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The Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was the ceremonial

final spike driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie,

 British Columbia at 9:22 am on November 7, 1885.

It was driven in by CPR railroad financier Donald Smith,

 marking the end of a saga of natural disasters,

 financial crises and even rebellion that plagued

 Canada's first transcontinental railroad from its beginning.
 

The Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway

The Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway

Donald Alexander Smith drives in the Last Spike
The Last Spike signalled the completion of the CPR

(although the need for other work besides the track

itself meant that the railway did not actually open until June 1886),

driven through under engineer James Ross, it remains

today a symbol of national unity in Canada. At the time,

it fulfilled an 1871 commitment made by

the Canadian federal government to British Columbia

 which stipulated that a railroad be built joining

 the Pacific province to Central Canada.

The promise of a transcontinental railway

 had been a major factor in British Columbia's

decision to join the Canadian Confederation.

 However, successive governments mismanaged

 the project and by the original deadline of 1881 little of the railway had been completed,

 resulting in threats of secession by some BC politicians.

The work was then assigned to a newly incorporated CPR company,

which was allowed an additional ten years to complete the line,

 and they did it in five.
 

The Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway

加拿大太平洋鐵路（Canadian Pacific Railway）是加拿大的一級鐵路之一，由加拿大太平洋鐵路公司營運。其網絡橫跨西部溫哥華至東部蒙特利爾，並設有路線通往美國.公司總部設於亞伯達省卡爾加利。

該鐵路系統的前身是加拿大東部至卑斯省之間的鐵路線，於1881年至1885年間興建，用以連接渥太華及喬治亞灣兩地的既有鐵路，實現了卑斯省於1871年加入加拿大邦聯的回報承諾。這條鐵路也是加拿大首條越洲鐵路，現時主要行駛貨運列車，在之前曾有一段長時間作為全加拿大唯一的長途客運運輸工具，也為加拿大西部地區發發展帶來貢獻。鐵路於1978年由VIA鐵路接收，並於1986年停止客運服務。公司標誌上方的河狸代表其扮演勤勞角色，在120多年間曾獲不少褒貶，也是加拿大民族主義的具爭議性標誌。

                              

在加拿大決定要建這條太平洋鐵路的時候，美國的東西鐵路已經完成了，而那一大群的黃種人便頓時成了美國的燙手洋芋。於是，在加拿大政府的利誘之下，許多剛建完美國東西向鐵路的華工，又跑到卡加利繼續建造這條加拿大的太平洋鐵路。

和同時一起建鐵路的其他外勞相較之下，華工是雇主的最愛，領的工資比其他歐洲小國請來的外勞少，做的時間久，不罷工，不偷懶，真正是做到了耐操好擋拼第一（台語），尤其是洛磯山脈一帶的危險工段，由於風險太大，其他國的勞工都罷工時，華工仍是傻傻地領著原先議訂的每天一塊錢的工資幹下去。

大部份的華工也不過是十歲出頭的小子、剛結婚的少年或是剛做了爹的壯丁罷了。而當時華工因從事較危險的洛磯山脈段，多石的地型（Rocky mountains are really rocky.）加上嚴刻的氣候，工安事件層出不窮，平均每四公里，便要死一名華工...

旅行團的車延著這條大西洋鐵路彎延地繼續向內陸前進，看著窗外的鐵路，想像每四公里，就倒下一個孩子、一個丈夫、或是一個父親...以時速90 km/hr 計，每160秒，就有一個留在異鄉的靈魂在鐵道上夭折，再也回不了家。

"最後一根釘" 歷史事件景點是這條太平洋路的最後一根軌道釘釘下去的工程。錘落釘下，就算是通車了。但是，在這麼一個重要的歷史事件中，當天的報紙上的照片中，並沒有華工的身影。那張照片裡有各式各樣歐陸外勞的服飾和帽子款式，但是就是沒有華工的身影.

The Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway

A plaque commemorating the driving of the Last Spike
In contrast to the ceremonial gold or silver final spikes o

ften used to mark the completion of other major railroads,

the Last Spike was a conventional iron spike identical to

 the many others used in the construction of the line.

 In fact, a silver spike had been created for the Governor General,

 Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne,

who was to be present at the ceremony but he was forced,

 due to poor weather, to return with the spike to Ottawa.

The silver spike remained in the hands of the Van Home family

 until 2012 when they donated it, along with other artifacts to the

 Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec.

 The Last Spike, the one made of iron, was removed

 from the track shortly after the official delegation

 left because it was believed that souvenir hunters

might attempt to tear it up in the future.

Another normal spike was inserted in its place.

The actual spike was given as a gift to the son of

the patent office president at the time, and is still in the

family's possession, fashioned into the shape of a carving knife.
 
The now famous photograph of Donald Alexander Smith driving

 in "The Last Spike" was taken by

Winnipeg photographer Alexander J. Ross.
 
The most famous accounts of the construction and completion

 of the CPR are Pierre Berton's twin volumes

The National Dream and The Last Spike.

 Another important recollection of this event is the narrative

poem entitled Towards the Last Spike by Canadian poet, E.J. Pratt.
 

A boardgame published under the name "The Last Spike" had

 as its object the financing and construction of a trans-Canadian railway.

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