Canadian Pacific Railway Reaches Vancouver

On June 17, 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway drove its last spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia, completing the 3,000-mile transcontinental route from Montreal to the Pacific. Led by William Cornelius Van Horne, the project overcame immense engineering challenges including the Selkirk Mountains and Fraser Canyon. The railway used 4-4-0 locomotives initially and opened vast territories for settlement and resource extraction. This event unified Canada politically and economically, enabling rapid westward expansion and establishing Vancouver as a major port. The CPR's completion remains one of the greatest feats of 19th-century civil engineering.