"In 1901, the Northern Pacific was an unlikely prize: a twice-bankrupt construction of the federal government, it was a two-bit railroad (literally--five years back, its stock traded for twenty-five cents a share). But it was also a key to connecting eastern markets through Chic…
In 1901, two titans of American railroads set their sights on the Northern Pacific. The subsequent battle was unprecedented in the history of American enterprise, pitting not only James J. Hill against Edward Harriman but also Big Oil against Big Steel and J.P. Morgan against th…