. He later became a manufacturer of woolen goods and was successful in landing the U. S. Government's contracts for military clothing during the Civil War. In this enterprise he accumulated the fortune with which he undertook the construction of the Wisconsin Central. Colby College in Maine bears his name to this day. Since both Reed and Colby needed a manager for this great project, Elijah B. Phillips of the Lake Shore and Northern Indiana Railroad was chosen. As events turned out, Phillips appeared to be more Colby's choice than Reed's.
The Wisconsin Central was a consolidation of three companies that had previously been chartered; the Winnebago and Lake Superior, the Portage and Superior, and the Portage, Stevens Point and Superior railroads. Early in 1870 headquarters were established in Menasha at the new National Hotel. On Feb. 4, 1871 the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company was officially named.
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