Robert Edmund STRAHORN

1852 - 1944  (91 years)

• Name	Robert Edmund STRAHORN
  Birth	15 May 1852	Haines, Centre, Pennsylvania
  Gender	Male
  Death	31 Mar 1944	San Francisco, San Francisco, California
  Burial	Riverview Cemetery, Spokane, Washington
  Notes	Robert was the brother of our great-grandfather, John Calvin Strahorn. He was born east of Bellefonte in Haines Twp. Centre Co., Pennsylvania. He wrote later how as a boy, he was impressed by Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858. He was typesetter and then a newspaper correspondent for the Denver News and New York Times during the Sioux campaigns of 1876-77, and fought alongside General Crook as an embedded reporter while covering the Battle of Rosebud. He was hired by Jay Gould as the first head of the Publicity Department of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1877-1783, and wrote a number of books about the resources and attractions of the western states, which helped generate waves of migration into those territories, greatly benefiting the U.P. He was instrumental in building the Oregon Short Line Railroad from Granger, Wyoming to Huntington, Oregon and through his Idaho & Oregon Land Improvement Co. founded or substantially developed the towns of Shoshone, Hailey, Mountain Home, Caldwell, Ontario, Payette, and Weiser along the route of the O.S.L. He was a founder and trustee of the College of Idaho in Caldwell. He went broke in the panic of 1893, then spent six years trading municipal bonds in Boston. He went on to build the North Coast Railroad under a secret financial arrangement with E.H. Harriman, and built Union Station in Spokane (which was demolished in 1974 for the Spokane World's Fair) and almost 750 miles of track in Washington State. This clandestine arrangement earned Robert the moniker "The Sphinx" because he would never publicly acknowledge his funding source. The North Coast Railroad was consolidated into the Oregon Washington Railroad & Navigation Co. with Robert as Vice President and General Manager. He went on to develop several railroad expansion projects into eastern Oregon through his Oregon, California & Eastern Railroad. In the period leading up the 1929 stock market crash, Robert acquired a number of commercial properties in downtown San Francisco, but was forced to deed them back to his lenders to avoid to foreclosure and bankruptcy in the years that followed. He died in 1944 in San Francisco (not in Spokane as is claimed elsewhere) and his remains are interred in a granite and marble mausoleum in Spokane along with both of his wives. There were no children from either marriage. Upon his death in San Francisco in 1944, Robert's remains were taken by his friend Thurlow Bryant (who was mentioned on page 572 of Ninety Years of Boyhood, Strahorn's autobiography) to Spokane, and Robert's personal effects, including his steamer trunk, his personalized binoculars, numerous photos and papers, and the publishing rights to his autobiography, were taken by Thurlow to his home in Caldwell, Idaho. Thurlow's wife Nellie gave these items to us in 1995 because we were the only relatives who had ever inquired after him. Thurlow died in Caldwell in 1992, and Nellie in 2001. - Gary Zentmyer
  Person ID	I85878	Zentmeyer Main Tree
  Last Modified	9 May 2025

  
  

  Father	Thomas Foster STRAHORN,   b. Abt 1824, West Buffalo, Union, Pennsylvania d. 18 May 1886, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California (Age ~ 62 years)
  Mother	Rebecca EMMERT,   b. 1826, Bethel, Lebanon, Pennsylvania d. 1863, Harris, Centre, Pennsylvania - Tuberculosis (Age 37 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1848	Centre, Pennsylvania
  Family ID	F23140	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Carrie Adell GREEN,   b. 01 Jan 1854, Marengo, McHenry, Illinois d. 15 Mar 1925, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (Age 71 years)
  Marriage	19 Sep 1877	Marengo, McHenry, Illinois
  Photos		Robert and Carrie Adell Green Strahorn
  Family ID	F23223	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	22 Jun 2019

  
  

