James Wood Colt papers
Creator: Colt, James Wood, 1858-1941
Call Number: A.C73
Dates: 1908-1923
Physical Description: 1 box
Language(s): Materials are in English
Repository: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Table of Contents:

Biographical/Historical Note
Scope and Content
Subject(s)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Access
Use
Citation
Content List
Series I: Arghana copper mines, 1908-1911
Series II: Ottoman-American Development Company, 1910-1923
Series III: Spanish rifles, 1915
Series IV: Russia, 1917
Collection Overview
Title: James Wood Colt papers
Creator: Colt, James Wood, 1858-1941
Call Number: A.C73
Dates: 1908-1923
Physical Description: 1 box
Language(s): Materials are in English
Repository: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Biographical/Historical Note
James Wood Colt was born in 1858 in Geneseo, New York. He moved to St. Paul, Minnesota at age 21, and soon became a partner of Shepard, Selmes and Company, a contracting firm specializing in railroad construction. Colt was in charge of construction of parts of the Great Northern Railway, the Northern Pacific Railroad, and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad for Shepard, Selmes & Co. Later, Colt oversaw construction on the Chicago & Great Western Railroad for A.B. Stickney, and as vice president of MacArthur Brothers oversaw construction on parts of the Western Maryland Railroad system.

In 1908, Colt took his railroad expertise to Turkey, where he planned and began construction of a line from Constantinople through Asia Minor to Baghdad. This railroad aroused international curiosity, especially in Germany, where Kaiser William II attempted to tie the railroad into his proposed "Berlin to Baghdad Railway". The first railway proposal was rejected by the Turkish government in 1911, although it later succeeded under a modified version. At the same time, Colt also helped to begin modern development of the legendary Arghana Copper Mines in Asia Minor, using the mining concessions to help fund the railway. These various concerns were loosely tied together under a corporation called the Ottoman-American Development Company.

Colt spent much of the next decade traveling through Europe on railway business, as well as pursuing independent financial ventures. He also was a part of a U.S. Government Railway Commission; under their auspices, he traveled to Russia in 1917 to report on the effect of the Revolution. When he returned to the United States, he moved to Santa Barbara, California until his retirement. Colt was prominent in horse racing circles; he raced horses in America, England and France, and his horses won the American Grand Steeplechase three times. Colt moved back to Geneseo in 1938 and died in 1941.

Scope and Content
The papers in the Collection fall into four categories. The first set relates to the development of the Arghana Copper Mines between 1908 and 1911. The second set is mainly correspondence written between 1911 and 1923 concerning the Ottoman-American Development Company. These papers deal with the Company's original (rejected) railway and mining proposals as well as the revival of the Company in 1922-1923 under General Goethals. The third set of papers is a series of correspondence and telegrams concerning a 1915 arms deal where Colt acted as an agent to sell Spanish Mauser rifles to the Russian military via a neutral government. The final set of papers is a series of eyewitness accounts and business/resource evaluations of Russia during the 1917 Revolution. All the papers in the collection are in English, with the exception of some of the Ottoman-American Development Co. letters, which are in French, and a few of the telegrams concerning the Spanish arms deal, which are in French on Italian forms. Approximately half the collection (papers relating to Turkey) were microfilmed in 1966 for the Turkish Historical Society; these papers also have penciled numbers in their upper right-hand corner, which corresponds to the microfilm list included in this register.

Subject(s):
Turkey
Soviet Union
Russia
Railroads
Mines and mineral resources
Revolution (Soviet Union : 1917-1921)
World War (1914-1918)
Correspondence
Colt, James Wood, 1858-1941
Ottoman-American Development Company
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were a gift of Sylvia Colt, Henry Francis Colt and Charles Cary Colt, August 1947.Access
The James Wood Colt papers is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.Use
Reproductions are made upon request but can be subject to restrictions. Permission to publish materials from the collection must currently be requested. Please note that some materials may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information contact rarebks@library.rochester.eduCitation
[Item title, item date], James Wood Colt papers, A.C73, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Administrative Information
Author: Finding aid prepared by Rare Books and Special Collections staff
Publisher: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Address:
Rush Rhees Library
Second Floor, Room 225
Rochester, NY 14627-0055
rarebks@library.rochester.edu
URL:


Content List