As with any likely investment opportunity, Steel Horse Crossing is no stranger to Pure Blood money. The first trickles of Pure Blood influence started sneaking in when the town mine broke ground, hoping to find a way to quickly make investments back on seed capital. Unfortunately, with the failure in the mine, many Pure Blood families backed out of investing further just as quickly as they jumped in originally. Only a few weathered the storm, and even they did so cautiously and with half-hearted activity.
Those that left family on location, or retained some manner of business with the town, found that they were also afforded the opportunity to enter on the ground floor of a trading opportunity with the whole of the frozen reaches to the North. It was a lucrative chance to take, and the families that remained didn’t have much to lose beyond what had already been sunk into the mine. As the ten years following proved, the Pure families that left in a hurry weren’t often able to get back into the profit once trading picked up. The easy money had been pocketed, and the scraps that were left didn’t warrant new, large-scale investments.
The Johnson Family
One of the primary pillars of Steel Horse Crossing also have had a long-standing hand in bolstering Mill City, and even have tendrils of influence well into Rail City and beyond the Northern reaches. Primarily founding their fortune chemical research and applications, the Johnsons have integrated with most every aspect of local and nearby industry by focusing on ways to support production of nearly any product coming out of the major cities of the Works. Much of the immediate interest in Steel Horse was pulling new minerals from the mine to research, as well as selling their products to the mining companies. When the mine finally closed, the view of Steel Horse was that of an ailing investment – they left a token family member, well-removed from the actual fortune, to keep an eye out for more opportunity. With trade now flowing regularly, they have urged some less prominent family to spend more time in the small town, even offering to pay expenses for a move to ensure they always have top pick of new, upcoming investments.
The Schlabst Family
A prominent name in Mill City, most everyone knows the family name of the most popular beer of the Northern Ironworks. Joseph Schlabst was very tentative when offered the chance to invest in the community, but when he weighed the options unfolding in Steel Horse, it was clear that between the Navy and the mine workers, drinking would be a more than regular occurrence. It wouldn’t be a primary market, but the chance to turn a quick profit never escaped him. Choosing carefully, he opted to send a Pure Blood relative by marriage, trading on the Schlabst name, to represent his interests. Once the mine was shuttered however, most of the family returned to Mill City without delay. Charles Schlabst, one of the three children that had been sent to the new town, chose to stay on site in part to escape the Schlabst Brewery and the long hours therein, but also to try his hand at new brews that his family would never approve of. He was mildly successful in his endeavor, but he was the lynchpin in keeping the Schlabst family as the primary gateway of International Brewers Union into the North as trade expanded. He now spends much less time in town, as he travels to maintain relationships, while others from his family spend more time in town.
The Cunningham Family
One doesn’t know Mill City without knowing the Cunningham family. Shirley Cunningham, better known by most as Mrs. Cunningham, runs the city with a motherly love and a gentle, yet firm, hand. Her younger sister, Joan, was born a number of years later. As Shirley took on more popularity and responsibility, her sister shrunk into the background so as not to be caught up in the whirlwind. She spent most of her time farming, taking after her Merican father. Despite the desire to stay out of the public eye, Shirley asked Joan to spend time in Steel Horse when Mill City decided to invest in the nearby mine. At first, Joan resisted, but ultimately she decided that taking up farming in a more remote community gave her everything she wanted. She has since married and had a few children with a local Pure Blood of less renown, quietly keeping the interests of her sister and Mill City alive.
The Sears Family
The Sears family unfailingly has engaged in most business opportunities presented to them in which they can become a primary retail outlet. It was no surprise that when asked to help build out up a mine in the northern Works, the Sears family immediately started making lists of supplies that they could bring and sell. Wilhelm Sears, just reaching his stride as an adult, was selected to accompany the caravans of goods to ensure open communication and trade were established and maintained. As the transition from supplying a mine with material components shifted to supplying the entire Northern reaches with goods of all varieties, Wilhelm was joined by more of his family to ensure that a constant flow of caravans, train cars and ships arrived with everything one could ever want… if you have enough currency.
The Pritzker Family
The Pritzker family was a natural choice when attempting to infuse Steel Horse with a prosperous mine. Primarily dealing in investments near and far, the Pritzkers were more than willing to take an opportunity to invest in a project that the Ironworks found interesting. Sending a small cadre of family to oversee operations and, as necessary, future investment capital, a number of the family settled locally. Rather than uproot themselves once the mine closed, most of the family that had attended the mine investment started looking at ways to draw in money from both Mill and Rail Cities, and establish relationships with those area both North and West of Steel Horse. Notably, they are also the only family to regularly leverage Solestros for every day investment management along with the standard Iron Slave fair.
The Daily Family
Rarely can one mention the Ironworks, and not also quietly attach the name of Christine Daily, the Chancellor. However, the Daily family is neither small nor anything less than wealthy. While the Chancellor was far above the simple decision to fund such a small town on the edge of nowhere, the Daily family was approached as a whole. The offer was intriguing, but was not well-supported. It was only through the efforts of Amanda Daily that the family was included at all. Amanda, running from an arranged marriage, found a quick exit with this possible investment. Even after the opportunities of the mine collapsed, she was quick to find more reasons to keep herself busy in Steel Horse, and for twenty years has lived quite happily, married of her own accord, with her husband and children who are just coming of age. She regularly pushes her family to engage in the fiscal decisions that remain so she can stay out of her family’s line of sight.
A variety of other families have since sent members into town, attempting to spark a new opportunity to open doors to the North. While some have been successful, others have floundered miserably. Still, Steel Horse has a charm about it that tends to keep people invested in the community, even if they haven’t made their fortunes.