The Impossible Railway: The Building of the Canadian Pacific 9780394465692

Citation preview

THE BUILDING DF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC -A TRIUMPHANT SAGA DF EXPLDRATID-N 1 POLITICS, HIGH FINANCE & ADVENTURE

I $12.50

..______.-

0

IN 1871, a tiny nation-just four years

old, its population well below the four n1il­ lion 1nark-deterinined that it would build the \vorld 's longest and costliest railroad across 2 500 1niles of e1npty and forbidding country, 1nuch of it unexplored, 1nost of it unpopulated. 1'his decision, bold to the point of recklessness, was to alter the future and the shape of the nation and to change the lives of every Canadian then and for a century to con1e. For fourteen years - fron1 the dispatch of the first survey parties into the wilderness above Lake Superior and high into the un­ known peaks of the Canadian Rockies until the driving of the last spike at Craigellachie on the western slope of Glacier National Park in 1885-the struggle to build the Canadian Pacific Raihvay fascinated, convulsed, con­ sumed, threatened, and finally unified the entire young nation. During these turbulent years, Canadians­ and n1any A1nericans-of every stripe fought for the railway or against it. Their tale is crammed \Vith hu1nan dra1na beyond the reach of fiction: financial scandal and dou­ ble-dealing that threatened the Govern1nent in Ottawa and shook the 1noney 1narkets in New York and London, land speculation and swindles that brought boo1n and bust to prairie villages, an alcoholic Pri1ne 1\Iin­ ister able to do1ninate an unruly J->arlia1nent, anned rebellion in 1\Ianitoba, the develop1nent of the North \Yest l\Iounted Police, surveyors wintering in fifty-foot snowdrifts, (continued on back flap)

Illustrated zcith 2. 1 nutJ>s and 16 pages of half I< ,u·s

A N --- -----------------

__../"-.

f')

11�r>wv, ,

\. -�

P)

V

(�

'��1

�

lluoS()\

a \)

oD

SO

B Al

�

THE ROUTE OF

THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY: 1885* -- Canadian Pacific Railway Other Railways ====Uncompleted Sections (in Minnesota)

=

STRAII'

0

300 Miles

* Provincial, state, and territorial boundaries and capitals are those of 1972

Books by

PIERRE BERTON

The Royal Family (1954) The Nlysterious LVorth (1956) The Klondike Fever (1958) The Big Sell (1963) The Comfortable Pe1.v (1965) LVIy War ·with the Tiventieth Century (1965) The Smug 1Vlinority (1969) Voices from the Sixties (1967) The Impossible Railway ( 1972)

For Younger Readers: Stampede for Gold (1955) The Secret World of Og (1962)

THE

IMPOSSIBLE RAILWAY

I

I

·d'

'

:

I

.·····i·li i...il i i .

111111111111 I

-•

I

'

THE IMPOSSIBLE RAILWAY The Building of the Canadian PacijiC

ALFRED . A . KNOPF I NEW YORK

1972

Copyright © 1970, 1971, 1972 by Pierre Berton Enterprises, Ltd. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published in Canada in two volumes, as The National Dream (1970) and The Last Spike (1971), by .NicClelland & Stewart, Ltd., Toronto, Canada. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data: Berton, Pierre, 1920The impossible railway. First published in 2 v. under titles: The national dream ( 1970) and The last spike ( 1971) Bibliography: p. 1. Canadian Pacific Railway. 2. Railroads and state-Canada. 3. Canada-History-1867-1914. I. Title. HE2810.C2B44 1972 385'.0971 72-2236 ISBN 0-394-46569-5 Manufactured in the United States of America First American Edition

Size is not grandeur, and territory does not n1ake a nation. - TH O .\1 A S H

E NR Y

H U XL E Y

Until this great -work is conzpleted, our Do111inion is little ,nore than a . " " geograpinca . I expresszon. -SIR JOHN

A.

MACDONALD

AlI I can say is that the -work has been done -well in every ·way.

-W. C.

VAN HORNE,

at Craigellachie

Contents

Xl

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS LIST OF l\1APS

Xlll

xv

CAST OF lVIAJOR CHARACTERS

Froni Sea to Sea

3

1 An "act of insane recklessness" ...The dreamers ... " Canada is dead" ...The struggle for the North West . .. The land beyond the lakes .. . Ocean to Ocean ... The ordeal of the Da,vson route 2 Poor Waddington . . . Sir Hugh Allan's shopping spree ... The do,vnfall of Cartier ... George l\tlc­ Mullen's blackn1ail

7

41

3 Lucius Huntington's moment in history ... Scandal! ...The least satisfactory royal con1n1ission ...Battle stations . . . l\1acdonald versus Blake 4 "Hurra! The jolly C.P.S.!" . . . The bitter tea of v\1alter Moberly ...That "old devil" l\1arcus Smith V l l

92

vllz

TH E

JM POSS 1 B LE

RA I L \VAY

5 Lord Carnarvon intervenes . . . "The horrid B.C. business" ... The Battle of the Routes

114

The first locomotive ... Adam Oliver's favorite game ...The stonemason's friends ..."Mean, treacherous coward!"

1 31

7

Resurrection ..."Get rid of Fleming" ...Bogs ·without bottom ... Sodom-on-the-Lake

1 54

8

Jin1 Hill's Folly ... "Donald Smith is ready to take hold" . . . Enter George Stephen . . . A raihvay at bargain rates ...The Syndicate is born

179

" Capitalists of undoubted means" ... Success! . . . The Contract ... The Great Debate begins ... The "avenging fury" . . . Macdonald versus Blake again ...The da,vn of the ne,v Canada

206

The end and the beginning . .. Ho,v John 11acoun altered the n1ap ... The first of the CPR to,vns The "paid ink-slingers" ... Enter Van Horne

2 37

The great vVinnipeg boom ... Fool's paradise ... "To,vns cannot live of then1selves" . . . The bubble bursts

269

6

9

10

11

12

13

The ne,v broom ... Five hundred miles of steel . Encl of Track ...Edgar De,vclney's ne,v capital .. The Grand 1,runk declares ,var

"Hell's Bells Rogers" ... On the Great Divide . . .

-')9•>-

Contents

·

zx

The 1najor finds his pass ... The Prairie Gopher ... "T'he loneliness of savage 1nountains"

14

15

16

17

18

Onderdonk's la1nbs .. . "The beardless children of China" ... l\1ichael Haney to the rescue .. . The Sentinel of Yale

363

The Pro1nised Land ... Prohibition ... The 1nagical influence ... George Stephen's disastrous gamble ... The CPR goes political

388

The arn1ored shores of Lake Superior ... Treasure in the rocks ... The Big Hill ... "The ablest railway general in the ,vorld" ... The Pacific terminus ... Not a dollar to spare ... The edge of the precipice

419

Eighteen eighty-five . . . The return of the Messiah ... "I ,vish I ,vere ,vell out of it" ... Marching as to ,var . . . The cruel journey

461

The vVesterner is born . . . Stephen thro,vs in the to"rel ... Riot at Beavermouth ... The eleventh hour ... A land no longer lonely ... The last spike

497

Aftern1ath

525

CHRONOLOGY

535

NOTES

545

BIBLIOGRAPHY

565

ACKNO,VLEDGl\1ENTS

575 576

INDEX

follo·ws page

Illustratiotis

Follo1.ving page

202

Sir John A.Nlacdonald. (Public Archives of Ontario) Alexander l\1ackenzie. (Public Archives of Canada) Ed,vard Blake. (Public Archives of Canada) Sir Hugh Allan.

(Public Archives of Canada)

Sandford Fleming and party. (Public Archives of Canada) The surveyors on the prairies. (Public Archives of Canada) Pacific Scandal cartoon, by J. W. Bengough. (Toronto Public Library)

Pacific Scandal cartoon, by J. W. Bengough. (Toronto Public Library)

Work train carrying railroad ties. (Glenbow-Alberta Institute Museum)

Teams on the prairie.

(Public Archives of Canada)

George Stephen. (Notman Collection, McCord ll1useum, McGill University)

William Cornelius Van Horne.

(Notman, McCord)

Dra\\1ing of main street in Yale. (Public Archives of Canada) Xl

THE IMPOSSIBLE RAILWAY

XZZ

Chinese at vvork.

(Public Archives of Canada)

A Chinese camp.

(Public Archives of Canada)

Andre,v Onderdonk.

(Public Archives of Canada)

Fraser Canyon tunnels, Spuzzum, B.C.

(1Votman, 11/JcCord)

Follo1ving page 394 Major A. B. Rogers.

(Glenbow-Alberta Institute L11useum)

James Jerome Hill.

(Minnesota Historical Society)

Grading along the Columbia River. (McCord Museum, McGill University)

Blasting north of Lake Superior.

(Ed McKnight)

Corey's tunnel, in the Rockies. (McCord Museum, McGill University)

Nepigon Bridge. Stoney Creek Bridge. Edd & Joe Saloon. Rogers Pass village. Sod homestead.

(Public Archives, British Columbia)

(Canadian Pacific Railway Archives) (Canadian Pacific Railway Archives)

(Public Archives of Canada)

Inspector Samuel B. Steele. (Glenbow-Alberta Institute L11useum)

Gabriel Dun1ont. Troops on open cars.

(Public Archives of Canada)

Driving the Last Spike. First excursion.

(Canadian Pacific Railway Archives)

(Public Archives, British Columbia)

First train to Vancouver.

(Vancouver Archives)

Maps

Canada before the CPR: 1871

2

Prairie trails and explorations Fle1ning's route ( Ocean to Ocean): 1871 The Da,vson route vValter l\1oberly's country

103

The Battle of the Routes

120-1

Flen1ing's suryey: 1877

136-7

Govern111ent contracts, CPR

141

The St.Paul and Pacific Raihvay: 1873

180

The change of route: 1881

2 44-5

The prairie line: 1881

251

The land boom: 1881-82

284

Regina, 1882-83

319

The Selkirks before the CPR

333

The Far West before the CPR

338

The Rockies before the CPR

34 1

The Onderdonk contracts

366 Xlll

XZV

THE IMPOSSIBLE RAILWAY

The prairie line: To 1883

38g

The line in the East

428

The Kicking Horse Pass: 1884

43 1

Burrard Inlet: 1884-85

444

The Rogers Pass: 1884-85

464

The Saskatchevvan Rebellion: 1885

473

The CPR in Ontario: To 1885

485

Gaps in the line: March, 1885

488

The CPR in Quebec: To 1885

502

Cast of 1,!fa:for Cliaracters

THE POLITICIANS Liberal-Conservatives (Tories) S I R Jo H N A. l\1AC DO N A L D , Prime l\1inister of Canada , 1867-73, 1878-91. S I R G EO RG E ETI E N N E CA RT I E R, l\1inister of l\1ilitia and Defence, 1867-73.Macdonald's Quebec lieutenant. S I R C H A R L E S Tu P P E R , 1\1.P.for Cun1berland, Nova Scotia ; President of the Privy Council, 1870-72; Minister of Inland Revenue, 187273; Minister of Custon1s , 1873; l\1inister of Public Works , 1878-79; Minister of Raihvays and Canals, 1879-84; Prime l\1inister of Canada, 1896; H igh Com1nissioner to London, 1 884-96. S I R F RA N C I S H I N C KS , Premier of United Canada , 1851-54; Minister of Finance, 1869-73. H ECTO R Lo u i s LA N G EVI N , Minister of Public Works, 1 869-73; Post­ master General, 1 878-79; Minister of Public Works , 1879-91. Cartier's successor as Macdonald's Quebec lieutenant. J . J . C. AB BOTT , M.P.for Argenteuil, Quebec. Legal counsel for first raihvay syndicate leader Sir Hugh Allan in 1 873; legal counsel for the CPR Syndicate, 1 880. JO H N H E N RY Po P E , Minister of Agriculture, 1878-85; l\1Iinister of Raihvays and Canals , 1885-89.Tupper's deputy during his absence. S E :-� ATO R F RA !'l K S l\f I T I I , Minister Without Portfolio, 1882-91.\Vhole­ sale grocer and raihvay executive. xv

xvl

T H E J M POSS I BLE RA IL \V AY

EDGAR DE\V D N EY, Indian Commissioner, Manitoba and North vVest Territories, 1 879-88; Lieutenant-Governor of the North West Ter­ ritories, 1 881-88.

Liberals (Clear Grits and R eformers) ALEXA N D E R lVlAC KE N Z I E, Prime M inister of Canada and lVIinister of Public vVorks, 1 873-78. En,vARD B LA K E, M.P.for Durham vVest, Ontario; Premier of Ontario, 1 871-72; Minister vVithout Portfolio, 1 873-74; lVIinister of Justice, 1 875-77; President of the Privy Council, 1 877-78. Succeeded Alex­ ander Mackenzie as Liberal leader , 1 880. L uc i u s SETH H U N TI N GTO N , Solicitor General for Lo,ver Canada , 1863-64; lVI.P. for Shefford, Quebec, 1 867-78; President of the Privy Council, 1 874-75; Postmaster General, 1 875-78. His speech in 1873 touched off the Pacific Scandal.

THE PATHFINDERS SA N D F O RD F L E M I N G , chief engineer of the government-o,vned Inter­ colonial Raihvay; Engineer-in- Chief of the CPR, 1 871-80; succeeded by Collingwood Schreiber. Devised a ,vorkable system of standard time. MA RC U s Sl\I I T H , in charge of surveys in British Colun1bia , 1872-76; Flen1ing's deputy in Otta,va , 1876-78. Strong proponent of Bute Inlet as CPR tenninus. Government inspecting engineer on the Onderclonk contract bet\veen Port lVIoody and Emory in British Colun1bia. WA LT E R lVlo B E RLY, assistant surveyor general of British Columbia , 1 865-66; in charge of n1ountain surveys for CPR, 1 871-72.Discov­ ered Eagle Pass. H E N RY J. CAl\I B I E , in charge of British Colun1bia surveys after 1 876, replacing lVIarcus Sn1ith. Engineer for Andre,v Onclerdonk on Contract Go in the Fraser Canyon area and later for the CPR between Ka1nloops and Eagle Pass. C H A R L ES Ho R ETZ KY, photographer and explorer. Conducted explora­ tory surveys in the Pine Pass and Kitlope River regions. G E N E RA L T u o .. \ t A SLA FAY ETT E Ro s s E R , chief engineer of the CPR , 1 881-82; former chief engineer for the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Cast of 1l1ajo r Ch arac t ers

:x v

1 1

l VIAJ O R A . B . Roe E R .s , engi neer in charge of the 111ountain division of the CPR . Fonnerly locati ng engi neer for the Chicago, l\1i lwaukee a nd St. Paul Rai lroad .

T' H E E N T' R E P R. E N E U I� S S i R H l 1 c 1 1 1\ L LA N , l\1ontrea I shi po\vner and fin ancier \vhose syndicate \Vas �nvarded the C PR contract in 1 872. I-I is h eavy subscri ptions to the Conservative Party i111plicated h i 111 in the Pacific Scanda l . JAY Coo K E , Ph iladelph ia banker \vho financed the Northern Pacific Railroad and ho ped to control the C PR . G EO RG E \\T. l\tici\1 u L L E :'\ , Can adian-born pron1oter fr01n Chicago who produced A111erican backers for Sir Hugh Allan's raihvay company . S E i': ATO R DAV I D L . lVlA C P H E RS 0 0o' , Toronto raihvay builder a n d rival of Sir Hugh A l lan . He n1ade a fortune i n Grand Trunk Raihvay construction con tracts and headed the Interocean ic Co1npany, which bid unsuccessfu l ly for the CPR contract in 1 872.

TH E C P R S Y N D I C A TE G E O RG E STE P H E N , president of the CPR, 1 881-88. Former president of the Bank of l\tlontrea l . He helped Don ald Smith and James J . H i ll organize the St. Pau l , l\1inneapol is and Man itoba Raihvay i n the late 187o's . D U N CA N Mc I N TY R E , vice-president of the CPR , 188 1-84. President of the Canada Centra l Raihvay . JAl\I E S J . H I L L , Canad ian-born fuel and tra nsportation 1nerchant in St . Pau l , lVIinnesota . l\1en1ber of the executive co1n1ni ttee of the CPR , 1 88 1-83. Organ ized the Great Northern Railroad in the Un ited States . N o R l\ l A N K I TTSO N , early l\1innesota fur trader; H i l l's partner in Red River Transportation Co1npany and subsequent ventures . Me1nber of the C PR Syndicate , 1880 . R I C H A RD B LA D \VO RT H A N c u s , men1ber of the executive con1 n1ittee of the C PR . E lected v ice-pres iden t in 1883. Fonner ge neral n1an a ger of the Bank of l\1on treal. D o N A L D A. S M I T H , G eorge Stephen's cousin , 1\1 . P. for Selkirk , l\1an i­ toba, 1871-78; Labrador fur trader who rose to becon1e resident governor and Ch ief Con1 n1issioner of the 1-Iudson's Bay Co1npany

X V ll l

T H E I �I P O S S I B L E R A I L W A Y

in Canada.A partner of Hill and Kittson in Red Rive r Transporta­ tion Company and subsequent railroad ventures. lVIember of the CPR Syndicate, 1 880.A major CPR stockholder and a director after 1883. JO H N S. K E N N E DY, Nevv York banker allied ,vith Hill, Stephen, and Sn1ith in the St.Paul raihvay venture.

