In 1871, the Canadian government of John A. MacDonald took on one of the biggest civil engineering projects ever undertaken in North America: the building of a transcontinental railroad. It was the product of the government’s promise to link British Columbia to the rest of the Canadian Confederation to the east.

The project was expected to take 10 years but was completed in five. It required 5,000 horses, 300 dogsled teams and thousands of laborers. Men as young as 14 worked up to 16-hour shifts earning one or two dollars per day. The workers had to pay for all their own expenses, including food, clothing, medical care and even transportation to and from the jobsite.

The 15,000 Chinese laborers had it the hardest. They received a maximum of $1.25 a day, and did the most dangerous jobs, including rock blasting. Hundreds were killed. Their families were not compensated — or even notified, and many never made enough money to go home.

But on November 1885, Sir Donald Smith of the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. drove the last spike into the tracks at Craigellachie, British Columbia. It was the crowning moment of a monumental achievement, albeit one that extracted an enormous toll in sweat and blood.

Story Tools:  Email This Post  Print This Post Top