The Last Spike - History Matters

Описание: It's November 7th, 1885. In a forest clearing just west of Revelstoke, British Columbia, a group of men gather. They are here to witness Canadian Pacific Railway director, Donald Smith, hammer in the last spike of a young country's coast-to-coast railway.

Smith clumsily bends the spike, rendering it useless. And it isn't even the right spike. The official last spike, made out of silver, was to be hand delivered by the Governor General. But he was called back to Ottawa.

Smith awkwardly whacks away at a second spike. This time he's successful.

East and west are connected—ending fears of British Columbia abandoning Canada and the prairies joining the United States.

After all Smith's efforts, the spike is removed and replaced because of concerns that souvenir hunters might steal it. Where this last spike ended up remains a mystery.

Some say it was given to the patent office president whose son made it into a carving knife. There are even rumours that it was made into jewelry. Others contend it's on display in a national museum. Wherever it might be, it did successfully join together two ribbons of steel—that bound a nation.

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