THE BUILDERS Jo s E P H W H I T E H EAD, Liberal M.P., avvarded contracts on the Pem­ bina Branch of the CPR and on Section Fifteen betvveen Cross Lake and Rat Portage, vvest of Lake Superior. A oA1v1 O L I V E R, Liberal M.P.P. ( Member of Provincial Parliament ) , avvarded telegraph contracts vvest of Fort vVilliam, Ontario. Im­ plicated in Neebing Hotel scandal. J. W. SI FTO N , awarded construction contract vvest of Fort vVilliam ( vvith his brother Henry ) and telegraph contract vvest of vVinnipeg ( with David Glass, M.P.) . Father of Sir Clifford Sifton, founder of Sifton nevvspapers. M I C H A E L J. HAN EY, construction boss vvho took over and completed Section Fifteen for the government after Joseph vVhitehead suffered financial reverses. Superintendent of the CPR's Pembina Branch and Rat Portage divisions, 1 882.General manager of the Onderdonk section, 1 883-85. A L P H E U S B. STI C KN EY, general superintendent of the CPR's vvestern division, 1 881 ; formerly superintendent of construction on the St. Paul, l\1inneapolis and Manitoba Raihvay. WI L LIAl'vI CO R N E L I U S VA N HO R N E, general manager of the CPR, 1 882; vice-president and general 1nanager, 1 884; president, 1888-gg; chairn1an of the board, 1 899-1 910.Formerly general superintendent, Chicago, l\1ihvaukee and St.Paul Railroad. J O H N EcA N , superintendent of the CPR's ,vestern division after 1 882. Fonnerly divisional superintendent, Chicago, Mihvaukee and St. Paul Railroad. T H O l\lAS S 1 1 A U G H .:\' E S S Y, general purchasing agent of the CPR, 1 88285; assistant general n1anager, 1 885; vice-president and general 111anager, 1 888; president, 1899-191 7.Formerly general storekeeper, Chicago, lVIihvaukee and St. Paul Railroad. HA R RY A B B OTT , in charge of the eastern section of the CPR's Lake Superior construction.

Cas t of 11/ajor Ch arac t e rs

:i.· 1

x

J o 1 1 ;'\ Ro s s , i n ch arge of the ,\·estern section of the CPR's Lake Superior construction . J A ;\ I E S R o s s , i n ch arge of construction for the C PR's 1nou ntain divisi on . Built the Credit \1 a lley Rai lway , 1 878-79. A ;'\ D R E \\' 0:--.: D E R no :--.: K, con tractor i n ch arge of go\'ernn1ent con struction between Port :\ Ioody a nd Sa\·ona's Ferry on Kmnloops Lake , 188 185 . 1\ lso buil t sect ion of C P R l ine between Savon a's Ferry and Craige l l ach ie i n E a gle Pass.

T l-l E N A 1� I \1 E P E O P L E S Lo u I s R I E L , h ead of the 1net is ( ha lf-breed ) pro\' ision a l governn1ent i n l VI a n itoba , 1 869-70, and leader o f th e R e d R i\'er u prisi ng. I n exile, l\'le1nber of Parlia111ent for ProYencher, 1873-74. Leader of the Saskatchewa n Rebel l ion of 1 885. GAB R I E L D U ;\ I O :\' T , R iel's adj u tant gen eral , "the Pri nce of the Pl ains," fanned 1netis govennnent at St. Lau rent, near Batoche on the South Saskatche,Ya n , i n 1 873 . Lon g-tin1e chief of the Red RiYer buffalo hunts. C RO \\' FOO T , head chief of the Bl ackfoot tribes , a noted ,varrior , veteran of n in eteen battles , ,vounded six tin1es. Refused to j o i n in the rebe l l ion of 1 885 . Po u :--..· o :\ I A K E R , a Cree ch ief, Crowfoot's adopted son , one of the leaders agitatin g for concession s fr01n the go\'ernn1ent for I ndians along the North S aska tche,van bet,veen 188 1 and 1 885. C a ptured and im­ pr isoned for h i s role in the Saskatche,va n Rebellion . B 1 c B EA R , ch ief of the P l a i n s Crees , orga n izer of first I ndian counci l , 1 884 . H i s fol l owers precipitated the n1 assacre at Frog Lake durin g the Saskatche\\·an Rebel l ion . His ca ptu re on July 2 , 1 885 , sign a led the rebel lion's end.

TH E B Y S T A N D E R S F RE DE R I C K T E J\ J P L E B LA C K \\'Oo n , Earl of Dufferi n , G overnor G en eral of Canada , 1 872-78 . S ucceeded by the l\'l A RQ U I s O F LO R N E . G EO RG E B RO \V N , fonner leader of the R efonn Party; publ isher and editor of the G lobe, 'foronto. Alexander lVIackenzie's 1nentor. l\1ur­ dered i n May , 1 880 . G E O RG E Mo N RO G RA N T , n1i n ister of S t . Matthe,v's Church , I-Ialifax ,

XX

TH E I M POSS I B L E RAI L WAY

1863-77; secretary to Sandford Fleming on the chief engineer's transcontinental trip, 1872. His book O cean to Ocean describes that Journey. JO H N MAcou N , self-educated botanist; companion of Fleming and Grant on their trip fro1n ocean to ocean. Exan1ined the fertility of the North West for the government. FAT H E R A L B E RT LAC O l\ l B E , oblate m issionary ,vhose p arish ,vas the Far vVest. Pastor to raihvay ,vorkers east of vVinnipeg, 1880-82. J E S S E FA RLEY, receiver for the bankrupt St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. He later sued Jan1es J. Hill and Norman K ittson, claiming that the reorganization of the railroad w as his idea. The suit failed. SI R HE N RY vVH AT L EY TYL E R , president of the Grand Trunk Raihvay , 1876-95; British l\1en1ber of Parliament and engineer. Formerly inspector of raihvays in Great Britain. Jo s E P H HI C KS O N , general manager of the Grand Trunk Raihvay , 1874-9 1 . A RT H U R WE L L I N GTO N Ro s s , vVinnipeg real-estate agent and adviser on real-estate matters to the CPR. l\1en1ber of the l\1anitoba legis­ lature, 1879-82; Men1ber of Parliament for Lisgar , lVIanitoba , 1882-96. A Conservative. SAl\ I U E L B E N F I E L D ST E E LE , in con1mand of North vVest Mounted Police detachments along the line of CPR construction. lVIember of the original detachn1ent of the NvVlVIP. Acting adjutant of the Fort Qu'Appelle district.

THE

IMPOSSIBLE RAILWAY

'?"'

/

"

/

'?"'

'

1 00

'?"'

'

0

200

J�

,::)

..

;,,, - - -�"'

'

\ ..,

�

ARCTIC ... _ _____ ... ., �,,, OCEAN

'----' MILES

100

· ',,(_

�

'

•

.

j

.. ..

- :.

E

U

'°.o,,

,� ... ... ✓•

(¾

H

' J'_,

. ·\F

>.)://' \

.t Jr

·:

.: . ,

' 6. [J

o\

R R

A Y

B �-.

..

1l

°'·i

J A M E,S '

1J10

o '· N '

S

O

.

0.

t i'� 0G

.,I

I'' \.).

c . t,.._�, ,

CANADA BEFORE THE C P R : 1871

5--;:-��-\

\

�- ,,. ·v-:· �� :· . ' �:: :5 Cy� H�Dso, . , ;/••

Q,

IT

IS

N E ,v

YEAR'S

DAY, 18 7 1 , the year in which Canada will

become a transcon tinental nation , and in nios t of British North America it is bitter cold. In O ttaiva , ivhere it is e ighteen below , the snow, gritty as sand, squeaks eerily beneath the felted fee t of m orning church­ goers . A cutting wind, b lowing off Lake Ontario, is heaping great drifts agains t th e square logs of the Upper Canadian barns , -s rnothering the snake fences and frus trating the G rand Trunk's Montreal-Toron to passenger schedule . On the St. Lawrence, in front of Quebec City, that annual phenonienon , the ice bridge , is taking fonn . In th e harbor of Saint John , the rime hangs thickly upon the rigging, turning schooners and barkentines into ghost ships . Only at the colonial extrem ities is New Year's Day a green one . In the English gardens of Victoria, B ritish Colun1 bia, the occasional yellow wallfiower still bloo1ns shyly, and in the verdant colony of Prince Edivard Island the fields are free of frost. The editorial com1n ents are as salubrious as the climate . The potato fanners of Souris and Sun1 merside read their Saturday Islander ivith approval: "In our cosy little Island ive have scarcely experienced anything but the blessings of Providence ," it says . "It is probable that never at any previous period of our existence were ·w e as rich a conimunity as we are at the moment." There is cause for rejoicing: the Island colony is eagerly awaiting new /Jroposals from Canada calculated to entice it into Confederation; the rumors say that these will be far niore liberal 3

4

TH E

I i\1 P o s s I B L E R A I L \V A y

than the ones that have been rejec ted. And 1.uhy not? After all, B ritish Colu1n bia has been pron1 ised a railway! Three thousand miles to the west, the stea1n presses of the British

Colonist are /J u nzping o u t a N e1v Year's salutation for the morro1v. For British Colun1 bia , the editor writes , the o u tlook has never been brighter: "Clad in bridal attire , she is about to unite her destinies 1.vith a country 1.u hich is /Jrepared to do 1n uch for h er." The paper carries a reprint fron1 a Tory journal back eas t , praising the government for the n u/J tial presen t it is about to besto1.v. Th e 1.uorld is in its c ustonzary turmoil-the G ermans at the gates of Paris , the ins urrectionists bedeviling Cuba - b ut in Canada there is nothing b u t good h u m or. Even G eorge Bro1.v n , the caustic editor of the Globe, is in a 1n ellow nz ood. One can aln1 ost s u rm ise a half-smile lighting up th ose long Scottish features as he scribbles an u n us ually benign editorial in h is Toronto office. "Peace and p le nty prevail," he ·w rites, "and there is noth ing for us but hope and enco urage 1nent as 1.u e 1.velcome the advent of another year." It is the Lord's Day and all across settled Canada the c u rtains are dra1.u n and the ch urch bells are sounding. Only an eccentric 1.uould resist their s unun ons. Because of the Sabbath , all the elegan t and son1 e tin1es lusty Ne1.u Year's rit uals of the Canadian upper classes have been postponed for a day. The b rass and rose1.vood, the sterling and cut glass , have all been /Jolished to a h igh gloss by an army of servants , nzak ing ready for iv.I onday's "calling." Then 1.uill the gen­ tle nzen of th e to1uns, frock-coated and convivial, trudge u nsteadily fronz thresh old to threshold , to be greeted by 1.vell-bustled 1natrons 1.u ith p uck ered lips and full decanters. The tenzperance 1n ove n1 ent is cryin z o u t against s u ch debauchery. In i11ontrcal, it is reported, some of the ladies have been /Jers uaded to serve coffee . That c ity , a corre­ sponden t n otes , has already given the 1Ve1v Year "a sober and orderly 1.uelco1n e." Far off beyond the sonz ber desert of the Canadian Shield, at Fort Garry in the ne1u /J rov incc of il1anitoba, the u·elcon1 e is n o t so orderly. Fiddles screech , pipes sk irl , and the settlers caper lik e souls possessed to an endless s uccession of Red R iver reels , u•hile n earby tables groan 1.v ith snz ok ing joints of venison and b uffalo. The great Scottish feas t

From Sea to Sea

of H ogmanay -}lc1v

5

rcar's E ve - is far nz orc hn/;ortant than Christn1as.

For one S cotsnz a n , there is a s/Jccial reason to celebrate . Donald A . Snz itlz , la te of Labrador, lzas just ·w on a federal scat in his adopted /Jrovi nee' s first cl cction. It is a ,r..,· ignifican t ·victory. The events set in 11z otion b y tlzc decisions of 1 871 1vill change tlzc c urrent of Snzith's

life and enshrine lz is likeness in the h istory books of a later cent ury, lin k ing lz inz forever 1v ith a s ynz bolic raihuay spike in a dis tant moun­ tain pass. Tha t /Jass is one thousand 1JZilcs to the west of the Red R iver, and for all that thousand m i les scarcely a light flickers or a soul moves. A n,esom e in its vas tness and its isolation , the n c1uly acquired North I¥ est-th e lzcart of the n eru Canada -slcc/Js beneath its blanke t of snow . vVallcd off fronz the Pacific b y the vertebrae of the Cordilleras and fronz the settled East by a granite Pre-Ca111 brian ·wasteland, the great central plain is lik e an u nconqu ered island. Th e }lorth HIest! The nanze is beginning to take on overtones of ronzan ce. In tlze 1uinter, 1uhcn the blizzard strikes and the heavens are blotted out , it can be a white hell; in the s ununer, by all accounts , it is an enchan ted reahn . One can travel for days , they say , along the ruts of the Carlton Trail be t1ueen Fort G arry and Fort Edmonton without encou ntering h u ,nankind- only ridge after ridge of untram­ nzeled park land rolling on toward the high arch of the sky. Out there , they say; the eye can feast upon acres and acres of tiger lilies and bluebells, stretching to the horizon "as if a vast Oriental car/Jet had been th rown across the plains." The /J rairie chickens , they say , are so n u nzerous that they nzask the sun, 1vhilc the passenger pigeons roost so thickly on the oaks tlzat the very branches snap beneath their 1ueight . And th ere are exquisite lakes , s/Jcck lcd 1uith geese and swans , broad meadows 1uhere the 1uhoo/Jing cranes stalk about in pairs , and everywhere t h e ulthnatc spectacle of t h e b uffalo , n1oving i n dark rivers through a ta1uny ocean of 1ua ist-h igh grass . Only a /Jrivilcged few have gazed u/Jon these nzarvcls; the events of 1871 ·w ill ensure that they will soon be just a nz cn1ory . H 01.u 1nany 1vhite nz cn in habit this cnzjJty rcaln1? Pcrha/Js t1ucnty­ five h undred. Nobody knows for certain beca use th ere has never been an accurate cens us . The North West is a scattered archipelago of

6

T H B I M P OSS I B L E R A I L W A Y

human islets , each isolated from the others b y vast distances and contrasting life styles -Scottish farmers , m etis buffalo h un ters , Yankee ·w hiskey traders , French missionaries , British and Canadian fur merchants . In the lonely prairie between these human enclaves the nomadic and ·w arlik e Indian bands roam freely . For all of the decade , this ·w ild, misunderstood domain will be the subject of endless speculation, curiosity, political maneuver and debate . There are fe1u Canadians yet who care greatly about i t; m ost provincial politicians , indeed, are "either indifferen t or hostile to i ts acquisition." Yet b y the fact of its acquisition , the young Dominion has set itself upon a new course . The Conservative Prime L11inister, Sir John A . Macdonald, has just prom ised British Columbia a great railway across the North West to Pacific tidewater. Once that decision is confirmed, as it m ust be in this pivotal year of 1871 , nothing can ever again be the same .

