The story of the Blackhawk, Eagle River, & Eastern cannot be told without first telling the story of it's founder, Cornelius Percival Wright, and the Wright family themselves. After a few years as an apprentice shipwright, Percival Wright opened Wright Yards in Bristol, England in 1574. He quickly became favored by the local merchants and then the Royal Navy for the design and quality of his ships. The Wright game continued on as the owners and innovators of the Wright Yards for just over a century before Cornelius Wright grew restless and sold the yards in order to move to the colonies and pursue fame and adventure. After moving to Bermuda and spending a few years as a privateer on the late 1600s, Cornelius moved to New York City and opened a furniture business with the family fortune amassed during the ship yard days. As it turned out, the Wrights were just as good with furniture as they were with ship building and Wright Furniture was soon one of the most sought after furniture makers.
By 1838 Drayton Wright was the youngest heir to the Wright fortune. While visiting Charleston, SC he met Elizabeth King, and after a year they were married. Soon after in 1841 they had a son, naming him for the 2 most famous members of the family, Cornelius Percival Wright. Unfortunately for them, the adventurous Wright spirit was still there and Drayton and Elizabeth both yearned to have more excitement in their lives. In 1848 they sent Cornelius to live with Elizabeth's parents in Savannah and traveled to California in search of new adventures. Fortune smiled on them in early 1850 as they found a large deposit of gold. In 1853 they decided they had the mine and business settled enough that they moved to San Fransisco and Cornelius was able to join them there. A new branch of the furniture business was opened there and Cornelius began working at 14, learning the business.
By 1860 Cornelius was ready to venture out on his own and moved to Oregon to take advantage of the growing lumber business there. He started a logging company harvesting out of Bear Creek and opened a new branch of the family furniture business in the growing gateway of Eagle River. Within a year he had also purchased 2 riverboats and established a steady transport service from the coast up the Eagle River to city and beyond.
Tragedy struck Cornelius in 1864 as his parents were reported missing after a trip to Europe. The ship they were returning on simply vanished in the Atlantic, leaving Cornelius as the sole heir to the sizeable Wright family fortune at the age of 26. Wanting to stay on the west coast, Cornelius sold the New York furniture business to George Hunzinger and returned to Oregon.
Having been fascinated with rail travel after traveling by train as a boy, Cornelius founds the Bear Creek & Eagle River Railway in 1867. By 1869 he has Sells off the riverboat business and plans to expand his railroad to the Pacific.
Seeing the importance of Chicago as a future central rail hub, Cornelius founds the Chicago, Minneapolis, & Pacific to build westward from Chicago. By 1871 the CM&P reaches Minneapolis and begins construction westward with the dream of a potential transcontinental rail link. Also in 1871 a group of businessmen in Oregon charter the Blackhawk, Aurora, Manzanita, & Southern to connect the coastal towns and build south toward California. In early 1873 the Bear Creek & Eagle River connects with the Blackhawk, Aurora, Manzanita, & Southern and Cornelius Wright buys the BAM&S and merges the 2 railroads into the Blackhawk, Eagle River, & Eastern Railroad.
In 1874 with the construction of the Northern Pacific stopped due to the collapse of Jay Cooke & Co and the ensuing Panic of 1873, Cornelius petitions Congress for a charter to build his own transcontinental route. After months of debate, Wright is granted a charter in 1875 to build a route north of the UP-CP route and south of the proposed NP route. With surveys begun and supplies already staged in anticipation, construction is started within a week of the charter being granted.
On September 1st, 1877 the Golden Spike is driven on the Wright Transcon as it's come to be known, and the Chicago, Minneapolis, & Pacific is merged into the Blackhawk, Eagle River, & Eastern. In 1879, BERE buys the Oregon & California, giving it both inland and coastal connections to California. In 1904 a partnership with the New York Central is initiated. Both roads cooperate to create the fastest coast to coast freight link. A brief freight partnership with the Rock Island begins in 1928 and lasts until the mid 50s.
In 1931, in one of his last major acts as president of the Blackhawk, Eagle River, & Eastern, Cornelius begins a program to modernize the physical plant of the railroad and keep the employees busy and working. He finances this with his own fortune, believing that taking care of his employees while also upgrading everything he can is a benefit to all.
In 1934, Cornelius Percival Wright steps down as President and son James takes over. With the foundation laid by his father, the BERE is well positioned to be a leader in transport during WWII and beyond.
