Canadian Pacific Railway

The contract for construction of the railway

was signed Oct. 21, 1880, the surveys having already been carried out

under the direction of Sandford Fleming. Work was begun on the railway

in May, 1881, and the last spike driven by Sir Donald A. Smith (now Lord

Strathcona), Nov. 7, 1885. A summary of the evolution of the project

will be found in Johnson's First Things in Canada. =Index=: (Sir John A Macdonald era)

Compact with British Columbia for its construction, 150; the Pacific

Scandal, 200-211; difficulties of construction, 232; terms of agreement,

233; Mackenzie government adopts policy of government ownership, 233;

Macdonald, on his return to power, reverts to original scheme, 234;

contract signed September, 1880, and railway completed in five years,

234; Mackenzie's views as to time needed for completion, 234-235; Blake

attacks railway policy, 235; Globe criticizes, and British financiers

pessimistic, 235; directors of the syndicate, 236; terms of contract,

236; Howland syndicate, 237; financial difficulties, 237; last spike

driven at Craigellachie, Nov. 7, 1885, 238; problems of operation, 238;

what the great enterprise means to Canada, 238-239; its military value,

239; conflict with Manitoba as to its monopoly of transportation,

284-285; its effect on Macdonald government, 301. (Sir Georges E. Cartier era) First charter

engineered by Cartier, 51; the railway the crowning work of

Confederation, 51; its eastern terminus, 52; the Allan Company and the

MacPherson Syndicate, 53; the Pacific Scandal, 53-54; bill in

Parliament, 131. (George Brown Era) Its building approved by country as a measure of

national growth and expansion, 241. (Sir James Douglas era) Revolutionizes old conditions

of trade in British Columbia, 265; Imperial government asked to

guarantee its completion, 315; delays in building, 317, 323; movement

for a transcontinental railway, 317-318; negotiations, 318-320; Pacific

Scandal, 321; Carnarvon Terms, 320-322; building operations, 324-326;

completion, 1885, 326; terminus, 327. =Bib.=: Hopkins, Canada: An

Ency., vol. 2; Parkin, The Great Dominion; Begg, History of the

North-West; Fleming, Reports on Canadian Pacific Railway, 1874, 1877,

1878, 1879, 1880.