1

1 · An "act of insane recklessness" ITS PO LITICA L OP PO N E N TS PRETE N DED TO

believe that the l\1acdonald Govern1nent had gone n1ad. "Insane" was the ,vord the Liberal leader, Alexander l\1ackenzie, used, tin1e and again for n1ost of the decade of the seventies, to describe the pledge to build a rai hvay to the Pacific. It ,vas, he said in the House that spring of 1871, an "act of insane recklessness," and there ,vere a good n1any Canadians, including son1e of John A. l\1acdonald's own supporters, ,vho thought he ,vas right. Here ,vas a country of only three and a half n1illion people, not yet four years old , pledged to construct the greatest of all raihvays. It ,vould be longer than any line yet built-aln1ost one thousand n1iles longer than the first An1erican road to the Pacific, ,vhich the United States, ,vith a population of almost forty 1nillion, had only just 1nanaged to co1nplete. The An1ericans had more n1oney, shorter m ileage, and far fewer obstacles than the Canadians. For one thing, they kne,v ,vhere they ,vere going: there ,vere established and sophisticated cities on their Pacific coastline. But neither John A. Macdonald nor his surveyors had any idea ,vhere they ,vere headed. The only settle1nent of account on the Canadian Pacific Coast ,vas on an island; the indentations in the mainland were uncharted, the valleys ,vere unexplored, the passes ,vere unsurveyed. For another thing, the United States ,vas not faced ,vith any barrier

7

8

TH E IM POSSI B LE RAI LWAY

as implacable as that of the Pre-Cambrian Shield, that great desert of bill ion-year-old rock, vvhose southern tongue i ntruded bet,veen the settled valley of the St. La ,vrence and the f armlancls of the Reel River basin. If the raihvay follo,vecl an all-Canadian route, its builders ,voulcl have to blast their ,vay across seven hundred miles of this granite vvastelancl, pocked by gun-n1etal lakes and overlaid ,vith a patchy coverlet of stunted trees. There ,vere ridges there that ,vould consume three tons of dynamite a clay for months on end; and, vvhere the ridges ended, there ,vas another three hundred miles of muskeg bogs, vvhich could ( and vvoulcl ) s,vallo,v a locomotive at a single gulp. This ,vas land incapable of cultivation. There ,vere many ,vho held vvith Alex­ ander Mackenzie that to build a raihvay across it ,vas "one of the most foolish things that could be imagined." After the Shield ,vas breached, the road ,vas to lead across the North vVest-a tenantless en1pire of vvaving grass ( ,vhich many thought to be unproductive desert ) bordered by the thinly forested valley of the North Saskatche,van River. Every sliver of timber ­ railroacl ties, bridge supports, construction n1aterials -,voulcl have to be hauled, league after league, across this desolate land ,vhere, it see1ned, the wind never ceased. At the far li1nits of the plains the ,vay ,vas blocked by a notched ,vall of naked rock, eight thousand feet high. Beyond that ,vall lay a second ,vall and beyond that \\'a l l a third. Here ,vere gloon1y trenches to be bridged , cataracts to be tlnvarted, and alpine buttresses to be clyna1nitecl. At the end of that sea of plu1ned 1nountains lay the unkno,vn coastline, tattered l ike a coat beyond repair. George Etienne Cartier, acting· for his ail ing leader , had promised British Columbia that the raihvay would reach that coastline, ready to operate, \\'ithin ten years. It ,vas, cried Ecl,vard Blake, the intellectual giant of the opposing Libera l ( or Ref onn ) Party, "a preposterous proposition." S01ne of l\1acdonald's parliainentary follo,vers tended to agree ,vith Blake. The Prin1e l\!Iinister ,vas absent i n \Vash ington during the de­ bate over the raihvay in Apri l , but Alexander Morris, his lVIinister of Internal Revenue, reported to h i n1 that it \\'as the hardest fight since Confederation four years before. Son1e t,venty Governn1ent supporters, enough to cau se the adn1inistration's defeat, ,vere ""·eak kneed and alannecl." l\1orris r a l l ied the1n ,vith a tough speech , telling the caucus it ,vas no ti1ne to stab an absent leader in the back; but the decision to build the great rail\\·ay was a near thing. The Go\'ern1nent h ad pro1nised the ra ihvay to British Columbia in order to lure that colony into the ne,v Confederation of Ontario, Quebec, Ne,v Bn1ns,vick, Nova Scotia, and l\!Ianitoba. Macclonalcl's

A n "Act of Insane Recklessness"

9

Yision of Canada did not stop at the G reat Lakes ; his clrean1 ,vas of a transcontinenta l B ritish n a tion in North 1\1nerica - a ,vorkable a l ter­ natiYc to the U n i ted State s . T'o achieve this dreain , the raihvay ,vas a necess i ty , or so the Pri1ne l\1i n ister i nsisted : i t wou kl stitch the scattered prov i nces and e1n pty territories of the \Vest together, as the govern­ n1ent-owned I n terco lonial ,vas i n tended to do in the East; it ·w ou ld be the 1neans of colonizing the pra iries; it would foresta l l A1nerica n ex­ pansion ; i t ,voti ld be the spine of cn1pire , an Iinperial h iglnvay l i nking the British I sles ,vi th the Orient and avoiding the appal ling voyage around the I-lorn . There were , a hnost certai n ly, 1nore prag1na tic reasons. l\1acdonald needed the d iversion of the rai l way to n1a i n tain h i1nself i n office . The project was clearly a gan1ble, but the stakes ,vere high . I f he succeeded i n fu lfilling his pledge , the Con serYative Party could probably look fonvard to a generation of power. No other fa it acco1npli , even that of Confederation , could co1npete ,vith such a triun1ph . I f the skeptics had cons iderable logic on their side, l\1acdona ld had e1notion . Could a coun try of three and a half 1ni ll ion people afford an expenditu re of one h undred 1ni l l ion dol lars at a tin1e ,vhen a laborer's \\'age ,vas a dol l ar a day? Perhaps not; but l\1acdonald 1neant to per­ suade the country th at i t could not do ,vi thout a raihvay if i t ,vanted to be a nation in the true sense of the ,vord . A lso , the Governn1ent insisted , the taihvay ,vou lcl not bri ng any rise in taxes : it could be paid for ,vi th land f ro1n the North vVest. ,1/hy the fixed tern1 of ten years? As Macdona ld's opponent Mac­ kenzie sai d , most of the raihvay ,voul d run through an uninh abitable ,vi lderness : "It ,vou ldn't be necessary to construct the gTeater portion of the l i ne for another th irty years . " That was also perfectly true; but l\1acdon a ld's a tti tude \\'as tha t there n1i ght be no n ation i n thirty years ,vithout a ra i hvay . The cornerstone of his transconti nental policy ,vas the settle1nent of the North vVest , and he and h is l\1inisters pressed the vie\\' that ,vithout a raihvay the land wou ld ren1ain empty until the An1ericans 1novecl i n to fi I I the vacuu1n . Besides , they had the assurance of the chief British Cohnnbia delegate , Joseph Trutch , that the ten­ year cl ause ,vas not a "cast iron con tract" but n1ore a figure of speech ; the provi nce ,voti lcl not hold the Canadian g·overn1nent to the letter of the \\'Ord i n g . I t ,vas the apparent insistence on a n al l-Canadian line that brought the h arshest cri ticis1n . Fe,Y Canadians rea l ly believed th at any rai lway bu i l der ,votdd be foolhardy enough to hurdle the ,vilclerness of rock bet,veen Lake Nipissing a n d the R ed R iver. No wh ite 1na n had ever crossed a I I of it on foot a nd fe,v rel i abl e 1n a 1 )s of the re ::,0·ion existed .

10

T H E I M P o s s I B LE R A I L \V A Y

Macdonald's opponents ,vere all for diverting the line south of L ake Superior, through United States territory, and then leading north,vest into Manitoba fron1 Duluth. If North America ,vere one nation, that vvould be the sensible ,vay to go. But lVIacdonald did not believe that Canada could call herself a nation if she did not have geographical control of her o,vn rail line. vVhat if Canada ,vere at ,var? Could troops of a belligerent nation be moved over foreign soil? The half-breed uprising of 1 869 ,vas still green in the Prime Nlinister's memory.Unable to use the colonists' route through St. Paul, the troops sent to the Red River had taken ninety-six days to negotiate the forty-seven portages across the Canadian Shield. A raihvay could rush several regiments to the North vVest in less than a ,veek . lVIacdonald did not rule out another rebellion or even a border dispute ,vith the 1\n1ericans. The Prin1e Minister, as he ,vas to say so vehemently on more than one occasion, ,vas born a British subject and n1eant to die one. His nationalism had t,vo sides. On the positive side he ,vas pro- Canadian, ,vhich in those days ,vas 1nuch the same as being pro-British. On the negative side he ,vas almost paranoiac in his anti-Americanism. The Americans, to lVIacdonald, ,vere "Yankees," and he put into that term all the disdain that ,vas then implied by its use: the Yankees ,ver� upstarts, 1noney-grasping, uncouth, anti-British; and they ,vanted to grab Canada for then1selves, thro,v off the 1nonarchy, and turn solid Canadians into shrill, greedy tinsel copies of themselves . l\1acdonald's opponents might feel that the price of holding the ne,vly acquired North vVest ,vas too high to pay, but he hin1self ,vas ,vell aware that son1e Americans, especially those in lVIinnesota, s a,v it as a ripe plun1 ready to fall into their hands.He believed, in fact, that the United States governn1ent "are resolved to do all they can, short of ,var, to get possession of the ,vestern territory." That being so, he ,vrote in January, 1870, '\ve n1ust take in1mediate and vigorous steps to counteract them . One of the first things to be done is to sho,v un­ mistakeably our resolve to build the Pacific Raihvay ." There \Vas reason for l\1lacdonald's suspicions. In 1867, the very year of Confederation, \Villia1n H. Se,varcl, the United States Secretary of State, flushed \Vith his purchase of Alaska, had told a Boston audi­ ence that the ,vhole continent "shall be, sooner or later, ,vithin the 1nagic circle of the A1nerican union." I lis successor, Han1ilton Fish, ,vas an expansion ist, as ,vas President Grant hi1nself; though they vvere not prepared to fight for a piece of Canada, they \\'ere delighted to countenance, if not to encourage, a po,verful group of � Iinnerota busi­ ness1nen and politicians ,vho sa,v their burgeoning territory extending north of the 49th parallel.

An "Act of Insane Reck lessness"

1 1

As :i\ Iacdonald \\'e l l kne\\', there were po,verfu l i n fluences ,vorking i n the U n i ted Sta tes to frustra te the bui lding of any a l l-Canadian rail­ road . I n 1 869, a U n ited States Sen ate co1111ni ttee report declared that "the open ing· by us fi rst of a N orthern Pac i fic rai lroad seals the desti ny of the British possessions \\'es t of the n i nety-ftrst 1nerid ia n . 'T'hey ,vi l l beco111e so A1nerica n ized i n i nterests and fee lings that they "'i ll be i n effect seycred fro1n the nc\\· Do1ni n ion , a nd the question of thei r an­ nexation \\· i l l be but a question of ti111e . " A s i n1 i la r k i nd of peaceful penetra tion had led eye n tua l ly to the a n nexation of Orego n . It ,vas the ra i h\·a v1ncn \\·ho co\·etecl the N orth vVest. " I have an �nvfu l S\\· aller for la ncl ," the N' orthern Pac ific's Genera 1 G eorge vVash­ i ngton Cass told the Gra nd l'runk's Echvard \Vatki n . I n 1 869 the GoYernor of \ T ennan t , J ohn G regory S1n i th , who a lso happened to be president of the N orthern Pacifi c , detennined to build that l i ne so close to the Canadian border that it \\'ou ld foresta l l any plans for an a ll-Canadi a n rai hvay . By the fo llo,\·ing year , Jay Cooke , the banker ,vho ,vas the real po\\·er behind the Korthern Pacific , ,vas so sure of capturi n g the same terri tory as a 1non opoly for his rai lroad that he ,vas using the idea to pedd le the co1npany's bonds . A Northern Pacific pan1ph let decried the ,vhole idea of a rai h\·ay north of Lake Superior : the A1nerican s , it said, ,vou lcl send any branches needed i nto British territory to serve their neighbors . On one side of the n1ountai n s , the rai lway ,vou ld siphon off the products of the rich farn1lands; o n the other side, i t ,voul cl drai n the British Colun1bia 1ni n ing settle1nents . "Drain" ,vas the operative verb; it \\'as the one the Senate con1 n1 i ttee used . As for the :i\1i n nesotans, they sa,v thei r state de\'ou ring the en tire Reel RiYer \Talley . Their desti ny lay n orth of the 49th par al le] , so the St. Paul Pioneer Press editorialized. That \\·as "the irres istible doctrine of natu re." But i t \Yas :i\1acclonalcl 's i ntention to defy nature and fashion a n atio n i n the process . H is tool , to thi s encl , ,vould be the Canadian Pacific. It ,voti ld be a rare exa1nple of a nation created through the construction of a railway . I n the Ca nada o f 1 87 1 , "national isn1" was a strange, ne,v ,vord . Patriotis1n \\'US derivatiYe , racial cleavag·e ,vas deep, cultu re was re­ gional, prov i ncial an i1nos ities savage, a nd the idea of u ni ty ephe1nera l . Thousands of Ca nadians had already been lured south by the availabil­ ity of l a nd a nd the greater di vers ity of enterpri se, ,vhich contrasted ,vith the lack of opportunity at ho1n e . The country looked like a giant on the 1nap, second on ly in size to Chi na . But for 1nost practical pur­ poses, it stopped at the G reat Lakes . 1

12

TH E I ,\I P OSS I B L E R A I L \V A Y

The six scattered provinces ( British Columbia had just acceded ) had yet to unite in a great national endeavor or to glin1pse anything remotely resen1bling a Canadian drean1; but both ,vere taking shape. The endeavor ,vould be the building of the Pacific raihvay; the dream vvould be the filling up of the empty spaces and the da,vn of a ne,v nation.

2 · The dreamers Fo R A L .\I O S T F O RT Y Y E A R S B E F O R E lVIA c ­ donald n1ade his barg-ain ,vith British Colun1bia, there had been talk about a raihvay to the Pac ific. l\1Iost of it ,vas nothin g 1nore than rhetoric. For 111ost colonial Canadians at n1id-century , the prospect of a line of steel stretching off t\vo thousand miles into the Pacific mists ,vas totally unreal. Thon1as Dalton , editor of the Toronto Patriot, has been credited with the first ,·ision. He talked vaguely, in 18.34 , of an all-steam route by riyer, rail, and canal f ron1 Toronto to the Pacific and thence to the Orient . His friends disn1issed hin1 as a n1ere enthusiast, bv ,vhich thev probably n1eant he ,vas slightly den1ented. In 185 1 , \\·hen Allan l\1acdonell , a Toronto pron1oter , applied for a charter to build a raih,·ay to the Pacific , his schen1e ,vas turned d0\\'11 "as an hallucination to an1use for a n1on1ent and then to van ish." At that ti1ne Can ada had built onlv about t\vo hundred miles of raihvav. The Un ited States, by con1parison , had built ten thousand n1iles. Then , t,,·o years later, the clin1 ate sudden ly changed and the country entered into an orgy of railroad building. I n this euphoric period ,vas laun ched the partnership bet,veen raihvays, pron1oters, politicians, and governn1ent that becan1e the classic Canadian pattern for so n1any public ,vorks. Profits and politics tended to becon1e inseparable, especially an1ong Consen·atives. i\Iost ConservatiYe politicians ,vere business or pro­ fessional n1en ,vho \\'elcon1ed the idea of a partnership bet,veen big business and govern111ent to build the country . By 187 1 , ,vhen �1ac­ donald launched his Pacific raihvay schen1e, there ,vere forty lVIe1nbers of the House and t\\·elve Senators -pron1oters, directors, contractors , or co111pany presidents-,vith vested interests in railroads. The great n1ajority ,vere Consen·atives. The Liberals' opposition to lVIacdon ald's raihvay policy sten1med i n part fron1 the excesses of the raihvay boon1 of the fifties. They had reason to be outraged . Between 1854 and 1857 an estin1ated hundred '--'

�

J

J

�

Th e D ream ers

13

1n i l lion dol lars in foreign ca pita l ,vas pu1n ped i nto Canada for the purpose of bui lding rai l ways. l\ I uch of i t fou nd i ts way i n to the pockets of pr01noters and con tractors . 'rhe usual sche1nc ,vas to fonn a con1pany , keep control of i t , floa t as nn1ch stock as possible, and then a,vard l u sh con struction contracts to n1en on the i nside . 'rho1nas Keef er , a respected engin eer , was later to \\Ti te of Cabinet l\1 i n isters accepting fees fro1n pro1noters, contractors , and ra ilway o ffici als and n1aki n g such n1en "their 1nost i nti1na t e con1 pan ions, their hosts a n d guests , their ,, patrons a n d proteges . One A1nerican contractor, he said, v irtually ran the Upper Canadian ( Canada \Vest ) go\·ern1nent in the fifti es. By 1 858 , it had , ho,vever, beco1ne fashi onable to ta lk of a Pacific rai h\· ay . Both the B ritish and th e Canadian governn1en ts began to take an actiYe i n terest i n exa1n in i ng the North \t\T est ,vi th an eye to possible rai l way rou tes, and a series of expeditions \\·as lau nched at the end of the 1 85o's to explore a l l the coun try bet,veen Lake Superior and the Rock ies - land still under the con tro l of the fludson's Bay Con1pany. Then, in 1862, Sandford Fle1n i n g, a raihvay engineer of stature, en tered the picture and placed before th e governme n t the first carefully worked-out plan for bui ldi n g a rai lroad to the Pacific . When Flemi n g ,vrote his "Observations and Practical Suggestions o n the Subj ect of a Raihvay throu gh British North A1nerica ,i' he ,vas only thirty-five and n1ost of his �nveso1ne acco1n p l ishn1ents ( including the conception of standard time ) lay ahead of hin1 . Typically, his outline for a "highYvay to the Pac ific" ,vas carefu l ly th ough t out, measured, and detai led. It ,vas to be built in gradua l stages, i t ,vould cost about one h undred n1i ll ion dollars, and i t ,vould take at least t,venty-five years to build. It ,vas the cautious and n1eticulous plan of a cautious and n1et icu­ l ous Scot, for Fleming, in spi te of h i s i n v entive record ( he h ad designed the first Can ad ian postage stan1p in 1 85 1 and founded the Canadian Institute ) , ,vas noth i n g i f not del i berate . I-l e ,vorked out every deta i l do,vn to the last horse , crosstie and telegraph pole, and, of course , to the last dollar. H is gradualness, he conceded , ,voulcl not "satisfy the preci p itate or i n1patien t ," but he i ncluded i n his 1nen1orandun1 a re­ minder of Aesop's hare and tortoi se , poi n ti n g out th at the l ine of the rai h,·ay extended over forty-fi ve degrees of lon gitude, which was "equal to one-ei ghth of a c ircle of latitude pass i ng enti rely around the globe . " After a l l , ,vrote Flen1ing, "h alf a continent has to b e redeen1ed a n d parted at least fron1 a ,vild state of n ature." I t ,vas an i n1 press ive n1en1orandun1 and i t undoubtedly did a grea t deal to advance Fle1ning's considerable a1n bitions . E i ght years later, ,vhen Can ada's pledge to Bri tish Cohnnbia passed the Co1n1non s , the Prime Min ister appointed F len1 i n g E n gi neer-in-Chief of the Canadian

14

TH E

I :M P o s s I B L E

R A I L \V A Y

Pacific Rai hvay in addition to his previous appointment to the same capacity ,vith the governn1ent-o,vned lntercolonial then bein g built to link the l\1aritin1e Provinces ,vith central Can ada. Bein g a politician , though a Scot, Nlacdonald ·w as both "precipitate and impatient" by Flerr1ing's standards. George Etienne Cartier, on lVl acdonald's behalf, had pron1ised British Colun1bi a that the rai hvay ,vould be con1n1enced withi n t\vo years and finished in ten. Certainly ten years had a more attractive ring than t\venty-five; and the Pri n1e lVlinister ,voulcl reassure himself that he had Joseph Trutch's pro1nise that the Paci fic province ·would not hold hin1 too finnly to that reckless schedule.

