1876–1897 Northern Pacific Railroad Paper Stock Certificate

Authentic Railroad Stock Certificate From The Old West

When President Abraham Lincoln approved the charter for the Northern Pacific Railway in 1864, the goal was to connect Puget Sound with the Great Lakes. Led by Josiah Perham, who served as the railroad’s first executive director, the first tracks were laid near Duluth, Minnesota in 1870 with funding provided by banker Jay Cooke, the nation’s first major investment banker and a man who helped finance the Union effort during the American Civil War. Lincoln’s government granted the line 46 million acres of land to aid in building costs. The land was sold by the railroad corporation for $4 per acre east of the Missouri River and $2.60 per acre west of the Missouri River.

Conflict With Native Americans

Work on the railroad stretched across the Montana and Dakotas Territories where Lakota and Cheyenne Indians often conducted attacks on survey crews. The appearance of the Iron Horse spewing black smoke across the Great Plains was an ominous sign for these Native Americans who feared that this new form of White incursion would further deplete the buffalo from their hunting grounds. From 1874 to 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer’s 7th Cavalry conducted expeditions to protect the railroad survey and construction crews that came into conflict with marauding war parties.

Mergers Create Largest Freight Railroad In The United States

Due to the Panic of 1873 and other financial difficulties, Northern Pacific slipped into bankruptcy and was purchased by American journalist and financier Henry Villard in 1881. Twenty years later, railroad magnates J.P. Morgan and James J. Hill purchased the company in a plan to merge it with the Great Northern Railway. In 1970, the Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy officially merged to become Burlington North, which is now part of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (BNSF), the largest freight railroad in the United States.

Imagine Being A Railroad Tycoon With This Authentic Hand-Signed Stock Certificate

This genuine Northern Pacific Railroad Paper Stock Certificate was issued from 1876 to 1897. It shows a portrait Frederick Billings, President of the Northern Pacific from 1879 to 1881 and a vignette of a steaming train. Its large size, ornate border and attractive vignette make it perfect for framing and display. Own a real piece of Old West history and capture the feeling of being in on the ground floor for the growth of one of the country’s most significant rail lines with this authentic hand-signed stock certificate!