The CPR1. The CPR Syndicate

2. The “Impossible” Railway

3. The CPR and the Northwest Uprising

1. The CPR Syndicate•Within 2 years of being re-elected, Macdonald had found new investors to build a transcontinental railway

•George Stephen was the president of the Bank of Montreal

• In 1880, he became the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR)

•Donald Smith of the Hudson’s Bay Company

• James J. Hill

•Together, these men had purchased the St. Paul and Pacific Railway for $100,000 and within 4 years had turned a profit of $17 million (over $400 million in today’s dollars)

The deal…• In 1880, Macdonald offered these men $25 million in cash, 25 million acres of land, and a monopoly west of Lake Superior

•The CPR Syndicate had to complete the railway in 10 years

•Many speculators had moved into the northern prairies because they expected the railway to run through that area

•To avoid these speculators, the syndicate moved the route 300 km south of the proposed line

The Route

•Construction began in 1881, but only 230 km were finished in the first year

•This was not nearly enough to complete the project within 10 years so William Van Horne was chosen as the new project manager

2. The “Impossible” Railway•Van Horne increased production to 800 km in 1882 and another 800 km in 1883

•The project was on pace, but money became an issue

•The Canadian government paid the company only after each section was built

•The company had to finance each section in advance and began to run out of money

•Even after the government pledged $22.5 in early 1884, by the end of the year the CPR was almost out of money

•More than 35,000 workers were employed between 1882 and 1885

•Many of the workers came from China

•Living and working conditions were terrible

3. The CPR and the Northwest Uprising

•The new CPR was instrumental in moving troops quickly from Eastern Canada to the Northwest when Riel’s rebellion broke out in 1885

•However, there were still some gaps in the line and the troops would have to get out and walk those gaps

•At one point, they hiked 18km over the frozen Lake Superior

•Despite the occasional hike, the troops arrived in Winnipeg within 5 days and were deployed to the prairies within 10

•The government proved that it could quickly respond to a crisis

•The CPR used the leverage of that success to ask the Canadian government for more money

• In early July 1885, the government approved another grant

• In November 1885, the CPR was completed—five years ahead of schedule

Should we have a test for this unit?

No test: hand your Unit 5 Work Packages in on Monday and have a great weekend!