3 · "Canada is dead" I N THE PIONEER CANADA OF 1 8 7 1 , THE Canadian Shield ,vas uninhabitable, the North vVest virtually unreach­ able. The real frontier ,vas the An1erican frontier, the real \,Vest the A1nerican vVest. As the decade opened , a quarter of all Canadians in North A n1erica ,vere living south of the border. Sorne ,vent for adventure. These included the father of Buffalo Bill Cody, ,vho had once kept a tavern in Toronto To,vnship , and , significantly , t,vo l\1innesota stean1boatmen fron1 Rock,vood , Ontario, and Sorel, Quebec - J mnes J. Hill and Norn1an vV. Kittson - ,vho ,vould , a fe\v years later , help launch the Canadian Paci fic R aihvay. So1ne ,vent for greater opportun ity. These ,votild soon incl ude the frus­ trated con1poser of the national anthe1n, 0 Canada , Calixte Lavallee. But n1ost ,vent for land. The good land ran out in Upper Canada in the 185o's, and over the next generation the country began to feel a sense of lin1itation as f arn1ers' sons trekked off to Io,va and Nlinnesota never to return. The nation's lifeblood ,vas being drained a,vay. A n1oving· frontier is essenti al to the vitality of a burgeoni n g nation. It tends to dra,v to it the boldest and n1ost independent spi rits in the country; and they in turn , stinu1lated and ten1pered by its challen ge, becon1e a reg·enerating· force. Canada , by its geography , ,vas being denied this kind of transfusion. 'The ca l l of the land ,vas far stronger than the call of country. "The young Canadian leaving his nati ve country to seek his fortune in the Un ited States feels no greater \\Tench than a youn g Englishn1an ,vould feel in leaving his country to seek his fortune in London ," the novelist f\nthony Trollope noted durin g a voyage to North An1erica. Nation a l­ is1n, in the seventies, ,vas a sickly plant. Indeed , the very utterance of the phrase "Canadian n ation" ,vas

"Ca nada Is Dead,,

15

denounced i n s01ne qtw rters . "Canada," said the G lobe, "excep t by a 111en· pla y on word s , is not �1 n a tion ." T'he whole idea of a n a t io n a l s piri t , o r "n ation a l scntin1en t ," to use the phrase of the day, w a s under suspi­ cion a s be i n g s l i gh t ly tre�1sonous . I f far-off fields looked greener to 1n a n y C a n adi a ns , i t ,va s because l ife at hon1e often sec111ed drab a nd unre\\·a rd i n g . 'T'ro l lope confessed that in passi n g fro111 the U n i ted S t a tes i n to C a n ada one n1 oved "from a r icher coun try i n to o ne th�1 t is poorer , fron1 a greater cou n try i n to one th�1 t is less . " A n I rislnn a n who had spe n t a brief period i n Canada before succu1n bing to the lure of the U n i tccl St�1 tes set do,vn , in 1870 , his feel i n gs a bout the land h e had left beh i nd : "T'here i s n o galva nizing a corpse ! Ca na cla is de�1d - cleacl church , dc�1d con11nerce, dead people . A poor, priest-ridden , politician-ridden , doctor-ridden , l a,vyer-ridden lan d . No energy , n o e n terprise , no s n a p ." I t \\'as a harsh i n dictn1ent, but there ,vas s01ne truth in it. The coun try \\'as contro l led by the lando,vning classes - the n1ercha n ts , the professional people, a nd the f arn1 owners . I n the U n ited States , n1an­ hood suffrage ,vas u n i \'ers�1 l ; in Can ada , the propertyless had no vote . The n e \\· Do1n i n ion was n o t vet a cohesi ve n a tion but rather a bundle of isolate d v i l l age con11nu n i ti es con n ected by ten uous threads . Th ree-quarters of the popu l a tion lived i n con1parative isolation on fann s , ,vhere n1ost acti\'itv ., ceased a t dusk and ,vhere , a t certain t i 1nes of the yea r , the con dition of th e back roads 1nade extended travel n early i 1npossibl e . There ,vas scarcely a c i ty worthy of the n mne "1netropolis." 1'ifon trea l , \\'ith a population of one h u ndred thou sa n d , ,va s really t,vo cities -one French-spea k i n g , one E n glish . Toronto, ,vith half tha t pop­ ulatio n , \\'as sti l l l arge ly a n oversized vil lage don1inated by 1nen of n arro\\' vie\\·s - l\1ethodists , Tories, and Ora n ge1nen ; i t reeked , as n1ost cities did , of fresh 1nanure, discarded garba ge , a n d the s tench of ten thousand outdoor toi lets . Otta,va ,vas beyond the pa le. For a newly elected l\1en1 ber of Pa rl ian1 en t , it was , in the ,vords of George Rose , a British hu1norist , "si n1 ple ban ish n1en t ." Rose , who passed briefly through the ne,v Don1in ion a fter touring the U n ited States , though t of C anada as "at best the Siberia of Great B ri t�1 i n ." For the i ndustri a l ,vorker , life was harsh a nd colorless : he toi led for lon ger hours and for lower pay than h i s counterp�1rt across the border. ( In Quebec the ann ual ,va ge i n i ndustry ,vas $ 1 85 . ) B u t there ,vas not n1uch in dustry; in a l l of Ca nada i t etnployed fe,ver tha n t,vo hundred thousand people . Th u s there was l ittle o pportu n ity for those ,vho ,va n ted to esca pe the drudgery of the f anns. In th ose cl ays of da,vn-to-dusk labor, the re ,vere three 1n ajor spare­ time activ i ties : for the l a n dholde rs , there ,vas politics; for the ,von1en ,

16

T H E l .\ I P O S S I B L E R A I L W A Y

there ,vas rel i gi o n ; for the l a borers on farms and i n f actories , there ,vas strong dri nk. It is sma l l \\'Onder , then , that u nder these cond itions 1na n y a Canadian looked ,v ith longing· eyes across the border , ,vhere the \\'Ork opportu n i ties ,vere 1n ore varied, "·here soc i a l conditi ons ,vere better, ,vh ere every 111 a n had the v ote , and ,vhere the \\·ay to the frontier fann l a ncl ,vas not barred by a thousand n1 i les of gra n i te and s,vam p . The country h a d a strangely i n tense love-hate re lationsh i p ,vi th the U n i ted States . Publ icly the 1\1nericans ,vere v i li fied ; secretly they ,vere adn1 ired . The very newspapers ,vhich attacked the h a ted Ya nkees pub­ l i shed syrupy 1-\n1erican ser i a l stories on th e i r fro n t pages i n s tead of solid C a n ad i an ne,vs . The very people ,vh o scoffed at the i n gen i ou s Yankee labor-s a v i n g gadgets , S l!ch a s the eggbeater, ,vere the o nes who bought then1 . Canadians sang Yankee songs, attended Yankee pl ays , n1i n stre l sh o,vs , a n d c i rcuses , read Yankee authors , and ,vere begi n n i n g to accept Yankee custon1s - the board i n ghouse r ather than the Br itish lodgi n gs , for exa1nple. And a hnost everybody ,va ntecl the return of free trade ,vith the Un ited State s . I t could open up a tren1enclous and attracti ve 1narket for C a n ad i an products . The Yankees ,vere thought of as hus tlers , and , though this propen­ s i ty ,vas pu blicly sn eered at, 1na n y a C a n ad i an felt h is O\\'n country's business leaders lack-eel son1eth i n g of the A1nericans' con1111erc i a l zeal . The attitude ,vas ,ve ll ex pressed by a British tra vel \\Titer ,vh o re ported that " i n C anada everyone skates ,vel l . The Yankee· rarely s natches tin1e fron1 h is business for such recreation . " If the Yankees ,vere e nvi ed , they ,vere a l s o feared . The Fen i an raids of 1866 a nd 1 870 by B r i tish-hat i n g Irish An1ericans ,vere sti l l fresh in e veryone's n1i ncl ; the s u s pic ion l i ng·ered th at th e f\1neri cans had secretly encou raged then1 . C a nad i a n s \\'ere s t i l l n1ov i n g to the U n i ted States i n di sturbing nun1bers , but i n s p i te o f th is - or perhaps because o f i t ­ a n y ne,vspaper could be sure o f a hear i n g i f i t l aun ched a v io le n t anti1\1nerican attack and any pol i tic ian could secure a fol lo,v i n g by d amn­ ing the Ya nkees . l\ Ia ki n�; fun of the 1\1nericans ,vas aln1ost a n at i o n al pasti n1e a nd bad so1ne of the o,·ertones of l atter-day an ti-Se1n i tisn1 . The ca rtoonist's stereotype , Brother ( or Cous i n ) Jonath a n , l ate r superseded by Uncle Sa1n , ,v as pi ctured in u n fl a tter i n g tern1s i n the pages of such

sh ort-li ,·ed Punch-sty le lnnn or n1 a p;az ines as Diogenes and G rinch uckle.

l ie ,vas a sharp storekee per \\' i th hard , c o l d eye s , ,vh ittl i n g on a p iece of ,vood . I-le ,vas a lecherous rou e , ' or an u n sha,·en su itor, rej ected by an i n n oce n t 1' I i ss Can ada . He ,v as a red-nosed toper, k i c ked in the pants by a v i gorous Young C an ada , the precursor of Jack C a nuck . Y a n kee speech ,vas l a n1 poonecl i n p a i n ful ly l abori ous d i alect stories .

"Ca nada Is Dead,,

1 7

A1nericanis1ns such as "to veloc ipede" or "speci111en tary" can1e u nder a ttack fr01n gTa1111natica l peda nts , while such Yankee habits as ser v i ng ice ,vater ,vi th 1neals or the chc,ving of tobacco -habits a lso i ndu lged i n by l a rge n tnnbers of Canadi a ns - \\·ere sneered at i n pri nt. A l l these attacks on the Yankees underlined the u nden iable truth that they \\·ere different f r0111 the Brit ish . A side fro111 Quebec , Can ada \\'as sti l l ,·ery nn1ch a Brit ish natio n , ,vi th British habits , atti tudes , speech , 1nan neris1ns, a nd loyalties. Ahn ost a ll i n1111igra nts caine fron1 the B ritish Is les, conti n ued to thi nk of the 1notherla nd as ho1ne , and often returned to it. 1'he habit of g i v i n g three cheers for Queen and Country ( the country bei ng G reat Britai n ) , and for anyone else ,vho ,vas roya l , at d i n ners, 111il itary parades, and pol itical gath er i n gs , ,vas u n iYersa l - a1nong French-speaking Quebeckers as \\'ell as British-bor n Canadi ans. Royal and Yicerega l vi sits produced paroxys1ns of exci te1nent. The Don1inion ,vas, i ndeed , n1ore British tha n Canadia n . Class ,vas in1portant; church and f�uni ly traditi ons were often p laced above 111oney in the social sca le, and the "best" fan1 i lies flaunted coats of arn1 s . Titles \\'ere coveted by pol i tician and n1ercha nt prince alike. That ,vas the great thi n g about Canada in the i r eyes : its British backgrou n d pro,·iclecl the cli1nate for a n1 erchant nobility that served a s a b u hvark aga i n st the creepi n g republ icanisn1 fro1n south of the border, ,vhich the ne\\·spa pers decried so vehe1nently. The ne,vspapers , \\·hich 1ni xed adverti s i n g ,vith ne,vs and opi nion ,vi th fact in th e n1ost a1nbi guous fashion, led the attack o n the A1neri­ cans . They pu b l islied d ire ,var n i n gs to those ,vho ,vould en1 i gr ate south of the border. A n1erican con11nerce ,vas decl i n i n g , they decl ared; prices i n the States \\·ere excessively h i gh ; the rates of taxation ,vere crushing. l\1ost of all they h arped on the clan gers of "republicanis111"; aga i n a nd again they sought to den1onstrate that it inevitably led to critne and corru ption . I t is doubtful if these attacks preven ted n1any you n g 1nen fron1 quitti n g the na 1To,v back roads of Canada for the broader hi glnvays to the south . The r aihvays ,vere r u n n i n g ,vest and prosperity fol lo,vecl then1 . In those halcyon clays the bu i lding of a rai hvay ,vas auton1atica lly bel ieved to spel l good ti1nes : anyone ,vho turned h i s eyes south and ,vest cou ld see th at. But raihvays 111ea n t son1eth i n g n1ore . Out beyond that spra,vl of bi l l ion-year-old rock lay a n i n11nense frontier , of ,vh ich C anadians ,vere dimly beco1nin g a ,vare . It ,vas no,v their l a nd , ,vrestecl i n 1869 fron1 the great fur-tradi n g 1nonopoly of the Hudson's B ay Co1npany a fter t,vo centuries of isolation ; bu t they did not have the 1neans of exploiti n g i t . A rai hvay cou ld give the1n access t o th at en1 pty e1npire . Canada i n

18

TH E

I l\l P o s s I B L E

R A I L \V A Y

1871 ,vas a country ·w hose population ,vas trapped i n the prison of the St. La,vrence lowlands and the Atlantic littoral. A raihvay ,vould be the means by ,Nhich the captive finally broke out of i ts cage .

