The 1901 U.S. stock-market panic caused by the failed attempt to corner Northern Pacific Railway shares was the Panic of 1901.
The conflict involved major financiers, including E. H. Harriman and James J. Hill on one side and J. P. Morgan and others on the other. Competition for control of Northern Pacific Railway drove its shares sharply upward in May 1901.
When speculators who had sold shares short rushed to buy them back, Northern Pacific stock became exceptionally scarce. The resulting scramble produced extreme price movements and caused severe losses for investors who could not obtain shares to settle their trades.
The panic damaged confidence and affected other railway securities, but it was not the same event as the Panic of 1907. The 1901 episode is an early example of how concentrated ownership, short selling, and a contested corporate takeover could destabilize the wider market.