Railroad Monopoly Tightens Grip on Lumber
A newly formed 'Improvement Company' linked to the Northern Pacific Railroad establishes a monopoly over regional lumber trade.
The Lumberman was the first journal that surmised and pointed out that the 'improvement company' was a scheme intimately connected with the Northern Pacific railway management to control the Rocky Mountain lumber business along that great northern route. The company is required to establish lumber yards and keep a stock of lumber on hand at each of the principal points between the places indicated. It is thus apparent that the Oregon and Montana Improvement Company is a sort of annex to the Northern Pacific railroad to control the manufacture and sale of lumber along its line. The settlers in Eastern Washington will be the sufferers for a few years.
“The settlers in Eastern Washington will be the sufferers for a few years.”
This report highlights the historical tension between private industrial monopolies and regional development in the Pacific Northwest, a struggle that persists in contemporary debates over corporate influence and public resources.
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