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The Dalles Weekly Chronicle, The Dalles, OR., March 5, 1931, page 3

SAMUEL HILL TO REST AT CASTLE NEAR THIS CITY
Noted Railroad Magnate Dies in Portland; To Cremate Body

PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 27, (U) - Samuel Hill, the 74-year-old railway magnate who began his spectacular career as an unpaid employee of the "Empire Builder," James J. Hill, died here last night after an illness of two weeks.
Death followed an operation for intestinal disorders. The condition of the capitalist and "good roads" enthusiastic was critical for several days, but an improvement was noted after the arrival of his son, James Nathan Hale, from New York. He suffered a sudden relapse late yesterday and died within a few hours.
The body will lie in state at the mortuary from 3 to 4 p.m. today to allow many friends to pay their last respects. His funeral, followed by cremation, will be held in Seattle. An urn with his ashes will then be taken to "Maryhill Castle," which Hill built on the north bank of the Columbia, about 26 miles up river from The Dalles.
Samuel was a cosmopolite, friend of royalty, indefatigable worker for peace, an eccentric, and a visionary-far beyond his times.
The world will remember Samuel Hill as the son-in-law of James J. Hill, "Empire Builder," the eccentric citizen of the world, the friend of Queen Maria of Romania and King Albert of Belgium, the holder of many foreign orders - but the Pacific northwest will remember Sam Hill as the man who dreamed great dreams of roads; roads of scenic beauty and of material utility.
Samuel Hill's dream of "good roads" - an almost unheard of term at that time were engendered when he was a figure in the railroad world and saw better roads must be built to bring people and goods to the railroads. His first efforts, along in the '90s, were scoffed at as "just another one of Sam Hill's funny ideas." But Samuel Hill lived to see most of his dreams come true - the Pacific highway stretching in one long ribbon from Blaine, Wash., on the Canadian border, to San Diego on the south; the Columbia River from The Dalles to the sea; the Evergreen highway across their river in Washington from the Columbia River highway in Oregon; and the hundreds of lesser roads wending their paved networks throughout the Pacific northwest.

Practiced Law

The man who later claimed the whole world as his home was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, on May 13, 1857. His family moved to Minneapolis in his early youth and young Hill started life piling wood at 10¢ a load. He attended Cornell University, Haverford college, Amherst and Harvard, preceding his A.B. degree from the last. He later attended Harvard law school and practiced law in Minneapolis where he specialized in cases against the railroads.
This practice was so successful that James J. Hill invited him to join the legal staff of the Great Northern. Samuel Hill refused but told the "Empire Builder" that he would go to work for him for nothing to learn of the railroad business. Jim Hill excepted this offer and made Samuel Hill president of the Montana Central and other railroads.
Samuel Hill later became more closely associated with the "Empire Builder" when he was married to James J. Hill's daughter, Mary Hill. Mrs. Hill and their two children, Mary Mendenhall Hill and James Nathan Hill, are still living.

Welcome in Oregon

Retiring from the railroad business in the late '90s, Samuel Hill moved to Seattle, where he became president of the Seattle Gas company and brought his affairs out of chaos. There and then began the campaign for the fulfillment of his dream of good roads. Gathering a few progressive man whom he later referred to as the "old guard" about him, he succeeded in the organization of the state highway system. He thought politicians soon interfered, however, and he stepped out of the picture and went to Portland.
In Oregon he received a hearty welcome. The then Governor, Oswald West, said to him "You are just the man we want. God sent you." Portland responded to Mr. Hill's vision of modern, wide highways with banked turns and easy grades.
During his residence in Washington Hill had purchased a tract of land on the bluffs overlooking the Columbia River. He named this place Maryhill, and there he had constructed a number of different types of modern highways. In 1913 he chartered a special train and took a number of legislatures to Maryhill. On that visit was born the Oregon highway commission. Henry L. Bowlby, who had been associated with Hill, was appointed state highway commissioner, and on a day in September that year at a luncheon at Chanticleer inn on the Oregon bluffs overlooking the most beautiful stretch of the Columbia gorge, Hill persuaded a group of Portland men to start the now famed Columbia River highway.

Never Lost Interest

A few years later Hill thought the politicians were interfering with his work and he dropped out of the picture as he had previously in Washington.
However, he never lost interest in it "his" highways. On the international boundary at Blaine, Wash., he erected as his own expense what is termed a "peace portal" to commemorate 100 years of peace between Great Britain and the United States. He had been reared a Quaker and always lived and worked for peace.
Another of his later acts which received wide recognition that was the dedication of the never-finished mansion at Maryhill which he intended as a museum for historical articles from all over the world. Queen Marie of Romania dedicated the "Romanian room" in this huge structure when she visited the United States a few years ago and was the guest of Hill.
Hill also presided at the dedication of the link in the Pacific highway which was closed when the interstate bridge was built from Portland to Vancouver, Wash., across the Columbia. Marshall Joffre of France dedicated the bridge.

