Oregon Southern Improvement Co. (Portland, Or.)

Financier Henry Villard launched the Oregon Improvement Company in 1880 as a central component in his attempt to dominate the economic development of the Pacific Northwest. Villard wanted to link rail, river and ocean transport, and he was interested in developing coal both as fuel and as payload. The company had financial problems from the beginning. Elijah Smith replaced Villard in 1884, and was himself replaced by William Starbuck in 1891. The Pacific Coast Company purchased and absorbed OIC in 1896.

From the guide to the Oregon Southern Improvement Co. correspondence, 1883, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)