Senator Douglas was very small, not over four and a half feet height, and there was a noticeable disproportion between the long trunk of his body and his short legs. His chest was broad and indicated great strength of lungs.

Villard returned to Europe helping German investors acquire stakes in the transportation network and returned to New York in 1886. He then succeeded in obtaining a controlling interest in the Northern Pacific property and organized a new corporation that was named the Oregon and Transcontinental Company. He died of a stroke at his country home in New York in 1900.

He supported John C. He visited Oregon that summer and being impressed with the region's natural resources began acquiring various transportation interests in the region. Villard returned to Europe helping German investors acquire stakes in the transportation network and returned to New York in 1886.