The Last Spike in Craigellachie BC

Every summer, my family takes its yearly vacation up to Revelstoke and Vernon in the Interior of BC. Along the way and up the Coquihalla highway, there are actually quite a few destinations that are rich areas in BC history. One of them is The Last Spike in Craigellachie, which is just 40 minutes outside of Revelstoke.

Unsplash – Tom Barrett

The Last Spike was the ceremonial final spike driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway at approximately 9:22 am on November 7, 1885. The man who finished the job was CPR railway financier Donald Smith, ending a spell of natural disasters and other issues preventing Canada’s first transcontinental railway from begininning.

While the Last Spike signalled the completion of the CPR, it remained a symbol of unity for Canada. However, due to the need to build protective snowsheds in nearby Rogers Pass, trains did not run until June of 1886. At the time, the railway’s completion fulfilled an 1871 commitment made by the Canadian Federal Government to BC that a railway is made joining the pacific province to central Canada.

This promise of a transcontinental railway was a big factor in BC’s decision to join the Canadian Confederation. However, future governments mishandled the project, and by the original deadline of 1881 little of the railway had actually been completed, leading to threats of secession by certain BC politicians. The work was then assigned to a newly incorporated CPR company, which was granted an additional ten years to finish the line, and they did it in five.

Unsplash – Kuchihige Saboten

My dad has worked with Canadian Pacific Railway basically his whole life, and he says that the final spike was so much more than just a spike being driven into the ground. It symbolized the future to come for the company.

If you ever end up visiting the Last Spike, you’ll notice a sign and a large monument commemorating all the hard work that was put in before the completion of the railway, and all the people involved in the entirety of the process. It’s a beautiful spot along your journey of BC to stretch out your legs, maybe have a picnic and take in some history.

 

 

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