The poet Joaquin Miller called him "a splendid specimen of American energy and
Western manhood." Portland newspaperman Henry Reed argued that he was
"entitled to be enrolled among the builders of Oregon." Harper's Weekly
considered him "the greatest organizer of transportation the West ever
produced." But his enemies -- and he had many -- thought he was "wholly
destitute of fixed principles of honesty, morality or common decency," as one
critic put it. Such was the mixed legacy of one of Oregon's greatest successes
-- and failures -- Ben Holladay.
Benjamin Holladay was born on Oct. 19, 1819, in Nicholas County, Ky. At the
age of 16, he moved to Missouri, where he found work as a store clerk before
serving as a courier with the state militia during the 1838 Mormon War. Soon
after the end of the war, Holladay began operating his own business ventures,
starting with a modest tavern and hotel. But it was the 1846-1848 Mexican War
that really launched his business career. The war created great demand for
livestock and wagons, which Holladay helped fill. During this time he also
profited from a venture to Salt Lake City, where he sold thousands of dollars
worth of merchandise and livestock. In 1849 he returned to Missouri, where he
invested his newfound wealth. By the age of 30 Holladay had made a notable
mark in the world. He owned a 16-room brick mansion, a 1,200-acre farm, and
several stores and factories. But Holladay was nothing if not ambitious. In
1850 he organized another freighting expedition to Utah, which proved as
successful as the first. He continued on to California with a herd of cattle,
taking advantage of the booming market created by the gold rush. Holladay's
biggest opportunity came in 1862, when he acquired the ailing Central Overland
California and Pike's Peak Express Co., one of the largest transportation
businesses in the West. Although it was already heavily in debt, Holladay took
a chance and expanded the operations of the company, which he renamed the
Overland Mail and Express Co., better known as Overland Stage Line. Holladay
soon became known as the "stagecoach king" of the American West. By the time
he sold the Overland Stage Line, he controlled 3,145 miles of stage lines from
Kansas to Idaho. He also owned a fleet of steamers that plied the Pacific
Coast from California to Alaska. However, it was clear to Holladay that
railroads, not stages, were the future of transportation, and in November 1866
he gladly sold out to Wells, Fargo and Co. He took his fortune to Portland,
arriving just in time to insert himself into a bitter contest between rival
railroad companies, each competing to be the first to build a line to
California. The prize was a 5 million-acre land grant, to be allocated by the
state Legislature. Historian Dorothy Johansen observed wryly that "Holladay
was not one to hesitate over the niceties of business ethics." He wined and
dined the state legislators, treating them to lavish parties, and some reports
claim, cash "donations." He allegedly boasted that he spent $35,000 to
convince them to favor his company against the rival Oregon Central Co. It may
have been a less than principled strategy, but it worked. The legislators
awarded his company the grant. In the process, however, he made many enemies,
including many of Portland's financial elite, who had backed the Oregon
Central. Holladay renamed his company the Oregon & California Railroad and
sold several million dollars worth of stock, much of it to investors in
Germany. In 1870 the company's tracks reached Salem, then Albany, Harrisburg,
Eugene, and, in 1872, Roseburg. But the Panic of 1873 halted the progress of
the Oregon & California. The German bondholders began grumbling, and in July
1874 they sent an agent, Henry Villard, to review the situation. Villard was
not impressed with Holladay, but he was impressed by Oregon's economic
potential. He struck a deal that left Holladay in nominal control, but within
two years Villard had pushed Holladay out altogether. Holladay's financial
fortune declined precipitously after losing control of the Oregon &
California. He was forced to sell off most of his property and spent much of
his time defending himself against lawsuits. But, as his obituary in Harper's
Weekly noted, "he remained to the last a man of wealth, if not the possessor
of a princely fortune." He died on July 8, 1887, and was buried in Portland's
Mount Calvary Cemetery.
Source: The Business Journal-Portland, Oregon, January, 1, 2005