4 · The s truggle for the North West T H E No RT H vVE s T ,vA s , 1 N 1 87 1 , A N almost totally unkno,vn realm. Until the sixties , it h ad been generally considered ,vorthless to anyone but fur traders - a Canadian Gobi, bar­ ren, ice-locked, forbidding, and totally unfit for settlement . I n 1 855 the Montreal Transcrip t ,vrote that it ,vould not even produce potatoes , let alone grain . Thi s attitude ,vas fostered and encouraged by the Hudson's Bay Con1pany . The last thing the great fur-tradin g e1npire ,vanted ,vas settlers pouring i n . E ven bridges ,vere taboo : they might encourage colonists . vVhen Father Lacombe , the saintly v oyageur priest , finally had one bui lt at the St. Albert oblate mission near Fort E dn1onton , the Governor himself tried to h ave it destroyed. At that time i t ,vas the only bridge i n al l of Rupert's Land. Ja mes Young, the G alt, Ontario, 1\1 . P . , recalled that "even the most eminent Canadians ,vere deceived by these representati on s . For ex­ ample, up to the tin1e of Confederation , Sir George C artier strongly opposed its acquisition by thi s country. The Prime lVI inister h imself, at that tin1e , had no i dea of the v alue of the North vVest fron1 an agricul­ tural, con1n1ercial or manufactu�•;ng point of v ie,v ." As late as 1 865 , Macdonald h ad declared that "the country i s of no present v alue to Canada ." H istori c al ly, l\1ontreal had dominated the North vVest through con­ trol of the fur trade; but in the mid-fifties Toronto n1oved to seize the i nitiative fron1 its n1etropolitan r ival . The leading Toronto expansion i st ,vas George Bro,vn , editor and publi sher of the G lobe, and head of the L iberal or Reforn1 Party unti l 1867. I n the sun1mer of 1 856, at the height of the raihvay-bui lcling s pree , B ro,vn launched a ca1n paign designed to educate his readers to the potential of the North vVest and to n1ake the I-I nelson's Bay Con1 pany the v illain of the piece . This agita­ tion led to the governn1ent-sponsored exploration of the North vVest in 1 857 and the a ppo intn1ent the s a1ne year by the British H ouse of Com­ n1ons of a Select Con11ni ttee to exan1ine the ,vhole question of the H ud­ son's B ay territories i n North An1erica. T,velve years later the company ceded all of i t to Canada . Macdona ld's i ndifference to the North vVest continued u nti l 1 869 , ,vhen the Reel R iver u prising inflan1ed the nation and launched the

Th e Struggle for th e J\Torth Y:V est

19

tragic odyssey of Louis Riel . No other figure i n Canada's fron tier past has so f asci nated h istor i a n s a nd \\Titcrs , not to 1ne ntion play,vrights a n d e,·en l i brettists . V i l la i n or hero, n1artyr or 1nadn1a n - perh a ps all four co111binecl - R iel d01n i nates the story of the open i n g of the prairies . \\Then h e set u p his independent state i n the heart of North 1\n1erica he ,n1 s j ust twenty-fi,·e years old , a s,varthy figure ,vi th a drooping n1ustache a n d a shock of curly hair. S01ne scores of l iterary sca l pels h ave s i nce a tte1n pted the dissection of that perplexi n g personality . All a gree that he was a solitary n1a n with fe,v confida nts except h is priest a n d his n1other. 1\ll a gree th at his Ro1n an Catholic rel igion - the n ar­ row u ltra1nontane version a bsorbed duri ng his college years i n Montreal and at his in other's knee ( she sa '" visions and heard the voice of God ) was a don1 inant force i n shapi n g h i 1n ; at the end of h is l i fe it ,vas i nter­ "·o,·e n i n to h is n1adness. T'he ev idence shO\\'S th at he ,vas a passionate n1 an ,vith a qu ick te1n per and a love of popul ar adul ation who l i ked to get his O\\'n ,vay and "·ho could be viole n t ,vhe n crossed ; i t also sho,vs th at he preferred nonviolence a n d on n1ore tha n one occasion practicecl it to h i s o,vn detri1nent. He cou ]cl be as con1 passionate as he was pious, but he ,vas han ged for a crin1e that son1e c a 1 1 ecl n1urcler and others tenned execu tion . He ,vas , by turn s , politica lly pragn1ati c - the m urder­ execution \\'as 111 ore pragn1 atic th a n ven gefu l - an d n1ystically ideali stic. A cha111 pion ,vho ,vas prepared to sacri fice hin1sel f for h is people , he ,vas a lso capable of tak i n g a bribe ( to quit the country ) i n 1871 and of askin g for a nother ( to abandon h is people and his cause ) in 1 885. It i s s1n a l 1 ,vonder that i t took a cent�11:y before a monument ,vas raised to h i n1 in the provi nce he helped to f ou ncl. Riel ,vas born a "' esterner a n d a 1netis , vvh ich means he ,vas a French-speaki n g Ron1 a n Catholic of 1nixed race . I n h is case h is veins ,vere tinctured ,vi th the n1erest cl ash of Cree blood . His father, ,vh o ,vas to have been a priest, becaine an eloquent tribune of his peopl e , and Lou i s , the eldest of e leven , inherited the n1antle of po l itical agitator . H i s schooling in l\1ontreal , h i s brief period in the la,v office o f a leadin g radical , a n d h i s o,vn pra irie heritage h ad sha ped th is cleve r , i n ten se , a n d a pparently lnnnorless youth into a raci a l patriot ready to chan1pion the h alf-breed cause at R ed R iver. The n1etis ,vere in a sta te of turn1oil ,vhe n R ie l arrived b ack at St. Bon iface in 1 868 beca use their status ,va s threatened by the yeasty con1bi n ation of even ts ari s i n g out of Confederation and the i1n1ninent sale of the H uclson's Bay lands to C an ada . The settle1nent of the ,vest, they k n e,v , mea n t an end to their o,vn u n ique society, the loss of the lands on ,vh ich n1any of the1n h ad squatted, usually without title, a n d the eventual dispersion of thei r race .

20

T H E l l\I POSS I B L E R A I L \VAY

l\1etis society ,vas built on the la,v of the buffalo hunt, a t,vice-yearly event , ,vhich ,vas run ·w ith a 1nilitary precision that produced general­ ship of a high order and led to the first stirrings of pol itical organization among an essentially non1adic people . The statistics of such hunts are remarkable. The greatest en1ployed four hundred mounted hunters, t\ve h·e hundred carts , and sixteen hundred souls, including \\'On1en and children. This itinerant city cra,vled across the plains , stretching for miles , on its ,vay to a border rendezvous ·w ith the metis of Dakota; there , near Pen1bina , it forn1ed itself into a gigantic circle , one thousand feet in dian1eter, ringed ,vith oxcarts placed hub to hub and a triple ro,v of tepees. Then, after four days of painstaking organization, ,vhich sa,v the election of captains, soldiers, and guides, it rolled off once n1ore - every cart in its exact place -to,vard the final encounter ,vith the great herd. The clin1actic scene ,vas a ,vesome : the ground shaking as if fro1n an earthquake , the sky blacked out by the in1n1ense clouds of dust, the phalanx of 1nounted hunters, ,vi th n1uskets raised , galloping to,vard the stan1peding beasts, the prairie running red ,vith the blood of the animals. Such a spectacle ,vould be unthinkable in a land of roads and rai hvays, fences and furro,vs. By 1869, ,vith the Hudson's Bay Co1npany about to yield up its lands to Canada , surveyers fron1 the East, ,vithout a by-your-leave, ,vere already setting up their transits on metis river lots. The n1etis ,vere not Canadians and did not think of then1seh·es as such. Neither did the ,vhite Selkirk settlers of the Red R i ver nor the Protestant ha lf-breed farn1ers. vVithin the com1nunity there ,vas a sn1all "Canadian Party" ,vhose orientation ,vas ,vhite , Protestant , Orange , and Upper Canadian. It hel ped precipitate the n1etis uprising ,vhich Riel did not begin but ,vhich he did organize an9- shape ,vith consun1mate ski 11. By the encl of 1869, ,vithout a single act of violence , Riel and the 1netis had raised their O\\'n fl a g over the Red R iver settlen1ent and ,vere preparing to treat on equa l cliplornatic tern1s ,vith Donald A. Sn1ith, the Hudson's Bay 1nan fro1n �'l ontrea l and Labrador, ,vh0111 the governn1ent had hasti ly dispatched. Since the great fur con1pany had formally relinquished its territory and Canada had yet to take it over ( the n1etis prevented the erst\\'hile Lieutenant-Governor fro1n crossing the border ) , R iel \\'as in an interesting barga ining position. Soon he had the entire con1111unity behind hin1 except for the incendiary n1en1bers of the Canadian Partv., ,vhon1 he had i1nprisonecl. Had n1atters rested there ' Louis R iel ,voulcl undoubtedly have brought the comn1unity peacefully into Confederation on n1etis tern1s and taken his place as a great

Th e Struggle for th e l\1 orth TV est

21

Canadian states111 a n , his nmne enshrined on countless hospitals, bal l parks , schools, a nd expressways . T'his was not to be . Son1e of the prisoners escaped and 111 ounted a coun tern10,·e111ent. T'he 111etis qu ickly put i t clown , but one of the Ca na­ dians , a sinewy Orang·e111an na111ed T'ho111as Scott , cou ld not be put clo"· n . \ \Then he tried to 111u rcler R ie l , he was su111111ar i ly court-1nartialecl and sentenced to be s hot. I n thi s sin gle act of violence ,vas l ai d the basis for a cen tury of bi tterness and con troversy. Of all the pivota l fi gu res i n Canadian history , Tho111as Scott i s one of the least engag·i ng. H is breed "·as not u nco111n1011 i n Ontario - a bi goted Protestant l r i sh111 a n , tota l ly u nyielding, a lways i n flatnmatory , who ,vas nourished by his o ,vn hatreds . Scott ,vou lcl have driven a less 111ercuri a l 111an th an Riel i nto a fury : he attacked his guards, urged his co111 pa n i ons to follo"· sui t , taunted the 111eti s , and v o"'ed to escape and k i l l thei r leader. R ie l 111ade his death a del iberate act of policy : C anada 1nust l earn to res pect the 1netis . One can pity Scott a s he is dragged before the fi ri n g squad , faced for the fi rst ti1ne ,vi th the rea l iza­ tion that the popish half-breeds actu a l l y 1nean ,vhat they say ( h i s shocked cry, "Th is i s cold-blooded n1urder ! ", ,vas to echo for decades throu gh the back roads of Ontari o ) ; but one can never l ike h i m . He n1akes h i s brief appearance on the stage of h istory and i s gon e , ,vrith­ i n g on the ground , n ot qui te dead fron1 the firing squ ad's volley , ,vait­ ing for the coup de grace . B ut h i s 1ne111ory ren1 ains and his tragedy , 111 ythologized out of recogni ti on ( a s Riel's ,vas to be ) , ,vi l l k i ndle a n unquenchable con flagration i n Ora n ge Ontario . The n1ass ive detnand for revenge forcecl the gover n n1ent t o mount, in 1870 , a largely unnecessary tni l i tary expedition across the portages of the Shield to relieve a fort ,vh ich R i e l ,vas preparing to hand over peacefully. The expedi tion d i d ha,·e one other purpos e : Macdonald, no,v thorough ly a li ve to the perils of further indifference , ,vas n ot unhap py about a sho,v of n1i li tary stren gth i n the v alley of the Red R iver, ,vh i ch the l\1 i n nesota expansion ists c le arly coveted. By .January , 1870, the Prin1e l\1i n i ster h ad detern1i ned that speedy construction of a rai l way across the ne,v territory to the Pacific ,vas a necessity . He ,vas certain that ,i\Tashi n gton ,vould try to use the R iel troubles to frustrate Canada's acqu i s i tion to the North vVest. R ie l's o,vn s tory a hn ost exactly paral lels that of the r a i hvay. Un­ ,vi ttingly, he h el ped to l au nch it; u 1nvitti ngly a ga i n , fifteen years l ater, he helped to save it; h e ,vas h a n ged ,vith i n a fe,v days of the driv i ng of the last spike. Forced i n to h iding and finally i nto exi le i n the U n i ted States , R iel ,vas t,vice elected to Parl i a n1ent fron1 the ridi n g of Proven-

22

THE

I �I P o s s I B L E

R A I L w AY

cher in the ne,v province of lVIanitoba, of ,vhich he ,vas the undisputed founder. He could not take his seat-the Ontario governn1ent had put a price of five thousand dollars on his head- but before he vanished over the border, he indulged in one last dramatic piece of stagecraft. The scene is Otta,va in 1874 - a sno,vy afternoon in January. T,vo muffled figures appear at a side door of the Parliament Buildings. One tells the clerk on duty that a ne,v l\!Iember has co1ne to sign the roll . The bored clerk hands the stranger a pen : he scratches his naine and slips a,vay. Idly , the clerk glances at it and utters a startled cry. There are the ,vorcls "Louis Riel" burning then1selves into the pa per. The clerk looks up, but the outla,v ·w aves sardonically and v anishes. He ,vill not return until 1885 to play his unkno,ving role at the most critical mon1ent of all in the history of the Canadian Pacific Raihvay.

5 · The land beyond the lakes BY 187 1 , \VITH THE EV ENT S IN lVlA N ITO B A still making headlines ,veek after ,veek , Canadians began to look upon their ne,v North vVest ,vith a mixture of ,vonder , guilt, and a pprehen­ sion. It rnust be ·w onderful to see it! Oh , if only one C O U L D see i t , b u t i t ·w as so rerrzote , so hard t o reach ! Sorrz eth ing ough t t o be done about develop ing it; they said parts of it ·w e re very rich. B u t ·w o uld you ·want to LIV E there -so far a1vay fro nz everyth ing, in that dreadful cli mate? One day, of co urse rn illions would live there - tha t 1vas certain . One day . . . If the attitudes to,vard the North vVest ,vere vague , confused, and uncertain, part of the reason lay in the conflicting reports about it. Some said it ,vas little n1ore than a desert; others sa,v it as a verdant paradise. Even the t\\'O official govern1nent explorations of the territory launched in 1857-one by the British, one by the Canadians-differed in their assessments. The better re1ne111 berecl of these expeditions ,vas th at of the British, 111ountecl by a clashing Irish bachelor nan1ed John Palliser, ,vho left his nan1e on a triangle of supposed desert in ,vhat is 110,v southern Alberta and Saskatche,van. Palliser and his con1 panions ,vere t,vo years in the field, and their accon1plisl1111ents, though obscured at the time, ,vere n1onu111ental. They explored, by a variety of routes, all the country bet,veen Lake Superior and the Pacific Coast. One of Palliser's asso­ ciates, J an1es I-Iector, discovered the Kicking Horse Pass and ,vas almost buried alive as a result. His horse, stu111bling in the frothing ,vaters, dealt hi1n a hoof blo,v that rendered hin1 insensible. The Indians, believ-

v

Th e Land B eyond th e Lakes

23

ing h i1n dead , popped h i n1 i nto a fresh ly du g grave and ,vere about to shoYel in the earth ,vhen the su pposed corpse, conscious but unab le to utter a ,vorcl , 1n anaged , by a single prodi gious ,vink of one eye , to shock the wou ld-be bu rial party into less preci pitate action . vVi th Hector i n great pain and h is co1n panions close to starvation , the party plunged on through the newly na1ned pass , fol lo,vi ng the turbulent river along the line of the fu ture CPR. But the idea of a rai hvay in the shadows of those run1 pled pea�s ,vas far fro1n Palliser's 1n ind. H i s kno,vleclge of the country ,vould ne\'er lead hi1n to ad\'ocate a ra i hvay "exclusively through British ter­ ritory ." Across the prairies , certainly; but that annored barrier north of Lake Su perior "i s th e obstacle of the country and one, I fear, almost beyond the re1nedies of art." The sensible n1ethod ,vas to go through A1nerican terri tory s outh of the lake and cut up to l\1anitoba through Pen1bina on the border, i f and ,vhen the An1erican s bui l t their own l ines to that point. l\1eatnvhile the govern1nent of the uni ted Canadas had mounted, i n 1 857 and 1 858 , a series of sin1ilar expeditions. The Canadian ex­ plorers ,vere far n1ore opti1nistic about an all-Canadian railway than ,vere the British . One, George G lad1nan , did not feel the difficul ties to be "insuperable to Canadian energy and enterprise." An other , Henry Y oule Hind, thought Palliser too s,veepi n g in his condemnation of the route across the Shield, ,vhi ch ,vas "of vast importance to Canada." Hind agreed ,vith Palliser that the Great Ameri can Desert had i ts apex i n the Far ,vest, but along the ,vooded val ley of the North S askatche\van and some of i ts tributaries there was "a broad str i p of fertile country ." Hind ,vrote in his report that "it is a physical reality of the highest im­ portance to the i n terest of British North America that this continuous belt can be settled and cultivated from a fe,v 1ni les west of the Lake of the vVoods to the passes of the Rocky l\1ounta ins." He ,vas impressed enough by that staten1ent to render it in capitals. In R ind's vie,v thi s ,vas the route that any rai l way must take to span the great central pl ain . He borro,ved the magic name of "Ferti le Belt," ,vhich Pal liser had first used , and the name stuck . To the south ,vas an "Arid Belt"­ Pall iser's Triangle it came to be callecl - ,vh ich Hind, too, felt ,vas unfit for human habitation . Rind's enthusiasn1 for the Fert i le Belt ,vas to have a profound effect on the rai hvay planners ; from that point on , fevv gave seri ous consideration to taking the CPR farther to the south . H i nd also hel ped pron1ote the North West as a land of pron1 ise . "A great future l ies before the val ley of the Saskatche,van ," he decl ared . "It ,vi l l become the gran ary of Bri tish Colun1bia, the vast pasture field by ,vhich the n1i n ing i ndustry of the Rocky l\1ountains ,vi l l be fed ."

,, ...

.,,,

..

