Carving the Western Path: By Rail, By Road, By River Through BC's Southern Mountains [Paperback]

R. G. Harvey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1895811627 | ISBN-13: 978-1895811629 | Publication Date: January 1, 2010

R.G. Harvey has applied a keen mind and deft pen to uncover skulduggery in politics and critical routing errors by the early surveyors and engineers who " carved their western paths". In turn he has exposed new scars and wrinkles to add to historic portraits otherwise untainted. " Many of Canada's rail tycoons and their engineers come close to slipping off the pedestals where Canadian historians have placed them," he says. Did both federal and provincial politicians wittingly sabotage road construction programs to the benefit of the rail barons? Were Cornelius Van Horne, Major A.B. Rogers and Andrew McCulloch fully deserving of the accolades bestowed on them? The author justifies Western Canada's ongoing distrust of federal transportation tax policies. A century of deal making and government misdeeds form the backdrop of this entertaining account of sternwheelers, iron horses, and mountain roads. Battling factions of rail builders cross many a line in the sand as they carve up both the land and the spoils of industry. Discover why Kicking Horse Pass never should have been used for construction of the CPR and why the Kettle Valley Railway was a strategic mistake. Decide for yourself if railwayman J.J. Hill was a genius or an opportunist. and meet real heroes who turned pathways into highways in spite of the obstacles both political and natural.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Heritage House Publishing (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1895811627
• ISBN-13: 978-1895811629
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,789,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ramming Through to the West Coast!, April 18, 2000

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This review is from: Carving the Western Path: By Rail, By Road, By River Through BC's Southern Mountains (Paperback)

Harvey describes in considerable but not tedious detail the factors that led to the past and present tranportation corridors in southern British Columbia, spanning a period from the mid-nineteenth century, into the second half of the 20th. Every citizen should become familiar with the shenanigans of the big corporate and government interests that retarded transportation development, and the settlement and livelihoods of the ordinary working people in this part of the west. This account is a good start. The author takes us into the stupid and expensive competition between the early railroaders and the steamboat companies, and the struggle to build roads across the land from east to west. He describes the immense difficulties in creating east-west transport links across a rugged land of north-south valleys, and terrible mountain passes. Given the love/hate relationship many westerners have had with the big railroad interests, Harvey debunks the legends of some of the construction personalities, including the americans J.J.Hill and W.C. VanHorne. He is critical of the short-sighted company and government decisions that led to great inconvenience and delays in development of the interior of the northwest that lasted decades. Clearly a fan of the Sternwheelers in the west, he dwells upon their charms and gives us a clear sense of the romance of traveling the interior lakes, and on the Columbia, Fraser, and Kootenay rivers. He gives us an implicit warning here too, of the dangers of applying yesterday's technology to tomorrow's transportation needs. Harvey knows his stuff, at least partially a result of his long time employment in government Public Works. He has included maps, fascinating photos, good chapter notes, a bibliography, and an index in this well-edited book. This volume is written for the general reader in B.C. and western frontier history, and is recommended for those old enough to remember nothing but dusty gravel roads in the west, youth who think highways and railways have always just been there, rail and steamboat fans, and anyone who wonders why the northern Pacific coast is the way it is! This was an excellent historical read, very entertaining, and hard to put down. Together with it's companion volume, "Carving the Western Path - By River, Rail, and Road Through Central and Northern B.C.", Harvey has written a very good 'popular history' account of the coming of modern transportation and its' enormous effects on settlement and industry in the far west.