The Life and Work of Sir William Van Horne

Walter Vaughan

• Publisher: Braunfell Books
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9781839749483
• Topic: Histoire
• Subtopic: Histoire de l'Amérique du Nord

Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, KCMG (February 3, 1843 – September 11, 1915) is most famous for overseeing the construction of the first Canadian transcontinental railway, a project that was completed in 1885, in under half the projected time. He succeeded Lord Mount Stephen as president of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1888. He was responsible for launching the sea transport division of the CPR, which inaugurated regular service between Vancouver and Hong Kong in 1891. He also presided over the expansion of the CPR into the luxury hotel business in the 1890s. He was also a prominent member of the syndicate that created the Cuba Railroad Company in 1900. He lived at the Van Horne Mansion in Montreal's Golden Square Mile.
"Van Horne once protested against "unauthorized" biographies because they "suggest that they have been cooked, pruned, and glossed over to suit somebody, and therefore lose their value." In his opinion a biography should be "frank, square-toed, and pungent." Again, he exhorted a biographer of his friend Lord Strathcona to make his book "a real one—a strong, fearless, flatfooted, straightforward work." This life of himself has, at any rate, been written with fearlessness and sincerity."-Preface

Table of contents

• Title page
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• PREFACE
• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
• MAPS
• CHAPTER I-1843-51. ANCESTRY. BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD.
• CHAPTER II-1854-60. SCHOOLDAYS. TELEGRAPHY. A PANORAMA. FOSSILS AND GEOLOGY. HIS FIRST POST. DISMISSAL. THE MICHIGAN CENTRAL. THE AGASSIZ CLUB.
• CHAPTER III-1861-67. ENLISTMENT. THE CHICAGO AND ALTON. AGASSIZ. DRAWING. MARRIAGE.
• CHAPTER IV-1868-74. PROMOTION. THE CHICAGO FIRE. THE ST. LOUIS, KANSAS CITY AND NORTHERN. RAILWAYMEN’S CLUBS. A STRIKE. A PRACTICAL JOKE. NURSING.
• CHAPTER V-1874-79. THE SOUTHERN MINNESOTA. ESPRIT DE CORPS. FLOODS. GRASSHOPPERS AND PRAYERS. PUTTING PLACES ON THE MAP.
• CHAPTER VI-1879-81. THE CHICAGO AND ALTON. PRESIDENT HAYES. THE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE AND ST. PAUL. ENGINES AND CARS. STATION DESIGNS. A RAILWAY FIGHT. JAMES J. HILL. FOSSILS AND HORTICULTURE.
• CHAPTER VII-1881. THE CANADIAN PACIFIC. ITS INCEPTION. DONALD A. SMITH, J. J. HILL, GEORGE STEPHEN, R. B. ANGUS. THE SYNDICATE. THE CHARTER.
• CHAPTER VIII-1882. WINNIPEG. THE LAKE SUPERIOR SECTION. HILL’S WITHDRAWAL. KICKING HORSE PASS. MAJOR ROGERS. T. G. SHAUGHNESSY. ORGANIZATION AND CONSTRUCTION. VAN HORNE’S DRIVING FORCE. REMOVAL TO MONTREAL.
• CHAPTER IX-1883. LAKE SUPERIOR SECTION. INDIANS ON THE PRAIRIES. CHIEF CROWFOOT AND PERE LACOMBE. THE MOUNTAIN SECTION. EASTERN EXTENSIONS AND THE GRAND TRUNK. A GOVERNMENT LOAN.
• CHAPTER X-1884. TOURS OF INSPECTION. VANCOUVER. PHYSICAL COURAGE. FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. SIR JOHN MACDONALD.
