The Last Spike: The Great Railway, 1881-1885

The Last Spike: The Great Railway, 1881-1885

Pierre Berton

Anchor Canada (2010)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Tags: History, Canada, General
Historyttt Canadattt Generalttt

In the four years between 1881 and 1885, Canada was forged into one nation by the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The Last Spike
reconstructs the incredible story of how some 2,000 miles of steel crossed the continent in just five years — exactly half the time stipulated in the contract. Pierre Berton recreates the adventures that were part of this vast undertaking: the railway on the brink of bankruptcy, with one hour between it and ruin; the extraordinary land boom of Winnipeg in 1881–1882; and the epic tale of how William Van Horne rushed 3,000 soldiers over a half-finished railway to quell the Riel Rebellion.

Dominating the whole saga are the men who made it all possible — a host of astonishing characters: Van Horne, the powerhouse behind the vision of a transcontinental railroad; Rogers, the eccentric surveyor; Onderdonk, the cool New Yorker; Stephen, the most emotional of businessmen; Father Lacombe, the black-robed voyageur; Sam Steele, of the North West Mounted Police; Gabriel Dumont, the Prince of the Prairies; more than 7,000 Chinese workers, toiling and dying in the canyons of the Fraser Valley; and many more — land sharks, construction geniuses, politicians, and entrepreneurs — all of whom played a role in the founding of the new Canada west of Ontario.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Review

"No novel could surpass
The Last Spike
for plot; no western for wildness... This is a great book."
—
Vancouver Sun

"Lively, human and utterly absorbing."
—
The Financial Post

From the Trade Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

In the four years between 1881 and 1885, Canada was forged into one nation by the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The Last Spike
reconstructs the incredible story of how some 2,000 miles of steel crossed the continent in just five years ? exactly half the time stipulated in the contract. Pierre Berton recreates the adventures that were part of this vast undertaking: the railway on the brink of bankruptcy, with one hour between it and ruin; the extraordinary land boom of Winnipeg in 1881?1882; and the epic tale of how William Van Horne rushed 3,000 soldiers over a half-finished railway to quell the Riel Rebellion.

Dominating the whole saga are the men who made it all possible ? a host of astonishing characters: Van Horne, the powerhouse behind the vision of a transcontinental railroad; Rogers, the eccentric surveyor; Onderdonk, the cool New Yorker; Stephen, the most emotional of businessmen; Father Lacombe, the black-robed voyageur; Sam Steele, of the North West Mounted Police; Gabriel Dumont, the Prince of the Prairies; more than 7,000 Chinese workers, toiling and dying in the canyons of the Fraser Valley; and many more ? land sharks, construction geniuses, politicans, and entrepreneurs ? all of whom played a role in the founding of the new Canada west of Ontario.

“Late events have shown us that we are made one people by that road, that that iron link has bound us together in such a way that we stand superior to most of the shafts of ill-fortune …”

–
Sir John A. Macdonald, June, 1885

“All I can say is that the work has been done well in every way.”

–
W. C. Van Horne, at Craigellachie

Copyright © 1971 by Pierre Berton Enterprises Ltd.
Anchor Canada paperback edition 2001

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication, reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisher — or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a license from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency — is an infringement of the copyright law.

Anchor Canada and colophon are trademarks.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

Berton, Pierre, 1920-
    The last spike : the great railway 1881–1885

eISBN: 978-0-385-67354-9

1. Canadian Pacific Railway Company – History – 19th century. 2. Canada – History – 1867-1914. 3. Railroads and state – Canada – History – 19th century. 4. Railroads – Canada – History – 19th century. I. Title.

HE2810.C2B482 2001         385’.0971         C2001-930605-9

Published in Canada by
Anchor Canada, a division of
Random House of Canada Limited

Visit Random House of Canada Limited’s website:

www.randomhouse.ca

v3.1

Books by Pierre Berton

The Royal Family

The Mysterious North

Klondike

Just Add Water and Stir

Adventures of a Columnist

Fast Fast Fast Relief

The Big Sell

The Comfortable Pew

The Cool, Crazy, Committed World of the Sixties

The Smug Minority

The National Dream

The Last Spike

Drifting Home

Hollywood’s Canada

My Country

The Dionne Years

The Wild Frontier

The Invasion of Canada

Flames Across the Border

Why We Act Like Canadians

The Promised Land

Vimy

Starting Out

The Arctic Grail

The Great Depression

Niagara: A History of the Falls

My Times: Living with History

1967, The Last Good Year

Picture Books

The New City (with Henri Rossier)

Remember Yesterday

The Great Railway

The Klondike Quest

Pierre Berton’s Picture Book of Niagara Falls

Winter

The Great Lakes

Seacoasts

Pierre Berton’s Canada

Anthologies

Great Canadians

Pierre and Janet Berton’s Canadian Food Guide

Historic Headlines

Farewell to the Twentieth Century

Worth Repeating

Welcome to the Twenty-first Century

Fiction

Masquerade (pseudonym Lisa Kroniuk)

Books for Young Readers

The Golden Trail

The Secret World of Og

Adventures in Canadian History (22 volumes)

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Other Books by This Author

Maps

Cast of Major Characters

The Great Canadian Photograph

ONE

1. The end and the beginning

2. How John Macoun altered the map

3. The first of the CPR towns

4. The “paid ink-slingers”

5. Enter Van Horne

TWO

1. The great Winnipeg boom

2. Fool’s paradise

3. “Towns cannot live of themselves”

4. The bubble bursts

THREE

1. The new broom

2. Five hundred miles of steel

3. End of Track

4. Edgar Dewdney’s new capital

5. The Grand Trunk declares war

FOUR

1. “Hell’s Bells Rogers”