Burlington Northern Railroad Company

Scope and Contents FULL FINDING AID (PDF)Corporate records arranged in five functional sub-groups of executive files; legal files; engineering records; property accounting; and real estate and industrial development records. Record series of the executive sub-group include minutes (1905-1915, 1947-1975); annual reports (1884-1908, 1915-1932, 1941, 1948-1975); subject files (1900-1984); monthly letters to the Board of Directors (1921-1972); correspondence (1913-1976); corporate files of associated railroads (1910-1975); liquidation files (1968-1984); and stock ledgers (1853-1864; 1906-1933). In the legal sub-group are: subject files (ca. 1925-1979); correspondence (1969-1976); contracts (1900-1910, 1930, 1950-1960); merger files-Union Pacific (1963-1975); merger files-other railroads (1920-1980); litigation files (1830-1960); legislation files-state level (1908-1920); and...

Scope and Contents

The Northern Pacific Railway Company had a great influence on the history of the northwestern frontier. The company was a pioneer in business and encouraged farming and other development along it routes. This collection is divided into three sections, corporate history including minutes and bylaws, the labor section which tells the story of the workers on the railroad and the third section documents the company's efforts to recruit settlers along its routes. The lines that were built in these years stretch from Lake Superior to Puget Sound, crossing the states and territories of Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.