Letterpress books containing outgoing letters of Northern Pacific Presidents or assistants J. Gregory Smith (1872), George W. Cass (1872-1875), Charles B. Wright (1873-1879), Frederick Billings (1879-1881), Ashbel H. Barney (1881), Henry Villard (1881-1883 and 1890-1893), James B. Williams (1883), George V. Sims (1883-1884), Robert Harris (1884-1888), Thomas F. Oakes (1889-1894), and Brayton Ives (1895-1897). A few volumes include letters from their service in other Northern Pacific offices.

Letterpress and carbon copies of outgoing letters of Northern Pacific presidents Edwin W. Winter (1896-1897), Charles S. Mellen (1896-1903), Howard Elliott (1903-1913), and Jule M. Hannaford (1913-1918 and federal manager 1918-1919). Also included are letters of Henry Villard, chairman of the board; N. C. Thrall, assistant to the president; and presidents' secretaries R. W. Clark, P. W. Corbett, and H. A. Fabian.

Volumes of outgoing letters of Northern Pacific presidents Jule M. Hannaford (1919-1920), Charles Donnelly (1919-1939), C. E. Denny (1939-1950), Robert S. Macfarlane (1949-1967), and Louis W. Menk (1966-1970), and various executive assistants and other office personnel. Some volumes include letters from their service in other Northern Pacific offices.

Subjects covered encompass all aspects of the railroad's business, including finances, insurance, natural resources, land purchases, equipment, freight, construction, joint facilities (especially with the Great Northern), personnel, annual reports, legal affairs, passes, advertising, branch lines and extensions, and stations.

Copies (loose and letterpress) of letters by Thomas Cooper as assistant to the president and later as vice president (September 30, 1909-October 1919) and by Charles Donnelly as executive vice president (October 1919-January 19, 1920). They cover a variety of subjects, including surveys, construction, land matters, joint facilities, mines, townsites, passes, timber, and leases, contracts, and agreements.

Outgoing official and personal letters of Howard Elliott during a portion of his service as Northern Pacific president and chairman of the board.

Outgoing letters of Howard Elliott as chairman of the committee on inter-corporate relations of the New Haven system (New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company), which was charged with assessing the needs of American railroads and recommending a rate structure to be put into effect when the roads were restored from federal to private control.

Carbon copies of letters pertaining to the Gilmore and Pittsburgh and to two companies in which it held stock: the Lemhi Telephone Company, which operated a telephone line between DuBois, Idaho and Gilmore, Idaho, and the Idaho Development Company, a supplier of lumber products.

The letters were written by Northern Pacific presidents Jule Hannaford (1914-1918) and Charles Donnelly (1920), and president's secretaries Roy W. Clark and W. J. Barron. Most were sent to Gilmore and Pittsburgh personnel and pertain to general railroad matters.

Letter and telegram books used primarily by N. C. Thrall, assistant to the president; and a "road book" evidently used by Edwin W. Winter while traveling on the line. The letter and telegram books include a few letters by Henry Villard as chairman of the board of directors.

Letters, telegrams, and other papers received by the Northern Pacific president and vice president in the company's New York office, relating to all aspects of the construction of the main and branch lines, operation and maintenance of existing lines, disposition of company land, immigration to the Pacific Northwest, development of communities and resources along the line, interactions with other railroads, conduct of business with suppliers of equipment and rolling stock, requests for passes and employment, promotion of Yellowstone Park, and the organization of the 1883 Villard Excursion.

The primary addressees are president Robert Harris (1884-1889) and vice president, general manager, and president Thomas F. Oakes (1881-1893), with lesser numbers of letters being received by president Henry Villard (1882-1883), vice president James B. Williams (1889-1893), and various secretaries and assistants. They were written by the chief engineer, general manager, land commissioner, other officers of operating departments, officials of other railroads and of merchandising firms, and the public.

Registers of letters and other papers received by the Northern Pacific president and vice president in the company's New York office. They record each letter's author or originating officer or department, abstract of subject matter, to whom referred, and alpha-numeric file designation.

