The Rival Engineers Who Carved the Pacific Northwest

The untimely death of General Anderson, following soon after that of his great professional rival, Major Rogers, brings public attention to the lives of these two men, to the work which they accomplished, and to the imperishable monuments which will always recall their names to the people of the Pacific Northwest. These two, Anderson and Rogers, may fairly be classed among the great engineers of the century. The temple-like Northern Pacific railroad will ever be a monument to the genius of one; the completed Canadian Pacific to the genius of the other.

Major Rogers entered the employ of the Northern Pacific in the early days of that company, and the greater part of the road was located by him. It is said that while in this service he explored the Cascade mountains as they had never before been explored. The experience which he thus gained in mountain engineering recommended him to the managers of the Canadian Pacific when the engineers of that road had absolutely failed to find a practicable pass through the Selkirk mountains. Major Rogers brought to this new field all the experience gained by his work in the Cascades, and he soon discovered the Kicking Horse pass, through which the road was successfully located.

As the location of the Canadian Pacific through the Kicking Horse pass was the greatest result of Rogers' efforts, the location of the Northern Pacific through the Stampede pass was the greatest result of those of Anderson. General Anderson practically took up the work of locating the Northern Pacific where Major Rogers dropped it, and the location of the Cascade division is entirely due to him. Without such men as theirs, the Pacific Northwest could not have been connected by rail with the East. The mountain barrier presented a problem which could be solved only by engineering abilities of the highest order. Neither Rogers nor Anderson ever gave evidence of the possession of executive ability of a high order. Their talents were purely of a constructive nature. They could determine where a railroad should be built and how it should be built, but they could not operate it or manage its finances. They were the pioneers who opened the trail over which the iron horse daily and hourly draws its burden.