Once incorporated, the Hart brothers set out to tap vast stands of virgin forests in the foothills of Mount Rainier by building southward through the gulch that now bears the name of that railroad. The Puyallup Indians used this route prior to pioneer settlement and referred to the gulch at the head of Commencement Bay as Wad Shum Shum, which means the trail to high ground. During this important building phase the Hart brothers managed to extend the railroad through the steep gulch, terminating about seven miles south of Tacoma near South 97th Street in a grove of virgin timber that is now the Midland neighborhood.