The War for the Northwest: Railroad Moguls and the 'Rounders' of Portland
A bitter editorial from 1886 exposes the propaganda campaign waged by Northern Pacific railroad agents against Portland to secure terminal dominance for the Puget Sound region.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports an interview with Col. W. P. Clough, counsel for the Northern Pacific, who claims the people of Portland are in a 'very bad plight' because the trade of Eastern Oregon and Washington will be diverted to the Sound. This is the sort of talk that the Northern Pacific—and those interested in its land rings—are spreading at all times. Their constant boast is that they will annihilate Portland and the commerce of the Columbia River. We are told that on every train between St. Paul and Portland, there are 'rounders' whose sole business is to talk about the 'terrible dangers' of the Columbia River and to disparage Portland to ensure the Northern Pacific can boom its own lands and terminal property. Portland is not scared in the least by these prophecies; it knows that completion of the Northern Pacific across the mountains will furnish more trade, but will not destroy the Columbia. The speculative movement fostered by the land ring will eventually settle down, and it will be discovered that a great city is not built in a day, nor by magic.
“Their constant boast is that they are going to annihilate Portland and the traffic of the Columbia, and to this end they are indefatigable in their assertions that no vessel can enter the Columbia River without extreme risk.”
This 1886 report on 'land rings' and 'rounders' manufacturing fear to manipulate property values echoes the hyper-competitive developer culture that still defines Seattle’s urban growth today. The struggle to balance terminal dominance with sustainable regional trade remains a core tension in the Pacific Northwest economy.
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