  Family 2	Ruby Shannon GARLAND,   b. 25 Aug 1883, Waco, McLennan, Texas d. 01 May 1936 (Age 52 years)
  Marriage	05 Oct 1927	St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, California
  Photos		Article about the wedding of Robert Strahorn and Ruby Garland Likely ghost-written by Robert.
  		Bridal Couple Plan World Tour Honeymoon in Robert's Private Rail Car
  Family ID	F23272	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	9 Apr 2020

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Robert Edmund Strahorn
  		The Idaho & Oregon Land Improvement Co. This was the vehicle Robert used to found and develop the towns along the Oregon Short Line Railroad.
  		Hailey Hot Springs Hotel, built by the two Robert Strahorns On August 6, 1888 Robert E. Strahorn and his first cousin once removed also named Robert Strahorn paid $20,000 for the Hailey Hot Springs property, the Lamb Ranch, and a controlling interest in the Electric Light Works. Carrie Adell Strahorn later wrote, "Domestic difficulties at the Hailey Hot Springs probably accounted for their being thrown on the market as they were owned by one J.L.G. Smith, who was so cruel to his family that his wife at last picked up a shotgun and killed him, an act justified by the courts and in the hearts of many of the Hailey citizens." The Strahorns built a resort with a first class hotel heated by spring water, separate men's and women's swimming pools, a ballroom, and a bowling alley. It was lighted by incandescent lights. Carrie Strahorn wrote further "No pains or money was spared making the place attractive to people such as Jay Gould and other notables, who found it a charming retreat." The Union Pacific and the Oregon Short Line did much to make the resort a success. In 1890 the Hailey Hot Springs Hotel Company was formed to raise $150,000 to purchase and improve the resort. Robert E. Strahorn left the company, and his cousin Robert Strahorn and other local businessmen took over. A new addition was added to the hotel with three stories and sixty-five rooms. Tragedy struck on August 2, 1899 as the Hailey Hot Springs Hotel burned to the ground. The Wood River Times reported a rumor that the fire was "accidently set by the upsetting of a lamp used by some ladies who were curling their hair." All of the guests escaped injury, but the hotel was never rebuilt. Sources: Hot Springs Hotels of the Wood River Valley by Florence Blanchard, and Hot Springs of the Wood River Valley by John Lundin.
  		Strahorn Pines - Spokane In 1887 this home was built and occupied by J.J. Browne, the developer of Browne's Addition. Browne's Addition was Spokane's premier neighborhood at the time, and arguably retains that status today. The home sat atop a bluff with panoramic views of the Spokane River below. In 1900 the home was purchased by Robert and Carrie Strahorn. The three-story building was then completely remodeled by noted architect Kirtland Cutter in 1904 into a twenty-room mansion with nine bathrooms and ten fireplaces. The first house in Spokane with steam heat, Strahorn Pines was also said to have featured a bowling alley. The house was accquired by the Eastern Washington Historical Society in 1970 and demolished in 1974 to make way for a new museum building.
  		Robert Strahorn - The Sphinx From the Zentmyer Collection. This cartoon depicts Robert as "The Sphinx," as he was known in the early 1900s. In his own hand, Robert (RES) describes, in the third person, how he got the moniker. The Harriman - Jim Hill fight refers to the struggle for control of the railroad business in the Pacific Northwest. $30mm in 1900 would be over $800mm today.
  		The Robert Strahorn Mystery From the Technical World magazine, March 1909
  		Robert Strahorn and North Coast Railroad's McKeen Car From the Zentmyer Collection. This self-propelled McKeen car was one of two purchased by the North Coast Railroad in 1910. Robert is circled in yellow. McKeen cars had the distinctive "wind-splitter" pointed aerodynamic front end and rounded tail. The porthole windows were also a McKeen trademark. But the McKeen car had no reverse gear, so backing up required the operator to reconfigure the camshaft to a set of reverse cams, and then re-start the motor in the opposite direction. And this, from author John W. Lundin: "Gary, when (Edward H.) Harriman toured France by automobile in 1903, he wondered why a version could not be adapted to run on rails as a commuter car on lines lacking enough business to warrant full train service. Harriman