• CHAPTER XI-1885. THE SECOND RIEL REBELLION. DESPERATE FINANCIAL PLIGHT. DIFFICULTIES AT OTTAWA. ANOTHER GOVERNMENT LOAN. THE LAST SPIKE. SILVER HEIGHTS. THE FIRST THROUGH TRAIN.
• CHAPTER XII-1885-86. CREATING TRAFFIC. SLEEPING-CARS. POLITENESS. EXTENSIONS. SNOWSHEDS. PLACES ON THE MAP. THE VAN HORNE RANGE. PACIFIC STEAMSHIPS.
• CHAPTER XIII-1887-88. THE PRESIDENCY OF THE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL. CAPITALIZING SCENERY. MOUNTAIN HOTELS. FIGHT WITH MANITOBA GOVERNMENT. THE ONDERDONK SECTION.
• CHAPTER XIV-1888-90. APPOINTED PRESIDENT. T. G. SHAUGHNESSY. GEORGE M. CLARK. THE GRAND TRUNK. U.S. BONDING PRIVILEGES. THE “SOO” AND SOUTH SHORE LINES. PRAIRIE SETTLEMENTS.
• CHAPTER XV-1882-90. THE PERSONAL SIDE. JAPANESE POTTERY. PAINTING. GAMES. MIND-READING. JIMMY FRENCH.
• CHAPTER XVI-1891. A GENERAL ELECTION. MANIFESTO AGAINST RECIPROCITY WITH U.S. OFFER OF KNIGHTHOOD. THE CHÂTEAU FRONTENAC. THE FIRST ROUND-THE-WORLD TOUR.
• CHAPTER XVII-1892. ENCOURAGING FARMERS AND RAISING THE PRICE OF WHEAT. THE GRAND TRUNK SEEKS AN ALLIANCE. THE INTERCOLONIAL AND ATLANTIC STEAMSHIP SERVICE. MOUNTSTEPHEN RESIGNS.
• CHAPTER XVIII-1893. COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION. STRENGTHENING THE COMPANY’S FINANCIAL ORGANIZATION. J. J. HILL AND THE DULUTH AND WINNIPEG RAILWAY.
• CHAPTER XIX-1893-96. THE DULUTH AND WINNIPEG, BUSINESS PARALYSIS. FLOODS OF THE FRASER. APPOINTED A K. C. M. G. MILITARY MAPS. A GENERAL ELECTION. THE MANITOBA FREE PRESS.
• CHAPTER XX-1896-99. THE LOSS OF THE DULUTH AND WINNIPEG. A BITTER BLOW. ATLANTIC STEAMSHIP SERVICE. RESIGNS PRESIDENCY OF C. P. R. A HOLIDAY IN CALIFORNIA.
• CHAPTER XXI-1890-1900. PRIVATE INTERESTS. THE WINDSOR SALT CO. THE LAURENTIDE PULP CO. COVENHOVEN. JAPANESE POTTERY. ART COLLECTIONS. PAINTINGS. CUBA.
• CHAPTER XXII-1900-02. CUBA AND THE CUBA COMPANY. ORGANIZATION. T. F. RYAN. RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. THE RIGHT OF WAY. A GENERAL RAILWAY LAW. GENERAL LEONARD WOOD. CELEBRATION AT CAMAGUEY. OPENING OF RAILWAY.
• CHAPTER XXIII-1903-05. HARD TIMES IN CUBA. A GOVERNMENT LOAN. RAILWAYS IN THE PHILIPPINES. THE GUATEMALA RAILWAY. DEATH OF MARY VAN HORNE.
• CHAPTER XXIV-1905-08. INSURRECTIONS IN CUBA AND GUATEMALA. A VISIT TO GUATEMALA. J. J. HILL AGAIN. THE DOMINION STEEL AND COAL COMPANIES. STOCK-BREEDING.
• CHAPTER XXV-1907-10. A STOCK-MARKET PANIC AND SPANISH-AMERICAN INVESTMENTS. GEORGIAN BAY CANAL. EQUITABLE LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY. BIRTH OF GRANDSON. A CIRCUS PARTY. RESIGNS CHAIRMANSHIP OF C. P. R.
• CHAPTER XXVI-1910-11. LIFE IN CUBA. SARDINE PLANT. TOWN-PLANNING. VIEWS ON IMPERIALISM. RECIPROCITY AND GENERAL ELECTION IN CANADA.
• CHAPTER XXVII-1912-14. FESTIVAL AT JOLIET. A WHIMSICAL LETTER. HUMBUG. THE KEY TO SUCCESS. ILLNESS. READING. CONVALESCENCE. LAST VISIT TO EUROPE.
• CHAPTER XXVIII-1914-15. THE GREAT WAR. CHAIRMANSHIP OF NATIONAL COMMISSION. SECOND ILLNESS. DEATH. JOHN E. LOGAN’S VERSES.
• CHAPTER XXIX-PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. PORTRAITS. FRIENDS. G. T. BLACKSTOCK’S APPRECIATION.
• BIBLIOGRAPHY