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: Md 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. C 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. B Its building approved by country as a measure of national growth and expansion, 241. D 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.