The fourteen registers record letters and other paper received by the president and vice president in the New York office from 1882 to 1893. The two major recipients are Thomas F. Oakes, who was vice president from 1881 to 1889 serving also As general manager from 1884 to 1889, and president from 1889 to 1893; and Robert Harris, who was president from 1884 to 1889. There are letters addressed to Henry Villard in 1882 and 1883, as well as James B. Williams, vice president from 1889 to 1893as to secretaries and assistants to the president’s office. Some letters addressed to persona not attached to the to the president’s office appear as transmittals., often without being accompanied by a 1etter of transmittal. At times when the presidents and vice presidents were absent from the office, they addressed letters to the New York headquarters and thus appear in the series as authors.

For all of the years included in the series, the office of the president was in New York. The vice president ‘s office was in New York during 1882 and 1883, in St. Paul during 1884-1888, and again in New York, 1889-1893.

Each year specia1 papers were entered as a unit in the registers. A complete list to these papers is in the 1892 register.

There are some duplications 1n the registers. For example, letters by Alexander Mitchell’s assistant to the chief engineer, Adna Anderson, are recorded both under M and under A, in juxtaposition to Anderson's letters.

The following are the major abbreviations used in the registers and as filing designations for registered letters:

CE -- Chief Engineer

GM -- General Manager

GC -- General Counsel

JWS -- J . W. Sprague, General Superintendent

HT -- H. Thielson, Supervising Engineer

ID -- United States, Department of the Interior

Letters and reports directed to the executive officers of the Northern Pacific in New York, giving data on branch lines and subsidiary companies, including detailed financial reports; Northern Pacific properties and mineral resources; cooperative arrangements or conflicts with other railroads and with service and development companies, especially the Wells, Fargo Express Company and the Union Pacific Railroad; major purchases of equipment and rolling stock; public relations especially in communities along the line; land transactions; internal corporate affairs, especially working papers for annual reports; line extensions; prospects for trade with China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand; and miscellaneous topics. Primary recipients are Thomas F. Oakes, Robert Harris, and James B. Williams.

Letters and telegrams, received primarily by Northern Pacific presidents Edwin W. Winter (1896-1897) and Charles S. Mellen (1892-1902), and copies of many of their relplies, relating to receipt and issuance of passes, travel on the line by Northern Pacific officials, requests from publishers for railroad facts and maps, and other miscellaneous subjects. There is a small amount of correspondence of president Howard Elliott (1903-1904).

There are special files for Auditor (1896-1898), regarding financial matters; Chairman of the Board (Edward D. Adams, 1896-1899), concerning reorganization, passes, and introductions; Comptroller (1896-1904), giving comparative financial statements and facts on assets of subsidiaries; General Counsel (C. W. Bunn, 1896-1899), concerning reorganization, passes, and introductions; Comptroller (1896-1904), giving comparative financial statements and facts on assets of subsidiaries; General Counsel (C. W. Bunn, 1896-1904) on legal matters, Senate bills, and leases; and Secretary (1896-1902), regarding stockholders matters.

Scope and Content: Subject files of Howard Elliott as Northern Pacific president (1903-1913, 1918-1920) and chairman of the board of directors (1920- ), relating especially to the development and stabilization of the Northern Pacific's management, operations, and earning power following World War I.

There is information on the proposed merger of Northern Pacific and the Great Northern Railway; the effects of Northern Pacific on federal control during World War I; maintenance and depreciation of equipment, rolling stock, and trackage; finances, accounting and contracts; development of Northern Pacific's properties and natural resources, especially through the Northwestern Improvement Company and specific development projects; management of the land grant; relations with other railroads and service companies, expecially the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle, and the Colorado and Southern; conflict with the Backus Brooks Company in northern Minnesota; affairs of various Northern Pacific subsidiaries and affiliates; and relations with the federal government and with regulatory bodies.

