Although James J. Hill was one of the first to sponsor steamboat traffic on the Red River, it was not until 1880 that he began building the Great Northern Railway down the Red River Valley to Grand Forks, and thence westward to Minot in 1887. Other lines of the Northern Pacific and Great Northern, main and branch lines of the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, and branches of other roads soon entered the State. In order to build permanent business for their lines, they brought in new settlers, gave special rates on household and farm equipment, and in every way encouraged settlement. It was because of the railroads that bonanza farming, an important phase of North Dakota history, was introduced. The State is now served by seven railroads, with more than 5,000 miles of trackage. The Dakota Division of the Great Northern, with its 1,800 miles of main-line track, is the largest railroad division in the world. With the railroads came the telegraph lines, the first of which was established between Winnipeg and Abercrombie, with offices at Fargo and Grand Forks, in 1871. Soon all of the young Territory was in communication with the outside world. The colorful era of the steamboat had ended with the coming of the cheaper and speedier transportation by rail, but methods of local transportation remained unaltered. The horse still furnished the power, although fashions in wagons and buggies might change. It was left for the twentieth century to usher in the age of speed. In the first decade, the wheezing steam automobile chugged with difficulty over sticky gumbo roads in the Red River Valley, and over scoria trails in the west. Automobiles were rare, and possession of one marked the owner as an aristocrat or a public nuisance, according to the point of view of the observer. When the internal combustion motor vehicle was improved, road building began in earnest. Bus companies, established to fill a need for north and south transportation facilities not provided by the railroads, opened a campaign for better roads. They were joined by an ever increasing number of car owners, and as a result road conditions have been steadily improved since the early 1920's. The first bus line in the State was begun in 1922, between Bismarck and Minot. Although the next two years saw the introduction of many bus and truck lines, these were not regulated by State law until placed under jurisdiction of the board of railway commissioners by legislative act in 1925. Immediately, operating permits were required from all companies, one of the first being granted to the Northland Transportation Company, forerunner of the Northland Greyhound Line. Today a network of bus and truck lines covers the State.