Who was James J. Hill?
James Jerome Hill was born in Ontario, Canada on September 16, 1838. He moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1856. There he owned the Great Northern Railway and invested in other ventures, such as coal and iron ore mining, shipping, and banking. When he died on May 29, 1916 he had amassed a net worth of 63 million dollars. In 2001 dollars, that is 1,059,582,778.00, or just over one billion dollars.

What can you tell me about James Hill and the railroad?
In 1878 James Hill, along with three other investors,  purchased the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad for 280,000 dollars. In 1890 he renamed the company the Great Northern Railway. In 1887 Hill's railroad stretched in to Montana and in 1893 it stretched to Seattle. Hill achieved this feat without help from the Federal Government, which had given massive amounts of money and land to other railroad projects. By 1893, Hill controlled 10,000 miles of railroad track, spanning from Lake Superior to Puget Sound. In 1901 Hill successfully battled against E.H. Harriman and the Union Pacific railroad for control of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy rail line in to Chicago.

Is there anything else you can tell me about James J Hill?
Sure. Hill was very interested in settling the land around his railways. He would seek out European immigrant coming to the US via New York and persuade them to settle around his railways. Hill was very interested in agricultural land management and was very involved with the idea of "scientific farming". Hill would sell lumber at a discount rate off of his railroad cars in order to stimulate the building of towns along his routes. He would also sell cheaply or give away cattle to promote farming in towns along his line.

Was the fire in Hinckley like the one described in the book?
Basically, but worse. On September 1, 1894, a fire destroyed the cities of Mission Creek and Brook Park before moving in to Hinckley. The area around Hinckley was actively harvested for lumber. After cutting down and clearing the trees, the workers would burn the scraps and branches that remained. Well, two such fires grew out of control to the south of Hinckley. Eventually the fires merged and became one. Due to a relatively rare weather condition, a vortex (or tornado) took shape and propelled the fire in to a huge wall of destruction. As the fire swept closer to Hinckley, coming from the south, some alert town people fled by train. The train, part of the St. Paul-Duluth and Eastern Minnesota line, was not originally leaving Hinckley, but coming toward it. As the train arrived the train crew noticed a thick black smoke and that the air was getting warmer. People soon started running toward the train, begging the train crew to save them. Just short of four hundred people got on board and the train left Hinckley in reverse. The train was bathed in fire as it pulled from Hinckley. It grew so hot inside the train that clothes caught on fire and the windows melted. The train had to cross many bridges before clearing the immediate area. The brakeman for the train got out and inspected every one of them before the train crossed. One such bridge, the Kettle River, was destroyed by fire mere minutes after the train crossed it. Some towns people fled to an area known as the "gravel pit". This was a pit dug by the railroad that had collected three feet of standing water. Approximately one hundred people were spared by submerging themselves in the gravel pit's water.
 

The above information was gathered from a number of different sources. Among them were "The Oxford Companion to American History". I also consulted a couple excellent web pages. I will list them below:

James J. Hill , Railroad Magnate and Conservationist
James J. Hill
James J Hill and the Building of his Railroad Empire
Early Hinckley
Escape on the St. Paul and Duluth Train
 
Also, see the links section for more James J Hill and Hinckley fire links, including a link to the James J Hill house and a link to the Hinckley fire museum.