Printed speeches of Howard Elliott, who served as Northern Pacific President, (1903-1913, 1918-1920), and officer in other capacities (1917-1928). He served as President, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company (circa 1913-circa 1917.

Correspondence to and from Howard Elliott, Northern Pacific chairman. Most of the letters were directed to Charles Donnelly, Northern Pacific president.

Miscellaneous correspondence relating to the 4 Minute Men Association (1917-1918), Chicago, Burlington and Quincy collateral joint 4's (1920), Scandrett's appointment as Northern Pacific general solicitor (1925), and Wisconsin rate case decision (1926). Includes a photograph of president Charles Donnelly and other Northern Pacific personnel at Vancouver (September 26, 1926).

Northern Pacific president Howard Elliott's file of correspondence, newspaper clippings, and blueprints exchanged with L. B. Seeley, president and general manager of the Columbia River and Puget Sound Navigation Company regarding seaports on Oregon.

Agreements and related papers regarding various types of joint operations between the Northern Pacific and the lines of the Union Pacific system.

Forms and related correspondence reporting and verifying approval for capital expenditures during the period of federal control of the railroad, for the Northern Pacific (all forms except No. 11), the Duluth Union Depot and Transfer Company (forms 2, 5, 6, and 15), and the Minnesota and International Railway Company (forms 1, 1A, 2, 5, 6, 10-13, and 15). These records appear to have been part of the Northern Pacific President's subject file No. 2045: Government Control.

Form 1: Estimated expenditures for capital account. Form 1A: Recapitulation of Form 1. Form 2: New work involving a charge to capital account of less than $1,000 for any single project. Form 3: Work involving a charge to capital account of more than $5,000 and less than $25,000. Form No. 4: Authority for expenditure. Form 5: Authorizations for expenditure in connection with work chargeable to capital account. Form 6: New work authorized (monthly). Form 10: Progress report. Form 11: Monthly report of work completed. Form 12: Completion of work authorized on Form 1. Form 13: Work completed. Form 15: Completion of work of $1,000 or less (monthly).

Reports on the topography, stream flow, and types and costs of possible water power development for various rivers in Washington state, prepared for the Northern Pacific by William R. King; and correspondence among Northern Pacific president Howard Elliott, land commissioner Thomas Cooper, and New York consulting engineer Cary T. Hutchinson regarding the reports and development prospects.

The reports are accompanied by sketch maps and photographs. There are also summaries of King's reports Nos. 1-43 for Minnesota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and of resultant actions taken by Northern Pacific.

The Vice President/Assistant to the President, stationed in Seattle, was the Northern Pacific President's staff representation on the West End and, as such, acted as the St. Paul chief executive's western eyes and ears. The files are therefore analogous to the President's Office Subject Files and and parallel it closely in topical content, if not always in quality. The files deal with all sorts of matters relative to administering the West End affairs of the Northern Pacific. They document routine operations; land, trackage, stations, and other property; branch lines; shippers, commodities, and traffic; legal agreements and litigations; relations with west coast businesses, civic associations, and other organizations; rates; service and line changes; construction projects; legislative and regulatory activities affecting Northern Pacific; advertising and publicity efforts; agricultural and industrial development; and personnel matters.

The Vice President/Assistant to the President, stationed in Seattle, was the Northern Pacific President's staff representation on the West End and, as such, acted as the St. Paul chief executive's West Coast surrogate. The files, which bulk from 1928 to 1968, are therefore analogous to the President's Office Subject Files and parallel it closely in topical content, if not always in quality. The files deal with all sorts of matters relative to administering the West End affairs of the Northern Pacific. They document routine operations; land, trackage, stations, and other property; branch lines and subsidiary companies; natural resource matters; shippers, commodities and traffic; legal agreements and litigations; relations with West Coast businesses, civic associations, industry groups, and other organizations; major cities; rates; service and line changes; construction projects; legislative and regulatory activities affecting Northern Pacific; advertising and publicity efforts; agricultural and industrial development; and personnel matters.