The Road to Montreal
The story goes like this: A railroad was to be built from the Atlantic coast to Montreal. Both Portland and Boston sought to be its southerly terminus, and a race was proposed. Two express teams would, on the same day, from the same ship, receive the latest news from Europe and then race to Montreal. Whichever team delivered the news first would win the railroad for its city. The race was run, the Maine team prevailed, and the railroad was built from Portland through Greenwood to Canada. From Colton's 1855 Railroad & Township Map of the State of Maine Variations of this story have been written since the late 1800s. When collected and compared, discrepancies and outright contradictions arise—more than enough to make the careful historian wary. 1 The truth lies not in these later accounts but in reports written closer to the events. Contemporary newspaper articles from Maine , Massachusetts, and Quebec reveal that not one but three expresses were run from Portland to Montr...