They Called Him The Sphinx: Robert E. Strahorn, Builder of the North Coast Railroad
During construction of the North Coast Railroad, Robert E Strahorn adopted a persona of mystery in order to keep competitors from learning the secret of his funding.
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In the house that once sat on this corner of 1st and Hemlock lived Robert E Strahorn. Few men can be said to have as much influence developing the west as Strahorn. Throughout the 1870s and 80s, he traveled across the Pacific Northwest as the publicist for Union Pacific Railroads, writing books and articles to entice potential settlers to the opportunities available in the territories. He became known as a town builder when he used his familiarity with the future railroad routes to fund the development of towns along those routes, a prominent example being Caldwell Idaho. These endeavors weren't always successful, and after financial strains in 1890 Strahorn left the west to work as an investment banker in Boston.
Strahorn wasn't gone long however as he returned to the Northwest in 1898 settling in Spokane. In 1900 he purchased a home from JJ Browne at 2216 w 1st Avenue, and soon after began the most ambitious undertaking of his career. Strahorn decided to construct a railroad to connect Spokane and Walla Walla to Seattle and Tacoma.
Known as the North Coast Railroad the project was incredibly audacious, as while Strahorn was wealthy he didn't have the type of money necessary to build such a long set of rail lines. Despite this, Strahorn was paying for the multi-million dollar project using personal checks. Competitors knew that Strahorn must have received funding from an external source, but Strahorn never revealed who the source was throughout the construction.
Due to the mystery wrapped around Strahorn, his competitors began to refer to him as The Sphinx and The Man of Mystery, yet investigations into the source turned up nothing. It wasn't until after completion of the railroad that it was revealed that Strahorn had received his funding directly from Edward Harriman, the President of Union Pacific. Union Pacific then assumed control of the North Coast Railroad, this had been Strahorn's plan all along to bring Spokane into the Union Pacific Railroads expansion system.
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Robert E. Strahorn
Few men knew the west like Robert Strahorn, hired as a publicist by Union Pacific in 1877 Strahorn traveled across the region to create advertisements for the territories. | Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Col._Robert_E._Strahorn,_c.1900.png | Date: 1900
Robert and Carrie Adell Strahorn
Robert and Carrie Adell strahorn were married one month before Jay Gould of Union Pacific offered Robert the position as a publicist, and Strahorn agreed on the condition that his wife be allowed to travel with him. The couple traveled throughout the Pacific Northwest by train, stagecoach, and horseback. Despite being a wealthy educated society lady from Illinois Strahorn rode in a man's saddle, and became one of the first white women to make a complete tour of Yellowstone National park | Source: Carrie Adell Strahorn, "Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage", (1911) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dell_and_Robert_Strahorn.png | Date: 1880
Carrie Adell "Dell" Strahorn
Described as the Mother of the West, Carrie Adell Strahorn is considered just as influential to the development of the Pacific Northwest as her husband. Strahorn was involved with the founding of several towns in Idaho and is sometimes referred to as the Queen of Pioneers due to being one of the first white women to make a complete tour of Yellowstone. In 1911 while living in Spokane Strahorn authored "Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage: A Woman's Unique Experience During Thirty Years of Path Finding and Pioneering from the Missouri to the Pacific and from Alaska to Mexico" a biography chronicling her travels alongside her husband. | Source: Photo from Carrie Adell Strahorn, "Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage", (1911) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carrie_Adell_Strahorn.png | Date: 1911