David Morrison of the Canadian Museum of Civilization with the ceremonial Last Spike in Calgary - 14 Jun 2012 Leah Hennel.

14 June 2012

Ceremonial Last Spike to Land in Canada's Main History Museum

Calgary Alberta - One of Canadian history's most enduring mysteries has been solved after the descendants of William Van Horne, the builder of the Canadian Pacific Railway, finally acknowledged that a silver, ceremonial "Last Spike" has been in the family's possession for the past 127 years.
 
The story has come to light because Van Horne's heirs have agreed, after two years of discreet discussions, to donate the object to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, located in Gatineau, Quebec, directly across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill.
 
The spike was formally unveiled on Thursday during a ceremony at the Canadian Pacific Railway Pavilion in Calgary, not from the historic site in Craigellachie, British Columbia, where another "Last Spike" made of iron was officially hammered on 7 Nov 1885 by railway financier Donald Smith to complete Canada's transcontinental railway.
 
The moment, captured in the country's single most famous photograph, has come to symbolize Canada's birth as a coast-to-coast nation.
 
Smith is shown standing beside Van Horne at the moment the spike is driven home, surrounded by dozens of workers clad in classic 19th-century garb, including renowned railway engineer Sir Sandford Fleming.
 
But the event also gave rise to a confusing set of stories about how many "Last Spikes" there actually were, and where they each ended up.
 
There were, as it turns out, three.
 
Complicating the chronicle was the fact that the ceremonial silver spike, which was being transported to B.C. by Canada's governor general of the time, Lord Lansdowne, never reached Craigellachie. The vice-regal representative was unable to attend the 1885 ceremony in the end, but he had that spike mounted on a stone base and sent to Van Horne as a gift commemorating his contribution as the railway's chief builder.
 
While there has long been speculation that a ceremonial silver spike had wound up in Van Horne's possession, that has only now been confirmed with the donation by his heirs.
 
Meanwhile, back at Craigellachie, it was decided that Smith would pound a conventional iron spike to symbolize completion of the railway, but his first strike was off-centre and he bent the big nail.
 
That damaged spike, minus several chunks carved away to create souvenir jewelry commemorating the 1885 ceremony, is held today by the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa.
 
Smith then drove a second iron spike, the one that served to complete the ceremony. That spike, too, was later removed for fear of souvenir-hunters pulling it from the track, and it's believed to still be in the possession of the descendants of another railway official.
 
Canadian Museum of Civilization curator David Morrison told Postmedia News on Thursday that the silver spike was unveiled in Calgary because of the special significance of the completion of the CPR for Western Canada.
 
Morrison added that the artifact would be returned to Gatineau immediately following Thursday's ceremony to be displayed at the Museum of Civilization, Canada's main history museum, along with letters exchanged between Lord Lansdowne and Van Horne referencing the governor general's gift.
 
"The completion of Canada's first transcontinental railway is one of the most significant and famous events in our country's history," museum president Mark O'Neill said in a statement. "The ceremonial Last Spike is an extraordinary artifact that will help us tell this story to future generations. We are very grateful for this generous donation."
 
Toronto resident Sally Hannon, a Van Horne descendant who attended the Calgary event, said Van Horne "was passionate about Canada and proud of his contribution to its development."
 
"I believe he would be delighted to know," she added, "that this symbol of his greatest achievement will have a permanent home in Canada's national museum of human history."
 
Randy Boswell.
 
Read more at the CPR Set-off Siding - The Last Spike.