The Columbian, Vancouver, WA., February 27, 1931, page 1
Includes portrait

ROAD ADVOCATE TAKEN BY DEATH
Samuel Hill Closely Connected With Development in S.W. Washington

     PORTLAND, Ore., Feb . 27 - (AP) - Oregonians today will pay their final tribute to the memory of Samuel Hill, 74, internationally known traveler and "friend of Kings," who died here last night.
     Hill, who had won fame as a builder of railroads and highways and as a railroad executive, was stricken with intestinal influenza here February 9 while he was on his way to Salem to discuss good roads before the Oregon state legislature.
     An operation was performed last week, but he failed to respond to treatment. His son, James Nathan Hill, called from Washington, D.C., was with his father when death came. Edgar N. Hill, Seattle, a cousin of the deceased, and W.F. Turner, president of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle railroad, also were present.
     Surviving him, besides his son, is his widow, Mrs. Mary Hill, daughter of the late James J. Hill, "the empire builder."
     Hill's body will lie in state here today. Funeral services and cremation will be in Seattle. The ashes will be placed in an urn and taken to Maryhill, Hill's lonely castle above the Columbia River.

Friend of Royalty

     When Queen Marie of Rumania was in the United States several years ago Hill entertained her and her party and she dedicated the Rumanian room of Maryhill. Several years before Hill was host for Marshal Joffre's national tour.
     Hill's services to allied countries during the World War, in building and directing railroads, won him decorations from France, Belgium, the Japan and Rumania.

Honored by Country

     The Canadian government and the United States senate gave Hill special votes of thanks for promoting the "peace portal" in honor of 100 years of peace between the two countries.
     Hill was a native of North Carolina but spent most of his life in the middle west and west. On the Pacific Coast he was known principally for his efforts in bringing about construction of the Columbia River and Pacific highways.

INFLUENCE OF HILL FELT IN VANCOVUER

     Hill's passing was regretted by hundreds of residents in Vancouver and Clark county today who knew what he had done for this splendid system of roads and in fact much of the growth and prosperity of this region were due in part to the efforts of the eccentric "friend of kings."
     More perhaps than any other figure in the Northwest, he was known far and wide for his indefatigible work for good roads - and his connection with those serving this country was very close. His influence had exerted its effect ever since the days when his ideas were branded as visionary, but he had lived to see them carried out in the most part.

Resided at Dedication

     One of his dreams was for an unbroken highway from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. That dream is now the Pacific highway, without which Vancouver would not be what it is; and Hill presided here when the Interstate bridge was dedicated by a man who later was to achieve world-wide recognition, Marshall Joffre of France.
     The Evergreen highway was only a possibility when Hill saw what it could do. The Evergreen was one of Hill's dreams, and its present existence as Washington's greatest east-west highway is dedicated to be due in large part to the tireless support of the good roads advocate.
     Not only did the deceased man back these two great arteries, but also he was busy year after year in urging the development of a network of roads all over the Northwest. Virtually every state good roads meeting in Washington or Oregon found him present, but more than that he continued his influence throughout each year wherever he could.

The Vancouver Columbian, Vancouver, WA., March 2, 1931, page 1

FINAL TRIBUTE PAID TO MEMORY OF HILL

     SEATTLE, Mar. 2. - (U.P.) - Mourners from all classes of life paid their final tribute to Samuel Hill, pioneer good roads enthusiast, when his funeral services were conducted here yesterday.
     The Chapel and foyer of the Bonny Watson Funeral company will filled to overflowing and scores of persons stood outside until the services were concluded.
     The body will be cremated and the pioneer's ashes will rest in his Maryhill castle, overlooking the Columbia River.

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©  Jeffrey L. Elmer