On September 1873 the Green Bay & Lake Pepin changed its name to the Green Bay & Minnesota Rail Road Company after it became clear that the new railroad would not reach its namesake city.  The new railroad faced difficulties generating enough revenue to pay off its mortgage and the GB&M went into receivership and was sold in foreclosure in August 1881, eventually emerging as the Green Bay, Winona, & St. Paul Railroad under the control of the bondholders of the GB&M.

This certificate would be typical of those issued by the company to finance the final portion of construction of the line. 

The vignette on the stock certificate shows a conception of the line coming out of the hills of Wisconsin in the background and crossing the Mississippi River on a long trestle. In the early years the GB&M crossed the Mississippi River via a trackage rights agreement with the La Crosse, Trempealeau, & Prescott Railroad (C&NW), and in 1891 the Green bay Route became part owner of a new bridge (along with the Chicago Burlington & Northern and Winona & Southwestern).  The foreground shows a wood-burning 4-4-0 locomotive, which was very typical of the power on the railroad.