The Railway across Canada

 There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run

When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun

Long before the white man and long before the wheel

When the green dark forest was too silent to be real

But time has no beginning and the history has no bound

As to this verdant country they came from all around

They sailed upon her waterways and they walked the forest tall

Built the mines, the mills and the factories for the good of us all

And when the young mans fancy has turned into the spring

The railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring

Their minds were overflowing with the visions of their day

Where many a fortune lost and won and many a debt to pay

For they looked in the future and what did they see

They saw an iron road runnin' from the sea to the sea

Bringin' the goods to a young growin' land

All up from the seaboards and into their hands

Look away sad days

Across this mighty land

From the eastern shore

To the western strand

Bring in the workers and bring up the rails

We got to lay down the track and tear up the trails

Open your heart let the life blood flow

We got to get on our way 'cause we're movin' to slow

Bring in the workers and bring up the rails

We got to lay down the track and tear up the trails

Open your heart, let the life blood flow

We got to get on our way 'cause we're movin' too slow

Get on our way 'cause we're movin' too slow

Behind the blue Rockies the sun is declinin'

Stars have come stealin' at the close of the day

Across the wide prairies our loved ones lie sleeping

Beyond the dark ocean in a place far away

We are the maries who work upon the railway

Swingin' our hammers in the bright blazin' sun

Livin' on stew and drinkin' bad whiskey

Bendin' our backs 'till the long days are done

We are the maries who work upon the railway

Swingin' our hammers in the bright blazin' sun

Layin' down track and buildin' the bridges

Bendin' our backs 'till the railroad is done

So over the mountains and over the plains

Into the Muskage and into the rain

Up to St. Lawrence on the way to Gaspé

Swingin' our hammers and drawin' our pay

Drivin' em in and tyin' 'em down

Away to the bunkhouse and into the town

A dollar a day and a place for my head

A drink to the livin' a toast to the dead

Oh, the song of the future has been sung

All the battles have been won

On the mountain tops we stand

All the world at our command

We have opened up this soil

With our teardrops and our toil

There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run

When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun

Long before the white man and long before the wheel

When the green dark forest was too silent to be real

When the green dark forest was too silent to be real

And many are the dead men

Too silent to be real

The National Dream

For homesteading to happen, the people presently living on the prairies had to be dealt with. This was the numbered treaties as mentioned in previous blogs.  Read here about that

1. Manitoba Confederation, B.C. Confederation, the signing of the treaties then the engineering feet of the railway across Canada. This is all done for what?

-Then to help with the transformation to an agricultural economy, and solidify the country, this was built. 

Then the wave of immigration 

Coming to Manitoba

Free land, well, not quite free, and you had to do a few things, and the deal was only available to certain people

National Dream

Now that Canada had all that land in the West, they needed to solidify their ownership. They also were trying to entice British Columbia into Canada. The solution they came up with was to build a railway to enable setters to come to Western Canada to farm and ship their wheat around the world. The railway would also enable B.C. to be connected to the rest of Canada. Much of Canada's history has been resisting the pulls North and South. The people of the Maritimes on the East coast traded North and South with their ships. The people on the prairies travelled North and South on the prairies. The people on the West coast travelled North and South, having the Rockies as a barrier to going East. 

For homesteading to happen, the people presently living on the prairies had to be dealt with. This was the numbered treaties as mentioned in a previous blog.  More information here about our history

1. Manitoba Confederation, B.C. Confederation, the signing of the treaties then the engineering feet of the railway across Canada. This is all done for what? (hint-sett___  to fa__)

-More details here on the railway that helped  to erase the buffalo and make wheat king, and that also tied the country together East to West.

2. More about  the Canadian Pacific Railway here.  How did the railway make a difference with how the Canadian government treated Riel's led rebellions of 1870 and 1885?







 



 -
More about the CPR here

3. Besides money, how would you compensate the CPR for building the railway? Think of what Canada has lots and lots  to offer (hint, where Ingenious people used to live).



Then the wave of immigration