JULIUS T. FYFER. – “Blest be the tie that binds.” We mean the railroad tie. Civilization goes on steel. Only a few of the most hardy and adventurous would come to Oregon “the plains across” or “the Horn around.” By rail we have the world; and the daily, semi-daily and hourly trains that speed to and fro are the pulse-beat of national life.
The gentleman whose name appears above followed the railroad as it was built, and is now a leading citizen at the important place of Huntington. He was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1843, but removed to New York at an early age. During the war he served as assistant to his brother, who was a sutler of the Seventy-second New York Volunteers. Returning to civil life in 1865, he busied himself in the oil fields of Pennsylvania until the gigantic enterprise of connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific by rail attracted him to the extensive opportunities of the West. At Cheyenne, then the terminus of the Union Pacific, he found employment in railway construction, and followed the road steadily to its junction with the Central Pacific, – seeing the golden spike driven home, the last blow upon which was felt in every telegraph office in the union. Mining in Idaho and Montana engaged his attention until the Short Line was undertaken; and he then found work at his old business, taking an extensive contract to haul iron to the American Falls. Coming to Huntington, he engaged in the mercantile business, building a first-class store in 1887. He keeps there a large stock of goods, and is recognized as an enterprising man, working zealously for the progress of his section. He was postmaster there for a time; and it was he that opened out a road to Mineral City and the Seven Devils’ country. He has also large interests in the Pine creek mines.
He is a Democrat in politics, and has an interesting family.