asked William R. McKeen Jr., UP's chief mechanical officer, to work on the project. McKeen came up with the idea of a self-propelled vehicle powered by a gasoline engine that could do forty to sixty miles an hour on sustained runs at a lower cost than steam or electric-powered vehicles. It was tested in March 1905, and evolved over the next year into a model twice as long with sealed porthole windows that kept weather out and allowed stronger body construction. It was called a "submarine on wheels" and UP put them into use on regular routes throughout its system. They were used for over a decade but fell into disuse after WW II. They left a legacy, however. The McKeen car was an inspiration for the streamliners that (son) Averell Harriman developed for UP during the 1930s."
  		Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage From the Zentmyer Collection. First published in 1911, Carrie's account of the Strahorn's adventures exploring the Western States was more readable that Robert's autobiography, Ninety Years of Boyhood, which never found a publisher. Her book was quoted extensively in the Ken Burns television series The West.
  		Carrie's inscription to Mrs. Underwood 28 Jul 1914 at Old Faithful Inn From the Zentmyer Collection. This image is from our copy of Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage. The inscription was addressed to the newly-married Mary Elizabeth Smith Underwood, wife of architect Gilbert Stanly Underwood, who in addition to designing many of the Grand Lodges of the National Parks, worked extensively with both the Union Pacific and the Oregon Short Line Railroads.
  		Union Station in Spokane From the Zentmyer Collection. Robert financed and built Union Station on a site between the Spokane River and Trent Ave., now called Spokane Falls Blvd., completing construction in 1914. When it was torn down to make way for the Spokane World's Fair in 1974, demolition crews got more than they bargained for. The building was constructed to last for centuries, requiring the contractor to repeatedly ask for more money.
  		Monroe St. Bridge Viaduct From the Zentmyer Collection. Robert built a railroad viaduct which crossed the Monroe St. Bridge and the Spokane River at the same place. This structure was completed in 1914, and was a feat of engineering to say the least. Robert was an early champion of the concept of grade separation, that is running railroad lines and automobile traffic at different elevations so as to avoid conflicts.
  		Brothers John C. and Robert E. Strahorn, Christmas 1924 From the Zentmyer Collection. Probably at the vacant lot in Highland Park, Los Angeles, where John's daughter Mary and her husband George Zentmyer would build a new house in 1925.
  		Robert Strahorn's Binoculars From the Zentmyer Collection. Personalized with the initials RES on the case. These were given to Gary Zentmyer in 1995 by Nellie Bryant, the widow of Thurlow Bryant, who according to Nellie was Robert's best friend at the time of his death, and who transported Robert's remains from San Francisco back to Spokane for burial.
  		The Hotel Medford, Medford Oregon In 1935 Robert Strahorn was embarking on his final business venture, an attempt to coax additional riches from formerly played-out mines in the northwest. His base for these explorations was Medford, Oregon. From Ninety Years of Boyhood: “So we settled down comfortably in homelike Hotel Medford, in the heart of the model little city of that name, facing the library, located in the center of a fine old park. There, with books in plenty, comfortable park seats her desire for quiet study and authorship, the declining Mrs. Strahorn could serenely regale herself and glory in a valley ablaze and sweetly scented with blossoming fruits and flowers, instead of enduring the trying situation in wilderness mining camps I pictured as we were leaving New York.”
  		Hotel Stewart in San Francisco This is where Robert lived out the final years of his life. The building is located at 353 Geary Street, San Francisco, and is now the Handlery Union Square Hotel.
  		Obituary for Robert E. Strahorn In the Spokesman-Review, Spokane The writer was unaware of Arthur Thomas Strahorn's living sister, Mary Strahorn, our grandmother.
  		Strahorn Mausoleum From the Zentmyer Collection. This mausoleum was built by Robert E. Strahorn and contains the remains of Robert and his two wives, Carrie Adell Green and Ruby Shannon Garland. It is located in Riverside Memorial Park on the western edge of Spokane.