The first attempt for a railroad in the Pacific Northwest was the Rawhide Railroad built by Doctor Baker about 1871. It was a rail line from Walla Walla to the mouth of the Walla Walla River on the Columbia River. He built it for the purpose of getting his produce to market. It was called the Rawhide Railroad because the ties were built out of timbers with no steel tracks. Because the steel wheels were destroying the wooden tracks, Baker covered them with rawhide. It was very effective during the summer because the summer heat baked the hides hard as iron on the tracks and there was little need for replacement. In the winter the tracks became soft and slick. Because there was little to ship and the tracks were not workable, the railroad closed down during the winter. During the "Winter of Wolves" the weather had become so severe that each family homestead became an island onto itself, almost 100% of the livestock was lost and the tracks of the Rawhide Railroad were destroyed by animals and the weather. Dr. Baker didn't rebuild the Railroad. He sold his rolling stock to the Oregon Steam Navigation System. In 1871 Dr. Baker established the first railroad in the Northwest east of the Cascade Range when he began building the Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad. It took four years to complete the rail line from Walla Walla to Wallula, WA. The rail line would eventually become part of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Dorsey Syng Baker, known as Dr. Baker, was born in Illinois on October 18, 1823. After graduating from medical school, he practiced medicine in the Midwest for a few years. In 1848 he traveled west, crossing the plains to Oregon before following the lure of gold in California one year later. He returned to the Northwest in 1850 to begin a varied career in Portland, the Umpqua Valley and in Eastern Washington. He became the motivating force behind a wide range of commercial enterprises including milling, raising livestock, grain farming, freighting, steam boating on the Columbia and Snake Rivers and several ventures in merchandising. Dr. Baker came to Walla Walla in October 1859 to open a mercantile. Baker placed William Stephens in charge, but took over himself one year later. John F. Boyer, Baker's brother-in-law, partnered with him in 1862 and together they established the firm D.S. Baker & Company. Although the firm was considered a mercantile business, ledgers show receipts and withdrawals, loans and the purchase and sale of bullion and gold dust. The ledgers indicate that the firm was even then performing many of the functions of a bank. With the decline of mining and the increase in farming, Dr. Baker's sharp business sense led him in a new direction. Perhaps best known of Baker's business achievements was the construction of a railway that connected Walla Walla with steamboat transportation at the river port of Wallula. In 1872, using his personal funds, Dr. Baker set out to construct the railroad. In 1875, The Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad was complete. This connection was profitable for Dr. Baker (even at half the previous cost of freight) as well as vital to the expansion of grain growing, the number one industry in Eastern Washington today. After only a few years of operation, Baker anticipated the completion of the transcontinental railroad. In 1879, he sold a majority interest to the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. The remainder was sold to Henry Villard. It eventually became a branch line of the Union Pacific Railroad. Dr. Baker's commitment to this community was expressed not only through mutually beneficially business ventures, but also with his generous contribution of time, money and land. One of his more visible contributions was the donation of land for the original site for Whitman Seminary--his gift becoming the nucleus of the present Whitman College property. He passed away on July 5, 1888 in Walla Walla, WA.
From the description of C.L. Robinson's collection of research material concerning the Walla Walla and Columbia River Railroad Company, 1970-1972. (Washington State Library, Office of Secretary of State). WorldCat record id: 441970809