Palliser's

"Tri a ngle"

" - ;; Ed m onto n· - - - - - - -fra""ii

/

..../� . . . .· ---- -... ... - ·: . .. · ·· ·-

F

J

50

1 00

\ I�' ,,,.:-

l

�6

-'

I,

150

�f

50

H ind and Dawson, 1 857 -58 Pa l l i ser flut ler, 1 870-71

0

�,,

MILES

,.

'-·

---

� l PI - �

J

. - PRAIRIE -- � TRAILS AND EXPLORATIONS

\,

\.�

\

\

\

(

��''­ )

t --- _ --� � �

I

�

:0

-:) .

�-°?

� � �-

- �

\(

QC

Th e Land Beyond t h e Lakes

25

I n 1 87 1 , a decade after H incl \\Tote those ,vords , his v1s1on sti l l belonged to the future . T'he land beyond the lakes had not changed greatly s ince he and Pa l l iser had explored it. 1'o the 111en of the North ,,rest, Ca nada re111ained a forei gn cou ntry : the i r world ran north and south . I n the Far \Vest, the 111a i l bore U n ited States posta ge , for it ,vent out to c i ,· i l ization by \\·ay of Fort Benton, l\ lontana . The Red R iver settlers' nearest neighbors l i ved in l\ l in ncsota , and the 1nost traveled of the prairie tra i l s ,vas the one that ran f r01n Fort G a rry on the present site of \Vi n n i peg to the ra i lhead at St. C loud, where the settlers d id thei r shoppin g. 1,o cross the North \\Test, in the clays before the raihvay, ,vas a con­ s iderable feat a tte1npted by o n ly a hardy fe,v. 'The chief fonn of trans­ porta tion ,vas by Reel R i ver cart. These carts , pu lled by oxe n , ,vere adapted fr0111 Scottish vehicles - t\\·o l i ght boxes , each perched on a single axle ,vi th \\·heels six feet h i gh . There ,vas one d ifference : they contained not a single n a i l nor, indeed , a scrap of i ro n . I nstead, tou gh strands of buffa lo hide - the a l l-pu rpose shaganappi - ,vere u sed. The axles cou ld not be greased because the th ick prairie dust ,votdd quick ly i1n111obi lize the carts ; as a result the ,vhee ls e1n i tted an i nfernal screech­ i n g , "the North \\1 est fi ddle ," as son1e pioneers clubbed it. \\Tith the c louds of yello,v prairie dust that ,vere raised in their ,vake, the brigades of carts ,vere 1nade visible and audible for m i les. ( A French v i sitor \\Tote that "a den of ,vi ld beasts cannot be co1npared ,vith its h i deousness ." ) They genera l ly traveled i n bri gades , son1e of ,vh ich ,vere as long as raihv ay trains. The 1nost 1nen1orable , and surel y the loudest , ,vas t h e one organized i n 1 855 b y Nonnan K ittson , the S t . Paul trader . It contained fi ve hu ndred carts a n d took a n1onth to reach the l\1i nnesota capital fron1 Fort G arry . The carts left deep ruts i n the soft pr airie turf, so deep that the ,va gons tended to spread out, the right ,vheel of one cart travel ing i n the ,vake of the left ,vheel of the cart ahead; thu s , the pra irie trails could be as 1nuch as t,ven ty carts ,vi de , a pheno1ne non that helps explain the broad streets of son1e of the pi oneer to,vn s . These trai ls furrowed the plains l ike the creases o n a hun1an pahn. The n1ost farnous was the Carl ton Tra i l , ,vinding for 1 , 1 60 111 iles fron1 Fort G arry to the Yel lo,v Head Pass i n the R ockies . For h a lf a century this ,vas the broad h igh,vay used by e\·ery ex plorer, settler, trader, or adventurer ,vho set his s i gh ts for the \i\T est. \Vhen the rai lway ,vas planned, a lmost everybody expected it to f ol lo,v the ge neral course of the Carlton Trail . Thi s ,va s not to be, but a later ra ihvay did j ust that : i t forms part of the Canadian National systen1 today . The tra i ls crossed the do1nai n o f the buffa lo, ,vhose nun1bers in

26

TH E

I l\I p O s s 1 B L E

R A I L \VA y

the early seventies ,vere still legion.The open prairie ,vas covered ,vith their dried dung, ·which provided the only fuel for hundreds of miles; often, too, it ,vas ,vhite ,vith their bones -so many that, from a distance, it seemed as if a blizzard had covered the grass. As late as 1 874, ,vhen the ne,vly formed North vVest lVIounted Police made their initial trek across the plains, their colonel estimated, ,vithin the range of his o,vn vision, one million head stretching off to the horizon. And the sound of them! To the Earl of Southesk, "the deep, rolling voice of the mighty multitude can1e grandly on the air like the booming of a distant ocean." This ,vas a clon1 ain ,vhich fe,v men ever sa,v; it could not exist for men. The raihvay ,voulcl n1ark its finish. For the fe,v ,vho had come, nature might be idyllic but life ,vas harsh.They huddled in clrafty c abins, ill lit by candles made of grease or buffalo chips and heated by a single box stove. They slept on mat­ tresses stuffed ,vith prairie grasses, spread out on bunks fashioned from green lun1ber ,vhipsa,ved by hand. The price of groceries ,vas so astronomical th at they ,vere often obliged to do ,vithout.In the ,vords of Mrs. David l\1cDougall, ,vho bore the first ,vhite child along the Saskatche,van in 1 872, it ,vas "meat, morning, noon and night until I coul� have cried for joy to have seen son1e fresh fruit." The savage blizzards of ,vinter could fell the hardiest; in summer the clouds of n1osquitoes could drive oxen mad . Then there ·were the great fires that could leave the land a blackened ruin and the grasshoppers that, in plague years, could eat everything, including the curtains on the ,vindo,vs, leaving no green or living sprout behind. In the East such phenon1ena ,vere not understood. By 1 872, the trickle of settlers ,vestward ·was reaching the thousands. The soldiers ,vho had struggled over the portages at the time of the metis uprising returned ,vith tales of the rich humus in the Red River Valley. Their colonel, Garnet Wolseley, had himself ,vritten in B lack·wood's JVlagazine that "as far as the eye can see, there is stretched out before you an ocean of grass, ,vhose vast in1n1ensity gro,vs upon you more and more the longer you gaze upon it." It brought, he said, "a feeling of in­ describably buoyant freeclo1n [ that] seems to tingle through every nerve, making the old feel young again . . ..Upon the boundless prairies, ,vith no traces of n1an in sight, nature looks so fresh and sn1iling that youth alone is in consonance ,vith it." These ,vere heady ,vorcls, but headier ,vere to come. Another clash­ ing and ron1antic Irishman ,vas back from the North \;Vest, and very shortly the country ,vould be agog ,vith his descriptions of the region he called "'The Great Lone Land."

Ocean to Ocean

27

6 · Ocean to Ocean v\T I L L l A :\ 1

F RA 1': C I S

BUTLER

H AS

B E EN

cal led hot-blooded and i111 pulsi,·c. l i e docs not look i t i n h i s photo­ graphs ; but one 111ust re111e111ber that the photogra phs of tha t era had to support their s ubj ect on 111e t a l pos i n g sta nds and hold their heads steady w ith neck c l a111 ps. Butler, c i rca 1870 , is a sole111 n , don1e-headed young subaltern , the long o,·al of h is face exagg·erated by his c lose­ cropped Suvorov-style side whiskers and nn1stache . Only the eyes are alive. But he 1vas i 111 pulsive . I-l e ,vas stationed i n E n gland ,vhen he l earned that the Canadian g·overn111ent ,vas 1nou n t i n g an expedition aga inst R iel . T'he news could not h ave co111e at a 1nore propitious 1110111ent. 1\ re1narkably inte l l i gent officer, ,vho had seen twelve years' service i n I ndia , Bunn a , and Canada, he ought to have been promoted long before . But in those days con1n1 issions were purchased , not earned, and B u t ler did not have the fifteen hundred pounds it ,vould cost h im to accept the proffered co111111 and of a con1pany. He ,vas faced ,vi th a n unhappy choice : he could serve on as a j un i or officer or he could quit the service and face an equ a l ly cheerless existence as the governor of a pen itent iary or the secretary of a London club. He ,vas positi vely thirstin g for adventure "no n1atter in what clin1ate , or under ,vhat circu1nstances . " The Red River u prising saved hi 111 . The ne,vs of the expeditionary force had scarcely reached England before But ler ,vas off t o the nearest telegraph office , clashing off the cheapest possible cable, consistent ,vith pol iteness , to the expedition's con1n1 ancler, Colonel Wolseley : "Please ren1e n1 ber rne . " Then , without ,vaiting for an a ns,ver , he caugh t the first ship for North An1 e rica . �Then But ler reached C a nada , he found to h i s chagrin that there ,vas no j ob for him. Butler su ggested one : that of an intell i gence officer ,vh o , by travel ing through the U n i ted States , 1ni gh t possibly enter Riel's stronghold fron1 the south . Wolseley liked the idea and B utler leaped into his assi gnment ,vith enth us iasm . He slipped past R iel and his 111en at the Red R iv er , returned to the rebels' headquarters , vvhere h e in­ tervie,ved Riel hin1 self, and then , fal lowing the old voyageur route , paddled h i s ,vay east to the Lake o f the ,i\T oods , ,vhere h e 1nade h is report to vVolseley. When the troops entered Fort Garry , B utler ,vas ,vi th the1n ; but he found the subsequent antic l i1nactic ,veeks i rkso1ne . One n ight during a dinner at the h 01ne of Don a ld A . S1n ith , he suddenly a nnou nced that he ,vas retu r n i n g to Europe to resign his co1n1nissio n .

28

TH E

I �r P o s s I R L E

R A 1 L w AY

Smith had a better idea. Out along the North Saskatche,van there had been continuing disorders, ,,·hich the local Hudson's Bay Con1pany factors had been po,verless to prevent. T'he Indians ,vere being ravaged by s1nallpox and cheap ,vh iskey, to ,vhat extent no one kne,v. So1ne­ thing in the ,vay of troops 1night be needed. vVhy not send Butler to make a thorough report? Shortly thereafter, the Lieutenant-Governor sent for Butler, out­ lined Smith's plan, and suggested that he think it over. "There is no necessity , sir, to consider the 111a tter ," responded the in1petuous officer. "I have already n1ade up n1y n1ind and , if necessary, ,vill start in half an hour." It ,vas typical of Butler that he 1nacle his mind up on the instant, regardless of the circumstances. He ,voulcl not ,vait for the sum1ner, ,vhen the trails ,vere dry , the grouse plentiful, the shaclberries plump and juicy, and the plains perfumed ,vith briar rose. It ,vas October 1 0 "and ,vinter ,vas already sending his breath over the yello,vecl grass of the prairies." vVith a single n1etis guide, Butler set off on a cold and moonless night, the sky shafted by a brilliant aurora, prepared to travel by foot, horseback, and dogsled across four thousand miles of un­ inha bitecl ,vilderness. "Behind me lay friends and ne,vs of friends, civilization, tidings of a terrible ,var, firesides, and houses; before n1e lay unkno,vn savage tribes, long clays of saddle-travel, long nights of chilling bivouac , silence , separation and space !" Butler loved every 1ninute of it. He acquitted hi1nself handsomely . It ,vas his recon1n1enclation to the governn1ent , follo·w ing his return, that led to the f onnation of the North \Vest lVIounted Police. But it ,vas his subsequent book, The G reat Lone Land, ,vith its haunting· descri ptions of "that great, bound­ less, solitary ,vaste of verdure," that caught the public's imagination. The title ,vent into the language of the clay. For the next fifteen years no description, no reference, no journalistic report about the North vVest seemed con1plete ,vithout so1ne n1ention of Butler's poetic title. I t ,vas as ,vell that the CPR ,vas built ,vhen it ,vas; long before the phrase ,vas rendered obsolete, it had becon1e a cliche. But Butler's description of ,vhat he sa,v and felt on that chill, solitary journey across the ,vhite face of the ne,v Canada ,vill never be hackneyed : "The great ocean itself does not present 1nore infinite variety than does this prairie ocean of ,vhich ,ve speak. In ,vinter, a dazzling surface of purest sno,v; in early sunnner, a vast expanse of grass and pale pink roses; in autu1nn, too often a ,vild sea of raging fire. No ocean of ,vater in the ,vorlcl can vie ,vith its gorgeous sunsets; no solitude can equal the loneliness of a night-shado,vecl prairie : one feels the stillness

Ocean to Ocean

29

a nd hears the si lence , the ,va i l of the pro,d i n g ,volf n1a kes the voice of solitu de aucli b]e, the sta rs look clown through i n fi n i te si lence u pon a si lence a hnost as i ntense. T'h is ocean h as no past - ti1ne has been nough t t o it; and 1nen haYe con1e a nd gone, l e�1 \·ing beh ind the1n n o track , n o \'esti ge , o f the i r prese nce . " Bu tler went back to E n g l a n d to pursue a disti n gu ished 1ni l itary career. \Vea lthy or not, h i s ea l i ber was such that they h ad to 111ake hi1n a general . \Vhe n the great Bri tish river Hoti1 1a went u p the N i le in i ts Y a i n atte111 pt to saYc G enera] Charl e s ( "Ch i nese" ) G ordon fro1n the l\ lahcl i , B u tler was in ch arge of i t . H e gathered 1nany troph ies and not a few decoration s , but his book was his 1non u n1ent and his closin g ,vords ran g do,vn the corridor of the decade l ike a tnnnpet ca l l : "l\1 idst the s1noke and lnnn of ci ties , 1n iclst the prayer of ch urches, in street or salon, it needs but l ittle cause to reca ] l again to the ,va n clerer the i n1 a ge of the i n11nense 1neado,rs ,vhere , far a,ray at the portals of the setting s u n , lies the G reat Lone Land." B utler's book ,ra s published in 1872. The fol lo,ving year a nother \\·ork on the North \Vest n1ade its a ppearance . I t ,vas so pop ular that it ,ven t i n to se,·eral editions and was serialized in the ne,vspapers . I ts title , Ocean to Ocea n , a lso becan1e part of the phraseology of the day. It ,vas the saga of t,vo bearded Scots ,vho, in one continuous passage by a l n1ost every con,·eyance available , traYeled en tirely through British ter­ ritory to the Pacific Coast - a feat ,vh ich aga i n captured the i1nagination of a cou ntry star \'ed for frontier adve nture . The author of O cean to O cean ,vas a re1n arkable Presbyterian minister n an1ed George lVIonro Grant, ,vho \\'as to beco1ne one _o f the n1ost disting·uished educators and l iterary figures of h is tin1e . He ,vas already an outsta ndi n g preacher ,vhose sennons, at St. l\1atthe,v's , H a l ifax , ,vere so eloquent th at si n ners of the deepest dye ,vere seen to e1nerge fro1n their pe,vs actu a l l y bean1 i n g after sufferin g the scourge of h i s ton gu e . G ra nt ,vas Sandford F 1 en1ing's choice for the post of secretary to the transcontinental expedition that the Engineer-in-Chief organ ized i n 1872 to fol lo,v the proposed route of the new ra i lway. 'The s1irvcyor had cletern1 i necl to see the cou n try for h in1self and discuss the progress of the fi e ld \\'Ork at every poi n t ,vith the n1cn on the ground. Flem i n g ,vas a n i n1 pressive n1a n , phys ica l ly as well as i ntel l ectu a l ly , ,vith a v ast beard , a rugged physique and a questioning n1i n d . He w a s forty-five ye ars old a t the ti1ne and he sti l l h a d half o f h i s l i fe ahead of h i n1 i n ,vh ich to co1n plete the Interco1on i a 1 and p la n the Canadian Pac i fi c , devise a ,vorkable syste1n of standa rd tin1e, plan and pro1note the Pacific cable , act as a n ainbassador to l l a wa i i , publ ish a book of

30

T H E I M POSS I B LE R A I L W A Y

"short daily prayers for busy households," become Chancellor of Queen's U niversity , girdle the globe, and cross Canada by foot , sno,vshoe, dog team , horseback, raft, dugout canoe, and final ly by rail. I n Grant, Fleming had a trail mate ,vho ,vas leather-tough and un­ troubled by adversity, a good man in the best sense, fron1 ,vhose bald brow there ahvays seemed to shine the light of Christian good hun1or, in spite of an invalid ,vife and one retarded son. Grant himself had come through the fire, having been thrice at death's door in the very first decade of life : scalded half to death, almost dro,vned and given up for dead, and mangled by a hay cutter that cost him his right hand. Grant ,vas, in a London journalist's phrase, "the realized ideal of Kingsley's n1uscular Christian." vVhen he joined Fleming's expedition, he was in the prime of life-a lithe thirty-seven, ,vith a savant's high dome, flat straight nose, intense Scottish eyes, and the inevitable beard. He stood, at that n1on1ent, at the threshold of a career 'Which ,vould lead hin1 to the principal's chair at Queen's. The notes for O cean to Ocean ,vere transcribed late at night, at the end of a hard day's travel, by the light of a flickering campfire, but the book itself, a polished and readable polemic for the ne,v Canada, bore no sign of haste or hardship. In the ,vords of Grant's son, "It revealed to Canada the glories of her northern and ,vestern territories, and did not a little to steel the hearts of many through the dark days that ,vere to come." The expedition set out across the Great Lakes by steamer into the stony ,vasteland of the Shield, ,vhere Flen1ing's surveyors ,vere al ready inching their ,vay -and son1etimes meeting their deaths- in a land un­ touched by ,vhite men's 1noccasins. The party included Flen1ing's son and a Halifax doctor friend of Grant's, Arthur lVloren. Soon another re­ n1arkable figure ,vas to be enlisted. Not long after en1barkation , Fle1ning's attention ,vas attracted by the enthusiasn1s of an agile and energetic 1nan ,vith a bro,vn beard and t\vinkling eyes. This creature invariably leaped fr0111 the steamer the instant it touched the shoreline and began scran1bling over rocks and diving into thickets, stuffing all 111anner of 1nosses, ferns, lichens, sedges, grasses, and flo,vers into a covered case. It ,vas only because the stean1er ,vhistled obligingly for hin1 that he did not n1iss the boat. Sometin1es, indeed, he ,vas forced to scramble up the side after the ship had cast loose from the pier. The sailors called him "the I-Iaypicker" and treated him ,vith an an1used tolerance, but his enthusias1n ,vas so infectious that he soon had a flock of pas­ sengers in his ,vake, scraping their shins on the Pre-Cainbrian granite as he plucked ne,v specin1ens fron1 bet,veen the rocks.

