Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/194

 8chool of the North district of the United Brethren church in Oregon. The school was prosperous for a number of years, then closed its doors for want of sufficient patronage. Sublimity Institute is remembered by many because of its first President, Rev. Milton Wright, who later was chosen bishop and who also is widely known as the father of the famous aeronauts—Orville and Wilbur Wright.

EUurly Railroad Building. The first railroad of any kind built in Oregon was a wooden tramway constructed on the north side of the Columbia River around the Cascades in 1 850 by F. A. Chenoweth. This was rebuilt in 1856 by P. F. Bradford. In 1862, the portage road from Tbe Dalles to Celilo was built to cheapen transportation to the newly discovered mines in Idaho. In 1863, a corporation was formed in Jacksonville to build a railroad from Marysville, California, to Portland, Oregon, and thousands of dollars were subscribed for that purpose, mostly in grain. This was called the "Oregon Central Railroad Company" and was authorized by the legislature to proceed with the building of the road, but Ben Holladay,' a venturesome exploiter, appeared before the legislature of 1 868 BEN HOLLADAY iBenjamin Holladay was born in Kentucky, and after engaging In securing mail contracts from the Missouri River to California during the Civil War, came to Oregon to exploit the building of a railroad through the state to California. He was a resourceful man of strong personality. «