The William Milnor Roberts papers

What is it?

William Milnor Roberts (1810-1881) was a Pennsylvania-born civil engineer. He began his career in 1825 on the Union Canal of Pennsylvania and by 1830 had gone on to railroad construction work. From 1835 to 1857, Roberts was engaged as chief engineer for various projects in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Canada, serving as chief of one company while consulting for several others. From 1857 to 1865, he was in charge of the building of the Don Pedro Railway in Brazil. After his return to the United States, Roberts was engaged on hydraulic and railroad works, such as the improvement of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, the construction of the St. Louis Bridge, the water supplies of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and construction of a railroad in Nova Scotia. In 1869, he conducted a reconnaissance for the Northern Pacific Railroad of a route that included Montana Territory. His report, published by Jay Cooke, served as the basis for financing the construction of the line to the Pacific. Roberts then served as chief engineer for the Northern Pacific Railroad from 1870 to 1879. In 1874, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him to a commission to examine the mouths of the great delta rivers of Europe in order to recommend treatment for the Mississippi Delta. In 1879, Roberts accepted an appointment to direct the improvement of the harbors and rivers of Brazil. Roberts married twice: in 1837, to Annie Gibson of Pennsylvania, with whom he had six children before her death in 1857; and in 1868, to Adeline DeBeelen of Pittsburgh, with whom he had four children. One of his sons, Milnor O. Roberts (1877-1965), became dean of the College of Mines at the University of Washington. He was a member of the American Society of Engineers, the Institution of Civil Engineers, and the American Geographical Society. William Milnor Roberts died of typhoid fever in Soledad, Brazil, July 14, 1881. In 1923, the engineering building on the Montana State College (now Montana State University) campus was named in his honor.

The William Milnor Roberts papers consist of autobiographical and biographical sketches, personal and professional correspondence, diaries, travel logs, manuscript reports, printed materials, and photographs pertaining to Roberts' professional life as an engineer. Places to which the materials relate include Pennsylvania, Montana Territory, and Brazil. Roberts' activities that are particularly well documented are his surveys of routes for the Northern Pacific Railway from 1869 through the 1870s, and his work for the government of Brazil from 1857-1865 and 1879-1881. Photographs include portraits of Roberts and watercolor paintings of Brazil during the 1870s.

This digital collection includes most, but not all, of the collection.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], William Milnor Roberts papers, Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT, [Item permalink or DOI]

Copyright Notice

Whenever possible, the Montana State University Library provides information about copyright in our digital collections records. We often do not own the rights in materials, and as such do not grant permissions for their use. Permissions and fees may be required from the individual copyright holder for uses beyond what is allowed based on U.S. Copyright Law (http://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/).

Please attempt to determine if an item is protected by copyright and follow any copyright or use restrictions when applicable. Written permission from the copyright holder is required for reproduction of protected items beyond what is allowed by fair use or other exemptions. These materials may be used for personal use, research, teaching (including distribution to classes), or any "fair use" as defined by U.S. copyright laws.

For more information please contact Archives and Special Collections at the Montana State University Library or Leila Sterman, Scholarly Communication Librarian.

Use of Artificial Intelligence & Tools

Montana State University Library allows the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and tools with its digital collections for noncommercial educational, scholarly, and research purposes only.

Users are permitted to make content accessible to other users in any legal manner, use content to train AI models or create large language models (LLMs) for nonprofit educational, scholarly, or research purposes, with proper attribution to the MSU Library, and incorporate AI-generated content or derivatives in academic works (e.g., presentations, books, articles) with proper credit and acknowledgment of the original product(s). These uses must adhere to U.S. Copyright Law, MSU Library policies, and ethical guidelines for AI in academic and scholarly contexts.

Users are not permitted to use MSU Library content for creating commercial products or proprietary services and should avoid actions that will disrupt the functionality, integrity, or accessibility of the content, such as altering metadata, reformatting digital files, or impeding access for other users.

Harmful Language and AI

When using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and tools with resources held by the MSU Library, an AI system may encounter and process historical materials containing language or content that is now recognized as harmful, offensive, or discriminatory. These materials do not reflect the views of the MSU Library or its staff but have been preserved to maintain the integrity of the historical record and to provide a complete and accurate representation of the past. The MSU Library is not liable for any damage(s) resulting from the processing of such language by AI systems, and users are encouraged to approach these materials with appropriate historical and ethical sensitivity.

Back to William Milnor Roberts papers Homepage