Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Koehler, Richard June 13, 1844 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 21, 2008, 3:06 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

	Richard Koehler, retired, of Portland, was for many years a dominant 
figure in transportation affairs.  A native of Germany, he was born in 
Schletiz, June 13, 1844, a son of Gustave William and Agnes (Ludwig) Koehler.  
His early education was obtained in the public schools of Frankfort-on-the-
Main and his studies were continued in the Karlsruhe Polytechnic school, from 
which he was graduated with the class of 1864.  For ten years thereafter he 
was identified with the construction and operation of railroads in his native 
land and in 1874 was sent to Portland as special agent for the German and 
English bondholders of the Oregon & California Railroad Company, interest on 
which had defaulted.  Henry Villard was at that time a member of the committee 
organized for the protection of the bondholders of the road, of which Mr. 
Koehler was made chief engineer and auditor, and he acted in those capacities 
for two years.  In 1876 the bondholders purchased the holdings of Benjamin 
Holladay and Mr. Koehler became the vice president and manager of the Oregon & 
California Railroad, thus serving until January, 1885.  At that time a 
foreclosure suit was instituted and the road went into the hands of a 
receiver.  Mr. Koehler was selected for this post and operated the road until 
1888, when its control was transferred to the Southern Pacific Company, which 
placed him in charge of its Oregon lines.  He successfully managed this until 
the great merger of the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific systems under the 
presidency of E. H. Harriman, when the position of local manager of the 
Southern Pacific Oregon line was abolished.  He was then made local purchasing 
agent for both lines.  After the separation of the interests of the Union 
Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads he continued as purchasing agent for 
the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company, a part of the Union Pacific system, 
and until his retirement in 1914 at the age of seventy.  He rendered notable 
service to the various lines with which he was connected and also to the 
Pacific northwest at large.  After his retirement from transportation affairs 
Mr. Koehler became indirectly interested in the fish, oil, and fertilizer 
industries of Alaska and through his brother-in-law Mr. Carl Spuhn, acted as 
vice president of the Alaska Oil & Guano Company.  In 1916 he assumed the 
duties as president of the Alaska Fish-Salting & By-Products Company, the 
successor company of the former and served until 1926, when the latter company 
went out of business.
	In 1880 Mr. Koehler was married in Germany to Miss Bertha Spuhn and 
they became the parents of two children:  Kurt Herman, who is manager for the 
Eastern & Western Lumber company and makes his headquarters in Portland; and 
Ilse, who is the wife of Dr. Kurt Schloesser and lives in Germany.  Mr. 
Koehler casts his ballot for the candidates of the republican party and is a 
member of the Arlington and Waverley Clubs.  For more than a half century he 
has made his home in Portland, witnessing its transformation from a small town 
to a city of metropolitan proportions, and is deeply attached to the country 
of his adoption.  On the stage of life he has played well his part and is 
esteemed and admired by all with whom he has been associated.


Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 493-494

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