WARMINGTON: Father of Confederation's statue history but his legacy can't be erased

Mowich

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The railroad was completed late.

That isn't an opinion or a judgement. That is just a fact.


Well thank you so much for you invaluable contributions to the thread, Hoidie. So very illuminating and informative. :roll:
 

petros

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I had no idea it halted in Wollsley until now.

The railroad was completed late.

That isn't an opinion or a judgement. That is just a fact.

And Chief Piapot insisted it would never be completed. "I will stop the CPR" he proclaimed.

Sound familiar?
 
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Walter

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Let's face it, folks. All 19th Century politicians were flawed characters. They were also part of their time. MacDonald's anti-First Nations policies could not have taken place without the consent of the governing majority. I suppose we could simply eliminate all historical references to every politician who has offended a racial minority, but that would be a complete distortion of history. It appears that a single mistake by any politician means that all of the good they achieved is immediately cancelled. That is a form of historical revisionism I cannot agree with.
All humans are flawed characters. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, Romans 3:23
 

Curious Cdn

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I guess they hadn't anticipated Riel either.

Louis and his rebellion sped up the construction. The troops from Ontario had to cross Lake Huron and Superior by steam boat, though.

The problem was building through the mountains of granite and muskeg around Lake Superior. If you've ever driven or ridden the CPR through there (I've done both several times) you can see the problem. It was as difficult as building through the Rockies and to this day, they have to add ballast to the track bed as they slowly sink into the muskeg loon shit.
 

petros

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By the time of the North West Rebellion the CPR was already into the NWT (SK at that time).

You might be thinking of of the formation of the NWMP and their march to Fort Walsh.
 

Curious Cdn

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By the time of the North West Rebellion the CPR was already into the NWT (SK at that time).

You might be thinking of of the formation of the NWMP and their march to Fort Walsh.

They still hadn't finished the Main Line above Lake Superior, though. The entire portion was blasted out of pre-cambrian rock. No limestone anywhere.
 

petros

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The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) made their initial journey to the Canadian prairies in March West, between July 8 and October 9 1874.

North West Rebellion was in 1885.

In 1885 the CPR ended in Wollsley and was already tied to the Grand Trunk from the US to Winnepeg.
 

Curious Cdn

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The trip to the West was, for many, the hardest part of the campaign. The CPR line was not complete. There were four major gaps along the north side of Lake Superior. At some of these gaps the CPR had sleighs to carry the men and equipment but at others the men were required to march across the frozen lake. Even in areas where there was track the men suffered. There were not enough passenger cars, so open flat cars were used to transport the men through the frozen night. Eventually they made it to Port Arthur where passenger cars were waiting. From there the run to Qu’ Appelle Station was uneventful.

http://qormuseum.org/history/timeline-1856-1899/northwest-rebellion-1885/
 

petros

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A Gatling Gun on its way to Custer was shipped to Wollsley after Custer was slaughtered.

They offered it to NWMP to use but they already had them surrounded at Batoche.

The trip to the West was, for many, the hardest part of the campaign. The CPR line was not complete. There were four major gaps along the north side of Lake Superior. At some of these gaps the CPR had sleighs to carry the men and equipment but at others the men were required to march across the frozen lake. Even in areas where there was track the men suffered. There were not enough passenger cars, so open flat cars were used to transport the men through the frozen night. Eventually they made it to Port Arthur where passenger cars were waiting. From there the run to Qu’ Appelle Station was uneventful.

http://qormuseum.org/history/timeline-1856-1899/northwest-rebellion-1885/

Cool. Thanks.
 

Twin_Moose

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I wonder if they polled the Asian community as to there feelings of the statue of MacDonald, or any other forced labour group that worked on the RR. Or is it just FN feelings we are worried about?
 

White_Unifier

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I wonder if they polled the Asian community as to there feelings of the statue of MacDonald, or any other forced labour group that worked on the RR. Or is it just FN feelings we are worried about?

I did mention a former Governor-General's later involvement in the Opium wars including his forcing the Qing emperor to sign a humiliating treaty and ordering the Old Summer Palace destroyed and participating in its looting. The mistreatment of Chinese in Canada pales in comparison to that national tragedy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bruce,_8th_Earl_of_Elgin

Fly the flag of the Qing Dynasty high and proud!
 

JLM

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The railroad was completed late.

That isn't an opinion or a judgement. That is just a fact.


Are you familiar with the spiral tunnels near Field B.C.? Do you have even an inkling about planning them, calculating them and laying them out. Do you have any idea about how to calculate spiral tunnels. Do you think you could do it without a calculator? Do you think after excavating for months you could meet near the middle within a 1/10 of foot both horizontally and vertically? All this being achieved thought the toughest terrain in the world! For all your talk on pretty much every subject, I'd be willing to bet you'd emerge at the other end looking like a complete idiot! :) :)
 

Mowich

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Are you familiar with the spiral tunnels near Field B.C.? Do you have even an inkling about planning them, calculating them and laying them out. Do you have any idea about how to calculate spiral tunnels. Do you think you could do it without a calculator? Do you think after excavating for months you could meet near the middle within a 1/10 of foot both horizontally and vertically? All this being achieved thought the toughest terrain in the world! For all your talk on pretty much every subject, I'd be willing to bet you'd emerge at the other end looking like a complete idiot! :) :)


That and how they managed to build the railroad across the muskeg back East - quite the feat that was too, JLM.
 

justducky

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Are you familiar with the spiral tunnels near Field B.C.? Do you have even an inkling about planning them, calculating them and laying them out. Do you have any idea about how to calculate spiral tunnels. Do you think you could do it without a calculator? Do you think after excavating for months you could meet near the middle within a 1/10 of foot both horizontally and vertically? All this being achieved thought the toughest terrain in the world! For all your talk on pretty much every subject, I'd be willing to bet you'd emerge at the other end looking like a complete idiot! :) :)

So you agree it was finished late?
 

Curious Cdn

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So you agree it was finished late?

They were built well after the railroad was complete (25 years later). The Spiral Tunnels were a later modification added because the original grade was too steep and they were having a lot of trouble with it.

They're still making modifications to the railroad here and there. Does that mean that it's late?
 

JLM

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So you agree it was finished late?


Late for what? The planned completion date? How does one plan for a completion date for something that was never done before? Do you think possibly the planning stage (on paper) might be a little easier than the construction stage? Planning stages aren't encumbered by such things as difficult terrain and crappy weather! About the only thing it may have been late for was the planned completion parade. :) :) :)
 

justducky

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Late for what? The planned completion date? How does one plan for a completion date for something that was never done before? Do you think possibly the planning stage (on paper) might be a little easier than the construction stage? Planning stages aren't encumbered by such things as difficult terrain and crappy weather! About the only thing it may have been late for was the planned completion parade. :) :) :)

I was teasing. I've actually been to Craigellachie in BC where they put in the last spike. My parents were history buffs.
 

JLM

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They were built well after the railroad was complete (25 years later). The Spiral Tunnels were a later modification added because the original grade was too steep and they were having a lot of trouble with it.

They're still making modifications to the railroad here and there. Does that mean that it's late?


You're absolutely correct, I got a little ahead of myself. As far as modifications go, about 30 years ago they built another tunnel below the Connaught Tunnel through Rogers Pass. The Connaught Tunnel was 'killing' engines on the east bound trip. I think the new tunnel - the MacDonald Tunnel reduced the grade by a full one percent and carries west bound trains to accommodate the heavy coal cars. . At the time it was the biggest engineering project in North America.
 
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