Iron Millionaire

Charlemagne Tower (1809-1889) was an American lawyer and businessman active in acquiring land in the Schuylkill Valley in Pennsylvania and serving as an officer for coal and railroad companies. He organized and led a company of Union soldiers from Pottsville in a 3-month enlistment during the American Civil War, when he was commissioned as captain. After the war, with sell-off of lands by the Northern Pacific Railroad, he acquired large tracts in the upper Midwest and Northwest.


Charlemagne Tower was a giant of his time, leaving an indelible footprint on the history of the United States. He is credited with creating the mining industry in Minnesota, as well as attracting settlers to the area. He was deeply involved in the mining industry in Pennsylvania, and was part of the ascension of the Reading Railroad. Towns in three states are named after him. He served on the board of overseers for Harvard University, and was involved in many business ventures, many of them successful.


"PROFESSOR BRIDGES has written a book which is of compelling interest from three points of view: as a story of business adventure, as a study in the character of an eminent entrepreneur, and as a chapter in the economic history of the Northwest. Founded on a large body of previously unused manuscript materials, it supplies elements of vital importance to our knowledge of the development of the iron and steel industry in the United States. The story which Dr. Bridges tells with such scholarly care and narrative verve is one which should interest all students of our past."—Allan Nevins