The Last Spike: The Great Railway, 1881-1885
- ISBN-10
- 038567354X
- ISBN-13
- 9780385673549
- Series
- The Last Spike
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 496
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2010-12-22
- Publisher
- Anchor Canada
- Author
- Pierre Berton
Description
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.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Until the Last Spike, the Journal of Sean Sullivan, a Transcontinental Railroad Worker, Nebraska and Points West, 1867
By William DurbinSean must start at the bottom, as a water carrier, toting barrels of it to the thirsty men who are doing the backbreaking work on the line.
-
The Last Spike: And Other Railroad Stories
By Cy WarmanThis collection of 17 railroad-themed stories includes such tales as "The Iron Horse and the Trolley," "The Great Wreck of the Pere Marquette," "On the Limited," "The Milwaukee Run," and...
-
Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad
By David Haward BainLawsuits skulked like panthers in the shadows of every outcropping. Freebooting entrepreneurs, who earlier might have been occupied in jumping goldfield claims, had examined the railroad's intended route map and begun seizing title to ...
-
Until the Last Spike: The Journal of Sean Sullivan, a Transcontinental Railroad Worker, Nebraska and Points West 1867
By William DurbinSean must start at the bottom, as a water carrier, toting barrels of it to the thirsty men who are doing the backbreaking work
-
The Last Spike and Other Railroad Stories
By Warman CyUnlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there...
-
The Boundless
By Kenneth OppelAboard "The Boundless," the greatest train ever built, on its maiden voyage across Canada, teenaged Will enlists the aid of a traveling circus to save the train from villains.
-
Canada's Great Highway: From the First Stake to the Last Spike
By James Henry Edward SecretanCanada's Great Highway: From the First Stake to the Last Spike
-
The Boy in the Picture: The Craigellachie Kid and the Driving of the Last Spike
By Ray ArgyleThe Craigellachie Kid and the Driving of the Last Spike Ray Argyle. CHAPTER. 1. EDWARD. LOOKS. FOR. TROUBLE. The thing about Edward was, he couldn't stay out of trouble. It was the one thing he was never shy about.
-
The First Transcontinental Railroad: A History of the Building of the Pacific Railroad
By James K. WheatonTranscontinental Railroad, he caught the attention of Collis Huntington, a hardware merchant. Huntington met with Judah after his presentation in Sacramento. He invited Judah to his office to hear his proposal in detail.
-
The Last Spike [microform]: and Other Railroad Stories
By Cy WarmanThe Last Spike [microform]: and Other Railroad Stories