This collection contains the records of the Milwaukee Road’s Legal Department. The
largest portion of the collection consists of 18 boxes of Public Service Commission
hearings, held primarily in Wisconsin. There are 11 boxes in the collection related
to the proposed Burlington Northern-Milwaukee Road inclusion project, wherein the
Milwaukee Road filed a petition with the Interstate Commerce Commission requesting
inclusion in Burlington Northern.
Also included in this collection are four boxes of correspondence from George
Shelton, who worked in the Pacific Coast Extension offices (Idaho, Montana, and
Washington) from approximately 1905-1909. These folders include Shelton’s
correspondence with Burton Hanson, who worked first as general solicitor and later
general counsel for the Milwaukee Road. Other parts of the collection include:
abstract of title and mortgage releases, providing historical background on
Milwaukee Road land; patent records, with some dating back to the 1850s; and
correspondence from the 1970s that deal with issues faced while transporting freight
in the Washington area.
