How the west was won!

When you’re on a four lane freeway driving through the Rockies it's hard to imagine a time before modern transportation. The indigenous people understood the climate, landscape and migration of Western Canada. The prairies to the east were vastly different to the mountainous west. Navigating the Rockies meant mountains, river crossings and massive winter snows.

Along came the ‘white fella’ and the resources were quickly taken/'stolen' and consumed for profit. Transport became a critical factor in building a new economy. First, foot and horse, then stagecoach, and eventually paddle steamer.

But a mid-1800's Gold Rush saw rail as the best transport option. Fast forward to 1885 and Craigellachie, right in the middle of the Rockies, became the site for driving The Last Spike, where east joined west. The frontier was open for trade.

Paddle steamers, horse, stagecoach and foot transport quickly lessened as rail became the dominant transport mode. Durng our sojourn we were never far from a train whistle, these behemoths taking up to 10 minutes before they'd finally passed-by.Read more