. Saint Paul and the Northern Pacific Railway : grand opening, September 1883 . s, were the first fruits of the wholesale tradewhich now taxes both enterprise and capital to satisfy its requirements. The reason why St. Paul so early assumed importance as a businesspoint is easily discoverable. The city lies at the head of navigation,and in those days-the bulk of freight traffic was carried on by water;and railroads, in the few places where they existed in the West, wereregarded rather as luxuries for travelers than as the vehicles and thecreators of commerce. In the old records of the town the
. Saint Paul and the Northern Pacific Railway : grand opening, September 1883 . s, were the first fruits of the wholesale tradewhich now taxes both enterprise and capital to satisfy its requirements. The reason why St. Paul so early assumed importance as a businesspoint is easily discoverable. The city lies at the head of navigation,and in those days-the bulk of freight traffic was carried on by water;and railroads, in the few places where they existed in the West, wereregarded rather as luxuries for travelers than as the vehicles and thecreators of commerce. In the old records of the town the greatestprominence is given to the river trade, and the growth of each yearis measured by the number of steamboats arriving and departingmonthly. Long before a foot of railway existed within the limits ofthe state, regular communication with the outside world was kept upby the river, and the great fact of an uninterrupted channel to theGulf of Mexico was given its full significance. To be at the head ofnavigation then meant all that it now means, to lie in the focus of con-. verging railway lines; and even after the latter condition has beenadded, the effect of water competition is that of a powerful regulator. In 1847 a regular line of boats was established under the name ofthe Galena Packet Company, and the course of trade followed theriver. With an unsettled stretch of four hundred and twenty milesseparating St. Paul from Chicago, and eight hundred miles of riverbetween it and St. Louis, and with its location fixed at the head ofnavigation, the fact of its becoming a distributing point for all thecountry to the north and west of these cities may be regarded as hav-ing been fixed almost beyond the power of man to help or the first development of business it became evident that theHong trip to the then sovereign cities of the wholesale trade could not:be undertaken by every merchant carrying on a business in theNorthwest. As early as 1857 and 1858 a local wholesal
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectnorther, bookyear1883
