Charles Arthur Broadwater (September 25, 1840 – May 24, 1892) was a wealthy and influential

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, real estate, and

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

ing

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

. Broadwater was born in

St. Charles, Missouri Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 70,493 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making St. Charles the List of cities in ...

. He was president of the Montana Central Railway, a

spur line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

which ran between

Great Falls, Montana Great Falls is the List of cities and towns in Montana, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

Helena and

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the 2 ...

. He opened the Montana National Bank in Helena, and had extensive real estate holdings in the state. Montana's Broadwater County is named after him. Broadwater began his career in 1862 as a

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

trader in the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

town of

Bannack, Montana Bannack is a ghost town in Beaverhead County, Montana, United States, located on Grasshopper Creek, approximately upstream from where Grasshopper Creek joins with the Beaverhead River south of Dillon. Founded in 1862, the town is a National ...

. He soon extended his interests into

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

ation, becoming superintendent of the large Diamond R Freighting Company, which dominated

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

in the Territory of Montana before the coming of the railroads. In the 1870s, Broadwater allied himself with

James J. Hill James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916) was a Canadian-American railway director. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest ...

, founder of the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway, which, in 1890, became the

Great Northern Railway (U.S.) The Great Northern Railway was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century Canadian-American railroad entrepreneur James Jerome Hill, James ...

. Broadwater was also one of the Democratic "Big Four" of early Montana politics, along with

Marcus Daly Marcus Daly (December 5, – November 12, 1900) was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the four Copper Kings of Butte, Montana, United States. Early life Daly emigrated from County Cavan, Ireland, to the United States as a youn ...

, William A. Clark, and Samuel T. Hauser. He may, however, be best remembered for the luxurious but ill-fated Hotel Broadwater and Natatorium, which he built near Helena between 1888 and 1889. He hoped to capitalize on Montana's newfound mining elite and the wealth that came along with it but although the hotel was the last word in luxury and innovation it was never able to draw the wealthy crowds that Charles Broadwater predicted. Broadwater died at his hotel in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat, seat of Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold ...

on May 24, 1892, aged 51, of the effects of

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

contracted in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

the previous year. More than 5,000 people attended his funeral. He is buried in Forestvale Cemetery.

External links

Hotel Broadwater and Natatorium

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadwater, Charles Arthur 1840 births 1892 deaths People from St. Charles, Missouri American bankers American civil engineers American businesspeople in real estate Infectious disease deaths in Montana Deaths from the 1889–1890 flu pandemic People from Montana Territory 19th-century American businesspeople