O cean to O cean

31

Th is ,va s John 1\-Iacoun , a botan ist on the staff of Albert College i n BelleYi l le , Ontario, e nj oyi n g a bus1nan's holiday i n the ,vi lds . Fle1n i n g asked h i 1n casu a l ly i f he ,votdd care to con1e a l o n g t o the Pacific, and 1\-I acoun , j ust a s casual ly , accepted . 'T i n1eta bles in the seventies ,ve re e la stic, a n d though the prospect of a twenty-five-h u n clred-1n i le j ourney across u ncharted pra i rie , forest , 1nountain pea k , and c anyon n1i ght h ave deterred a lesser 1na n , it o n ly stinnd atecl l\1laco un , in the garden of "''hose l iv e ly 1nind the i 1nages of h u nd reds of unk no,vn s pecies ,vere a l ready b loo1n in g . l\tfacoun w a s a n a tura l botan ist, a ln1ost enti re ly sel f-tau ght. A t thirteen he had q u i t sch ool and departed h is n ative I re land t o seek his future i n C a n ad a . I---I e be gan his ne\\' life as a f arn1hand but he could not resist the l ure of p la nts . H e detenn i ned to beco1ne a teacher in order that he 1n i ght deyote his s pare hours to a study of botany. Partly by tria l a n d error , partly by os1nosis , a n d partly by sheer hard s loggin g, he s lo,vly 1nade hi1nself a n a tura l ist of standing i n both E urope and An1erica . I n 1 869 , h e ,vas offered the cha ir of n atura l h i story at an Ontario col lege . Tha t s u n1n1er he began the series of G reat Lakes vacation studies that brought h i n1 , three years l ater, into the ken of Sandford Flen1 i n g . By the ti1ne they left the stean1 er a n d headed o u t across the rock and n1uskeg tO\\'ard the prairie, l\1acou n , Grant, and F lemi n g h ad be­ con1e a close triun1Yira te . It n1akes a fasc inatin g p icture , this spectacle of the three bearded savants, a l l i n the i r prin1e , e ach at the top of his field, s etti n g off together to breast a continen t : the co1nradeship ,vas ,varn1 , the prayers earnest, the talk sti1nulati n g, and the ,vay chal le n g. 1ng. The prairie , ,vhich all had read about i n Butler's book , lured the three con1panions on l ike a n1agnet. One n i gh t , after supper, rea l izing that it ,vas on ly thirty-three n1i les a,vay , they decided they must see it and pushed o n throu gh the n i ght, i n spite of a driving rain so h eavy th at it blotted o u t a l l signs of a trai l . The three 1ne n c l i n1bed do,v n fro1n their ,vagon a n d , hand i n h a n d - the giant F len1 i n g i n the center, the one-handed Grant on the right, and the ,viry l\1acoun on the l eft ­ trudged bl i n d ly for,vard through the do,vnpour, leadi n g the horse , 1 ni le after 1nuddy n1i l e , until a fai nt l i ght a ppeared far off i n the n1urk. "\iV hen at last they burst through the ,voods and onto the u nbroken prairie , they ,vere too ,vea ry to gaze u pon i t . They tun1bled , dri ppi n g ,vet, i nto a h alf-fin ished H udson's Bay store and s lept. The fol lo,vin g n1orn ing the party a,voke to find the i rre pressible Macou n a lready up and abou t , h i s arms ful l o f flo,vers.

I I

I I I

(/ I I I

•.

0

·•...

·•• J ortlnnn berland n1a n ,vho had been a land surveyor all h i s ,vorki n g l i fe , first i n Engl an d and "\Vales, then in South Africa, and, s i nce 1 850, in Canada. l ie had \\·orked for Flen1 i n g on the I n ter­ colo n i al , as had so 1na n y of the n1en on the CPS ; and like so n1any of the others - 1nen accu st01ned to fend for then1seh·es i n ,vi l d and i n­ hosp itable cl i n1es -he ,vas total ly sel f-confident and n1ore than a l i ttle prou d . "I h aYe no cla in1 for gen i u s ," he \\Tote at the close of his career ( he l i Yed to be e i ghty-ni ne ) , "but a strong loye of n1y profession, an aptitude and e nergy for ca rryi n g out great ,vorks, and a detern1 i nation of honesty and accuracy ,vh ich I h a Ye so far carried out, that in a l o n g practice there has ne,·er been a dol lar lost t o a n y o f n1y en1ployers fr01n any blu nder of n1i n e ." He ,vas a h a rd dri nker. On the prairie surveys, where prohibition rei gned, his keg of "li1ne ju ice" contai ned stra i gh t ,vhiskey. On the I-Ion1.athco , he and h i s subord i na te , vV . 0. T'i eden1 a n , broke open a case of brandy a nd fou ght and drank an afternoon a \\·ay . "They "r oti l d keep h a Y i n g a drink and a ro\\\ turn a nd turn about," one of the party noted. He \\·as not a n easy n1a n to \\·ork u n der, for he did not tolerate i n­ con1petence, fati gue , or any k i n d of h u n1 a n f ra i lty. You n g· Edgar Fa,vcett, the rod1n a n on the B ute-I l on1athco sttrYey, ,vas toil i n g u p a steep , rock-stre\\'n h i 1 1 i n .June, 1 872, ,vhen a n e nonn ous bou lder, bounc ing do,vn the s lope, struck h i n1 a blow that k nocked hin1 i nsensible. Sn1 i th took personal a ffro nt a t the 1n ish a p . He could not have ch ildre n ,vorki n g f o r hin1 , he said. "'That boy who cou l d n o t keep o u t of th e ,vay of stones ,vould h aYe to be sent hon1e ."

110

TH E

IM POSSI B LE

R A I L \V A Y

Anything that interfered ,vith the progress of the"5urvey distressed him, and this in1patience seems to have rubbed off on his subordinates. Tiedeman, ,vho ,vas in charge of the Bute Inlet survey under Smith's over-all supervision, insisted on n1oving camp at the end of October even though it meant leav ing one lost man to die in the ,vilderness. Anyone who got lost, 1'iedeman said, in his thick German accent, deserved to die. Some other n1embers of the party remonstrated ,vith him and he finally consented to send out search parties. Eventually the 1nissing man ,vas found : he had been ,vandering around in circles for t\vo days and nights ,vithout sleep or food and ,vas so far gone he did not recognize the comrade ,vho eventuall y located him. Tiede­ man's reaction ,vas an echo of Smith's : "You shall have four more days' ,vork for losing those t,vo days." "Sunday morning and no one sorry for it except perhaps Old Smith ,vho I think ,vould like to keep everyone at ,vork night and day and then gro,vl and snap at anyone he c an1e near or happened to speak to him," George Hargreaves, the leveler on the party , confided to his diary that June. Three days later he \\Tote that "Old Smith came to camp about 7.30 and boiled over, accusing us of putting obstacles in his ,vay and saying he ,vould carry through ,vith the survey if he had to send 5,000 miles for men." Six days later : "Had a ro,v ,vith Old Smith for not bringing the leveJs through before stopping ,vork.... Says he, \vhat did you mean by saying you ,vas through, you nn1st be an idiot.' '' T,vo days later : "It appears S1nith had a b i g ro,v \\·ith t,vo or three of the men and also ,vith Bristo,v, the Transit. Called him a Gd. dn1d. fool and Idiot, ,vho said he \\'ould not have such language used to him that he ,vould go hon1e to Canada if he continued to use it , and also told Smith he ,vas stopping the \\'Ork by carrying on so. Sn1ith told him to go back to his instru111ent or he ,vould give hin1 the G. dan1dist dan1ing ever he had dan1'd." "It ,vas most a,vful the ,vay that old dev il s\\·ore and ,vent on gen­ erally ," young Fa,vcett ,vrote of Sn1ith in his o,vn diary a ,veek after the incident ,vi th the boulder. "I-le s,vore at n1e for the most ordinary things and kept us fron1 dinner till half-past t\\'O." Yet, Fa,vcett adn1itted, he ,vas treated no ,vorse than the others, for Sn1ith n1ade no distinctions. He barked at Tiedeman, the head of the party , and barked at transit 1nen, levelers, axn1en, and Indian packers ,vith a fine de1nocracy . The Indians, ,vho could afford the luxury of independence, cahnly unloaded their canoes and prepared to head off into the ,vilderness. Sn1ith called in Hargreaves and asked

That "Old DeviI'' 111 arc us Sm ith

1 1 1

h i1n ,Yho had authorized the Indians to leaYe . I-Ia rgreaYe s replied tha t the Indians did not requ ire authorization to d o a nything, a re1nark that see1ned to astoni sh S1ni th . "He said "·e nu1st talk a bout that, only ,Yh ile he "·as ta l k i n g about it, they ,Yere going, wh ich put hi1n i n a flutter rather." S1n i th asked what the I ndians wanted . 1�he I ndians replied they did not ,vant to "'ork for S111ith . llargreaves prevented a ,vholesale desertion by a po logiz i n g for S1n ith and agreeing to pay the I ndians i n cash at the ti111e of e,·cry tri p . But i f S1nith "'as hard on others , he ,vas equally hard on h in1self. \:\1 hen he was s ixty years of a ge , he traYeled a thousand n1i les through the Lake Su perior country by canoe, a l l i n a single s u n1 n1er, 111 a k i n g t\\'O hundred portages tha t va ried fro1n a few yards to four n1i les . He n1ust ha,·e see1n ed a su penn a n , a l beit a satanic one, to the young chainnen and rod111en who, at the e nd of each clay, fou nd then1selves so exhausted they "·ere ready to thro,v i n the spon ge . Son1e of their diary excerpts f ro111 the B ute Inlet stirvey of 1872, ,vhe n S111i th ,vas driv i n g the111 ,vithout n1ercy, tel l the story : "So tired I could hardly drag n1yself a long. After one of the h ardest, hottest and longest days I had ever experienced i n n1y l ife , ,ve arrived at '\V' ca111p , I was so far done i n I coul d not get u p and sat do,vn to rest. " "Yesterday I rea l ly thought I should have t o give i n I fel t so the loss of haying eate n nothing a l l day but a bit of bread and fat pork in 12 hours. If this is s urveying, I have had n1y bellyfull of it." "I am heartily sick of the ,vhole business and feel l ike turning tai I ." " . . . legs and feet all benu111bed a nd achin g fearfully. I felt l ike giving up and leav i n g it man y times but kno,vi n g it had to be done sometime, and if ,ve left it today ,vould have to go aga i n to1no1To,v , man aged to get through ." Yet here ,vas the clen1onic S111 i t h , a n1an t,vice their a b, 58 Smith, Donald A . , 5, 2 0 , 2 7 , 28, !{ i , 1 q , 1 3 3-,1 , q j-52 /)assi m , 1 79 , 2 0 7 , 2 1 !{ , 2 1 4 , 2 9.1 , !P I , !P 5 , 335 , �{ G5, 39G, ,1 0,1 , .1 05 , ,1 0G , ,1 1 2 , 4 1 5 , - 1 5- 1 , .1 5 G , -1 5 7 , 4 6 o , 4 7 8 , ·1 79 , 5 14 , 5 2 1 -.1 passim ; anti pathy of l\ Iacdonald to, 1 50; attack on � f acdonald ( 1 8 78 ) , 1 5 1 -2 ; background, q 8-9 , 1 8,1-5 , 1 9 1 ; battle ,Yith Hill ( R ed H i\'er steamboats ) , 1 33-,1 : meets Hill, 1 3 3-,1 ; and Pembina Branch, 1 ,1 9-50; physical description, 1 4 8; and Red Hi,·er Rebellion ( 1 869 ) , 20; relations with Stephen , 1 89 , 1 92-,1 ; a n d St . Pau l a n d Pacific Railway, 1 8 1 , 1 84-2 05 ; speech of ::\ lay 1 0 , 1 878, 1 5 1 -2 ; and "The Syndicate," 2 1 3- 1 4 , 2 1 8 Smith, Frank , 500, 50 1 , 502 Smith , i\'I arcus, 95 , 1 06, 1 06- 1 2 pass im , 1 2 6-30 passim , 1 5 8-9 , 1 6 1 , 235, 38 1 , 446, 44 7 , ,t -1 8, 449; and Pine Pass-Bute In let ·route , 1 08, 1 2 7-30, 1 5 7 , 1 5 9 ; background, 1 09 ; character , 1 07, 1 09- 1 2 ; physical description, 1 09; relations with Fleming , 1 2 7 , 1 2 9-30, 1 58, 1 5 9; rel ations with H oretzky, 9 4 Smith, C apt. S. R . , 370 Smith , \Villi am, g 1 Smithe, \Vil liam , 445, 5 1 7 Smokey Ri ver Pass, 97 , 1 59 Snake River, 370 Souris, 3, 285 South Saskatchewan River, 34 5 Southern l\1i nnesota Railroad , 300 Southern Pacific Railroad , 37 5 Southesk , Earl of, 2 6 Southwestern Railroad ( Man. ) , 2 4 6 Spence , G ilbert, 4 1 9 Spence, Tom, 2 5 3 Spray River, 3 3 7 Spuzzum, 370 Standard ( London ) , 4 5 8 "standard time," 1 3 , 29

Star ( l\1ontreal ) , 4 1 2 Starnes, Henry , 60, 70, 7 3-4 Steele , Sam, 2 7 .1 , 39 1 , 400, 402 , 4 3 2 , - 1 7 < > , 5 cq -7 /)assim , 5 1 2 , 5 2 0 ; backgrou nd, 392 ; physic al description , 39 1 -2 Steele ' s Scouts, 507 Stcinho ff ( steamboat ) , 4 26 Stephen , George , 1 8 1 , 1 89-95 , 2,p , !! ,t , 1 - 7 /rnss im , 2 5 6 , '2 5 7 , 259-67 /) assim , 293, 2 !M , 298, 30 1 , 3 1 5 , 3 1 8 , 3 2 0- 1 , 35 2 , 353, 358, 365 , , 1 ° , 1 , 4 1 1 , ,p 5 , ·1 1 7 , 1 20, 1 3 4 , 4 47, 4 .1 8 , ,1 63 , 4 7 2 , 4 83 , 500-3 pass i m , 508- 1 .1 passim , 5 20 , 5 2 1 ; background, 2 96; character , 2 95-6; and C PR financing, 3 2 2 -6 , 4 05-1 1 , 4 1 2- 1 8, 4 5 !{-Go, ,1 76-83 ; and Grand Trunk, 3 2 8 ; relationship with V an Horne, 2 95-6 Stephen ( station ) , 363 Stephenson , George, 1 45 Steven s, John F . , 3 3 2 , 450 Stewart , Jack , 434 , 467 Stewart , John, 297 Stickney, Alpheus B . , 25 2 , 2 64 , 302 Stockton and Darlington Railway ( England ) , 1 45 Stoney Creek , 467 Stony Indians, 348 Strange, Maj .-Gen . T. Bland, 507 Strathcona , Lord, see Smith, Donald

A.

