Following the Panic of 1873, the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad went bankrupt. Minnesota's first railroad, it was a popular (but short) railroad stretching from Stillwater on the Mississippi River to Sauk Rapids, via Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Hill formed a group to purchase the railroad and it was renamed the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway. In five years, the company value went from $728,000 to $25 million. Hill always invested most of the profits back into the company to avoid scrutiny from the federal government. By 1889, the railroad stretched from Wisconsin to Montana. In 1893, the railroad became transcontinental, reaching Seattle. This prompted a name change to the Great Northern Railway. It was one of the only transcontinental railroads that didn't go bankrupt. Hill's deft handling of the Panic of 1893 resulted in the company gaining value during the economic crisis. Through his friend J. P. Morgan, he was able to acquire his main competitor, the Northern Pacific, when it went bankrupt during the Panic. Desparate to have his lines reach Chicago, he formed a coalition with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy to allow access. This coalition was one of the largest companies in the world and nearly monopolized train usage west of Chicago. At the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt, this was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1904 with Northern Securities Co. v. United States. Hill maintained a focus in the West, purchasing the Colorado & Southern and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railways.