Character Unique

Physically large, handsome and of commanding presence, in his mental makeup there was a blending of great and small. In some respects he never lost the attributes of childhood.
Imperious and impatience of contradiction, pretentious, egotistical, he was, and vainglorious; yet at times realistic; sentimental one moment, cold and unsympathetic the next. In the drama of life he assumed the center of the state and directed the play, or withdrew from the cast.
Those who understood him recognized the sincerity of his desire to aid his fellow man, which was so often veiled by the screen of self glorification.
"Where do you want to be buried?" " He was asked one day.
"Standing on the bluff in front of my place at Maryhill," he said, "and looking down the canyon of the Columbia, you will see a mass of jagged rocks, nature's great upheaval. Here on the bluff in time to come I hope there will be over my ashes a bronze tablet buried this inscription:
"Samuel Hill, amid natures unrest, he sought to rest."

Intended As Museum

Samuel Hill's untendated castle-museum, known under the courtesy title of "Maryhill Castle" is a rectagonal of concrete standing on a shelf on the north bank of the Columbia River. It is 600 or 800 feet above the water and about 20 miles up the river from The Dalles.
Many rumors continued for years that Hill built it originally to entertaining King Albert of Belgium, but Hill explicitly said prior to the dedication of the Romanian room by Queen Marie of Romania, in 1926 it was intended as an international museum of fine arts.
Concrete driveways lead to huge bronze doors at either end and padlocked bars cover the doors and windows. The interior is of rough, unfinished concrete. Rats are plentiful and eerie, moaning sounds give the castle a haunted atmosphere of reality.
The site commands a sweep of the majestic Columbia river and a view of Mt. Hood, and was elected, according to Hill, by Monsieur Bruxells, head of the Beaux Arts of Paris. It is of Giesian Doric architecture. The architect was James R. Marshall of Washington, D.C.. The estate surrounding it contains 7,000 acres.
Work started on the museum in 1910 and was discontinued when the United States entered the World war in 1917. People who live near the estate believe Hill spent about $400,000 on the "castle." It probably never will be completed.

The Dalles Weekly Chronicle, The Dalles, OR., March 5, 1931, page 4

SAMUEL HILL

Samuel Hill, father of good roads in the Pacific Northwest, friend of royalty, retired capitalist and eccentric, is dead, and this community is among the many that feels a distinct sense of loss as his passing.
Not because Samuel Hill ever took any particular interest in The Dalles is this sentiment engendered. Rather, it is based on respect and appreciation for his part in pioneering the Columbia River highway, the road through the Cascade mountains that made possible automobile travel between Eastern and Western Oregon; a road that most persons at that time thought was an engineering impossibility.
Samuel Hill, despite his eccentricity, could look into the future and visualize the wonderful system of highways that now connects all parts of the Pacific Northwest. Through his enthusiasm he convinced others, and thus started a good roads movement that has extended until the present. For this achievement alone Samuel Hill will be remembered and honored, long after his personal idiosyncrasies have been forgotten.
Many residents of The Dalles recall when Samuel Hill brought Queen Marie of Roumania to Maryhill to dedicate the huge "castle" the railroad magnet had erected there, and which he had later decided to make and international museum. Mr. Hill and Queen Marie passed through The Dalles accompanied by an impressive motor entourage, giving most persons near their first glimpse of flesh and blood royalty.
Samuel Hill was in the height of his glory, lifting his high silk hat, smiling and bowing in recognition of applause from the curb. Queen Marie looked every bit the royal personage that she was, but Samuel Hill was not outshone. His appearance was equally as distinguished as that of Queen Marie.
The cavalcade dawn, with dissention and bickering destined to mar later stages of the royal tour, but it left a pleasing memory here that time has not erased. To the people of The Dalles Samuel Hill always will be pictured as a regal figure, immaculately attired, somewhat plump, and bearing himself with tremendous dignity.
The ashes of Samuel Hill will rest at Maryhill castle, a queer building erected at an isolated promontory overlooking the Columbia River at a cost of nearly half a million dollars, yet never completed. The castle will endure through the ages, a monument to a remarkable man, in whom genius and eccentricity were curiously blinded. There he will sleep in peace.