Arthur E. Stilwell was a prominent real estate and railroad developer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With an understanding that railroads increased surrounding property values, Stilwell moved to Kansas City in 1887 to establish a real estate company in tandem with the southbound Pittsburg & Gulf railway. In 1900, Stilwell announced plans for a second railroad to go from Kansas City to Topolobampo, Mexico, a Pacific seaport that would connect the Midwest to freight from the South, the East, and vice versa. The artist, Pierre E.