Sudbury, 4 2 7 , 4 29, 46 1 Su llivan , l\1ary , 1 36 Su llivan , M ike, 5 24 Summerside , 3 Summit Lake, 4 50, 5 1 9 Sun ( Brandon ) , 2 5 3 , 3 1 8, 4 1 1 Sun ( Vancouver ) , 4 35 Sun ( Winnipeg ) , 2 6 9 , 2 7 5 , 2 7 7 , 2 78, 2 98, 3 1 4 Sun Yat-sen , 3 7 6 Sutton, Hobert Twiss, 1 4 0 Sutton and Thompson C o . , 1 46 Swift Current, 3 1 9, 388, 39 2 , 507 , 5 1 4 "Syndicate, The," 2 1 3- 1 5 passim , 2 1 7 , '2 1 8 , 2 2 3-5 passim , 2 2 9 210, 302 , 3 ,t 6, 4 l l , ,j l 6 , 4 1 8, 1 5 7 , 5 2 1 Tache, Archbishop , 1 7 7 Taylor, James Wickes, 1 36, 2 4 3

xvz Tennyson, A l fred , Lord , 1 2 4 , 390 1 0th Royal G ren adiers , 4 85 , 4 90 , 495 , ,1 96 Thirtk e l l , vV . J ., 1 40 Thompson , vVilliam , 1 4 2 , 4 3 2 Thompson River, 35 , 1 04 , 1 60, 368, 372 Thu nder B ay , 3 7 , 1 3 8 , 1 45 , 2 09, 2 1 o , 2 1 6 , 2 66 , 2 7 1 , 3 2 2 , 382 , ,p g , .p o , .p 6 , 455 Tiedeman , \V. 0., 1 09 , 1 1 o , 1 1 2 Ti l l ey , Leonard , 7 9 , 2 0 7 , 2 3 4 , 409 , 4 1 0 , 45 7 , 4 5 8 , 4 7 7 , 5 o 3 , 5 1 2 Ti lley ( station ) , 363 Tim es ( Winnipeg ) , 1 74 , 1 7 7 , 2 04 , 2 1 2 , 2 1 7 , 2 5 0 , 2 69, 2 7 8 , 2 85 , 2 86 , 374 Tim es , The ( London ) , 7 5 , 1 3 8 , 2 5 8 , 259, 2 72 , 277 Todd, C apt. A . H amlyn , 49.5 Topley ' vVil l i am J ames, l 09 Tories, see Conservative Party Toronto , 1 5 , 2 5 7 , 32 7 , 4 5 6 , 4 6 2 , ,1 84-6 , 5 1 0 Toronto , Grey and B ruce Rai lway , 4 60 Toronto Agricultu ral Fair ( 1 885 ) , 46 1 Toronto expansionists, 2 2 -3 Tregent , A. E . , 332 Trol lope , Anthony, 1 4 , 1 5 Trotter, B eecham , 2 5 2 , 2 5 5 , 2 7 9, 2 8 2 , 3 1 3, 3 1 4, 3 1 8 Trow, James , 38 Trutch , John , 1 02 Trutch, Joseph \V . , �) , 1 4 , 1 02 , +1 8 Truth ( London ) , 2 5 9 Tunnel City , 3 7 0 Tuppe r, Sir Charles, 79-8 2 passim , 9 -1 , 1 2 7 , 1 5. 1 - G 1 /Jassim , 2 07 , 2 08- 1 0 passi m , 2 1 5 , 2 2 1 -5 , , nz ' Pac,�i •> -9 6 ' -9 ,,- / , -'' 3 -'' , - 3 �)° ' - 3- l8 , 2 ·1 3 , 2 11 5 , 3 ·1 7 , 365 , �) 67 , 386, ,1 ° 9 , 4 1 0, · 1 1 3 , , 1 1 8 , ,t)!h · l · t G , · 1 ·1 8, · 1 5 9 , . 1 80, 50 1 , 5 1 2 , 5 q ; as lVIinister of H a i h,·ays , 1 5 7 ; attack on Donald Smith ( 1 8 7 7 ) , 1 5 1 -2 ; and C PH resolutions ( 1 88.1 ) , 4 1 5- 1 7 ; reply to C art wrig·ht, Dec . 1 5 , 1 880, 2 2 3 ; speech of Dec . 1 4 , 1 880, 2 2 2 ; speech of Oct . 2 7 , 1 8 7 3 , 8 1 -2 ; and "The Sy ndicate ," 208 Tuppe r, La 'T'ouche, 2 72 Tuttle, C. R., 2 8 6 ,...

IN DEX

'

Twenty--Five lVli le Point , 36 Twi gg , \Vil liam J . , 2 7 2 Tyler, Sir Henry _\Vhatley , 2 0 8 , 2 1 o , 2 5 6 ' 2 5 7 ' 3 2 6 ' 4 3 2 ' 4 7 9 ' 5 og "Uncle Sam ' " 1 6. Union House ( Ottawa hotel ) , 2 1 0 Union Pacific Railway, 2 07 , 3 1 1 United States, 1 0, 1 1 , 1 4 , 1 5 , 1 6, 2 3 ; annexation plans, ·1 7 , 4 8 ; rai lroads, 7, 43 Uni versal Time System , 4 6 2 Upham, Henry , 1 86-7 Upper Canada, 1 3, 1 4

Van Horne, \Vil l i am Cornelius, 1 62 , 2 02 ' 2 64 , 2 65 , 2 6 6 , 2 67 ' 2 6 8 , 2 6 9 , 2 9 5 , 2 99, 300--4 pass i m , 306 , 308 , 309, 3 1 1 , 3 1 5 , 3 1 6 , 3 2 1 , 3 2 6 , 3 2 8 , 3 2 9 , 33 2 , 3 4 6 , 35 2 , 35 3-6 passim , 363, 365 , 368, 369, 396 , 4 04-5 , ,1 08- 1 1 passi m , 4 1 7 , ,p 9-2 1 passim , -1 2 3 , 434 , ·1 3 5 , 4 37 , 438-56 passi m , 4 6 1 , 463-4 , 466-8 pass i m , 4 7 7 , .:17 8, 480-3 pass i m , 494 , 502 , 5 0 3 , 508, 5 1 0-- 1 8 passim , 5 2 1 -4 pass i m ; artistic ability, 2 99-300 , 4 .1 3 ; background, 2 95-6 , 2 99-3 00; character, 2 9 2 -�) , 2 9 7 , 300 , 302-3 ; and C PR financing, 4 1 3- 1 5 ; fires Rosser, 29 7-8 ; hobbies, 2 66-7 , 2 9 6 , 2 0 2-3; involvement in politics, ·1 1 7 ; memory , 303; physi c a l desc ription , 2 64-5 ; relationship with Haney , 30.1 -5 ; relationsh ip wi th Stephen, 2 95-6 ; reputation , 2 q 2 ; and Saskatchewan Rebel lion, ,1 8 3 , , 1 8 .1 , .1 8 7 , 4 9 7 , 499 V a n N"orrn a n , Delevan , 1 3 8-9 Vancouver, ,1 2 , 2 4 7 , +1 5 , 5 1 7 , 5 2 3 Vancouver I sland, 1 1 7 , 1 1 9 , 1 2 6 , 1 2 7 , • 1 -1 !> Vermil ion Pass, 2 +1 , 3 3 3 Victor ia ( B . C . ) , 3 , 3 5 , 4 1 , 4 2 , 4 4 , 1 0 2 , 1 05 , 1 07 , 1 1 1 , 1 1 9 , 1 2 3-5 passi m , 1 2 8 , 1 55 , 3 3 4 , 3 7 3 , 3 8 7 , 4 4 4 , 4 4 5 Victoria G l acier, 3. 1 8 Vi l l ard Henry , 2 .1 6 , 2 59, 2 60 , 2 6 1 , 263 , .1 06 V i vi a n , C apt. 2 7 7

XV 1 1

\V abigoon , !)7 \V adcl i n gton , A l fred, 1 1 -, 1 passim , 7 5 , 99 \Vaclcl i n gton Depot , 97 \Vaclclington H arbour , 4 2 \V a i n ri ght , G eorge , 4 5 2 \Valken , G eorge , 1 1 8 , 2 3 0 , , 1 , 1 9 \Va l l ace , C h arles E . , .p.! 5 , ,p 6 \Vanclering Spirit, 5 1 6 \V ashington ( state ) , 8 , 1 0 , 1 \Vatson , l\ l i l l ie , 1 7 6 \Vest Lynne, :.? 8 1 , '..? 8.1 , 2 88 \Vest York ( riding ) , 85 \Vestern U n i on Telegraph C o . , +1 2 \Vetherald, \ Vi l l iarn, 1 8 3 whiske\' trade on Section Fifteen , •' l

7 1 -5

whiskey trial ( hn-er, 1 8 7 7- 7 8 ) , 1 7 1 -2 \Vhite , Thomas Henry , 1 07 , 4 4 7 \Vhite , \Vi l l iam , 2 7 7 , 2 85 , 2 86 , 3 1 2 \Vhitehead, C h arl es, 1 7 2 , 2 5 3 , 199 \Vhitehead, Joseph , 1 5 7 , 1 63-8 /Jass i m , 1 3 2 , 1 5 7 , 1 6 3 , 1 76 , 2 5 3 ; back grou nd, 1 3 2 , 1 4 5 ; physical description, 1 4 5 ; and Section Fifteen, 1 4 5-7 , 1 64-5 , 1 6 7-8, 1 7 6, 235 \Vhitemouth , 1 7 3 \Vhitemouth Ri,·er , 4 2 5 \Vi l d Horse Creek , 3 3 7 lVilliam I rving ( steamboat ) , 3 7 5 , 386 \\T i llison , Sir John, 7 1 , 1 4 3 \\T i lson , Tom , 3 3 2 , 3 3 3 , 3 3 8 , 339, 3 4 0-5 2 passim, 3 6 1 , 3 6 2 , 5 2 0; journey o \'er Howse Pass, 349-5 1 \Viman , Erastus, 4 4 2 \Vindsor, 3 2 7 \Vindsor ( Otta \\·a hote l ) , 2 1 g \Vinn ipeg, 2 5 , 3 2 , 3 5-9 fJ a s si m , 1 06, 1 30, 1 3 1 , 1 34-8 passim , 1 4 2 , 1 48 ,

1 t1 9 , 1 50, 1 67 , 1 68, 1 75 , 1 7 7 , 1 8 4 , !.! 0 1 , 2 0.1 , 2 1 5 , 2 1 6 , 2 38-4 2 fJassi m , 2 , 1 7 , 2 5 1 , 2 6 1 , 2 6 2 , 2 65 , :.? 8 �{-8 fJassi m , 2 9 2 , 295, 2 98 , 2 99 , �� ( ) I , ;� 0 6 , 3 0 7 , 30 8 , 3 I 0 , 3 1 I , 3 2 0, ;{ 2 1 , g :.? ,t , g 7, 1 , -1 ° 0 , ,p , 1 , 4 !.! 0 , 4 !.! 2 , 1 g 1 , · 1 · 1 ° , · 1 8 1 , ,1 68, '1 97 , 1 ! ) 8 , 5 1 ,1 , 5 !.! ;{ ; boarding hou ses , 2 80- 1 ; flood o f 1 88 '..? , 2 88-9; popu l ation , '..? 7< > , 2 7 !)i real estate boom , 2 65 , :.? 6!)-8 2 , !.! f) 0- 1 \Vin ston's Dock , 1 94 \Visco n s i n , ,1 7 \Vo l f, Joseph , 2 75 \ Vo lseley, G arnet, 2 6 , 2 7 , 392 \Vood, E. B., So \Vooclcock , Percy , 4 8 1 lVorld ( Toronto ) , 3 1 8 \Vorthingto n , J ames, 4 2 9 \Vorthi ngton l\1 ine, 4 2 9 1

Yale ( B .C . ) , 1 1 9 , 1 5 7 , 364, 365 , 368- 7 2 pa ssim , 3 7 7 , 3 7 9 , 3 8 1 , 3 83-6 fJ ass irn , 44 4 , 4 4 g ; fir es, 385 ; liquor traffic, 3 84-5 Y ale ( riding ) , 95 Yel l ow Head Pass, 2 5 , 3 4 , 4 1 , 1 07 , 1 1 9 , 1 30, 1 5 8 , 1 5 9 , 2 4 4 , 3 1 5 , 344 ; Flemi n g's exploration of, 3 5 , 5 6 , 97 , 1 5 9 ; M arcus Smith's opposition to, 1 2 7-8; Moberly's sur\'ey of, 1 04 ; officially adopted as route , 1 02 ; vVaddington's espousal of, 4 1 Yel lowstone R i \'er , 2 0 2 , 2 5 0 Yoho N ational Park , 2 4 8 , 46 1 Yoho River, 34 3 York Rangers, 4 8 7 , 494 Young, Ja mes, 1 8, 7 8 , 88

I

"'

A ,Vote A bo u t t h e fl uth o r

Pierre Berton i s a t h01nc i n all 1nedia. A f onner n1agazme editor, newspaper colmnnist, and book editor, he has been seen regularly on Can adian television for the past fifteen years. His daily interview progrmn travels the globe and his radio connnentary" is heard each 1norning in Toronto . He is also the country's best-selling author, with an unprece­ dented trio of GoYernor General's Awards ( equivalent to the U . S . Pul itzer Prize ) to his credit. Berton 's two books on the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway ( here condensed into a single volume for A111erican readers ) broke all publishing records in Can ada. His history of the Gold Rush, Th e Klondike Fever, is con­ sidered the definitive work on th at subject and the National Filn1 Board docun1entary City of G old, which he wrote and n arrated, has won son1e forty intern ational awards including the Grand Prix at Cannes. Mr. Berton also holds two Na­ tional Newspaper Awards and the Stephen Leacock n1edal for hun1 or . He is the father of seven children and lives with his family at Kleinburg, Ontario , a smal l village not far fron1 Toronto .

-

A !\Tote o n t h e Type

This book was set in ;.\ Ionticello, a linotype revival of the original R0111 an No . 1 cut by Archibald Binny and cast in 1 796 by the Phil adelphia type foun dry , Binny & Ron aldson. The face was nained i\Ionticello in honor of its use in the n1onun1ental fif ty-vohnne Papers of Tho m as Jefferson , pub­ lished by P rinceton University P ress. l\1onticello is a transi­ tional type design , e111bodying certain features of Bulmer and Baskerville, but it is a distinguished face in its own right. C01nposed , printed, and bound by The H addon Craftsmen , Inc., Scranton, Pa.

·, ,.

'

.

•

.,,.,,\..., ., '

fi ,

: . I/

I

/

,,

'

?

5

I

N

I

��

1�:�;

J

SOUTH� A\TA

C.1, 1..,lp_

/

I I

I I I I

- - - - - - - - - - - - .......__

-•

-

I

/ VTA.lJ � - - - -- - -

!

�

.CJ � P0 I

"'

·

-,

--- - - �--- - I

D

f

s \

�

NEBRASKA

�- R,,

r �

,,,

�

I

( ro11 t i1utcd fro m f ro11 t flap)

\\

\

�'

I

\

\

Jf l [)

�

L-...../ ,.._/

�,

�

CJ

�

D

'...., /

\ J \ \ TR A I I

l__

)

cl

� �

p. 1

/

"'I.

prostitutes, ga1nblers, and bootleggers ca­ rousing in the construction ca1nps ,vhile thousands of Chinese la borers toiled - and of ten died - to force a righ t of way through t he 1najest ic but unyielding country of the North ,vest . Until, ulti1natcly, the ahnost incredible feat of flinging 2 500 1niles of steel across a continent in less than five years was acco1nplished . Pierre Berton 's 1nagnificent reconstruc­ tion of this heroic saga, based on unpub­ lished 1nanuscripts, diaries, and letters, as ,veil as on public docu1nents, newspapers of the ti1ne, and ot her pri111ary sources, is an i 1nportant contribution to history as ,veil as a book that will bring to life for every reader a great adventure and the all-too­ hu1nan figures who lived it.

I

(

A lfred A . l(nopf, Publish er,

PH I NTED IN U .S . A .

I NOlS \

NE\V YORK

PIE RRE B E RTON i s Canada's pren1ier journalist, at hon1e i n all 1nedia-n1agazines, ne,vs­ papers, books, and television . He is also the country's best-selling author. ·vith an unprecedented trio of Governor General's A,vards ( equival'- nt to the U. S. J>ulitzer Prize) to his credit. His history of

the Gold llush, The Klondike ]?ever, is considered the definitive ,vork

on that subject, and the National l�ilm Board docu1nentary City of Gold, which he wrote and narrated, has won so,rne forty international a,vards, including the Grand Prix at Cannes. �Ir. Berton also holds

t,vo National Newspaper 1\,vards and the Stephen Leacock medal for lnunor. lie is the father of seYen children and lives ,vith his family in Kleinburg, Ontario, not far fro1n 1'oronto.