Donald Alexander Smith - Lord Strathcona
The answer is: Donald Alexander Smith!
Born in 1820, in the small town of Forres in Scotland, he emigrated to Canada at the age of 18 and is known to most Canadians as Lord Strathcona.
Driving the last spike at Craigellachie, 1885
He made his fortune building railroads and consequently, played a leading role in railway development in Canada. In 1880 he was one of the organizers of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was chosen in 1885 to drive the last spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia.
Craigellachie is Gaelic for “the rock of alarm.” Instead of alarm, that spike built a nation. A plaque marks the spot where Canada was connected coast to coast.
At the 100th Anniversary of Lord Strathcona Regiment ceremony, the General Governor of Canada wore the jewel “pin” which was manufactured from the last spike.
A regiment bears his name and made itself famous in the Boer war: the Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) for which Canada Post issued a stamp on remembrance day, November 11th, 2000 to commemorate Canada’s most illustrous military regiment.
He also became Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company and High Commissioner for Canada before the end of the 19th Century.
Indian Feathers
His wife, Isabella, was born and brought up near Hudson Bay. When they both left to live in Scotland, Lord Strathcona acquired the Glencoe Estate.
It is said that Isabella was so homesick, that to ease her illness, he recreated, on the estate, a typical canadian forest environment in order for her to feel like “at home”.
Isabella, whose grandmother was a Native American, longed for the waters and forests of her Canadian home. However, she never took to her new country and the couple returned to Canada.
The lochan, in the grounds of what was once the Glencoe estate, built by Lord Strathcona, is now an attractive area of parkland dominated by the the distinctive Pap of Glencoe. When the wind drops, the surface of the water stills and reflects the surrounding hills and woods. Glencoe House is now a hospital.
Take a look at the beautiful scenery one can view while walking around Lochan Loch along the Lochan Trail.
Glencoe Lochan, Scotland - © 2007 Scotiana
Glencoe Lochan, Scotland © 2007 Scotiana
Donald Alexander Smith is a hero of a true “rags to riches” story, Scottish style…
In a description of Strathcona’s native town of Forres, for example, we are told about the luckenbooth pins, shaped like a pair of interlocked hearts and given as love tokens. Strathcona bought one of these for his wife in 1865 [p. 124] and she wore it for the rest of her life, as we can see in the photograph facing page 193.
So that what first appears as a bit of local colour later becomes a symbol of a long and loving marriage. Similarly, accounts of Strathcona’s physical clumsiness culminate in the description of the single most famous act of his life—the driving of the last spike.
This should be known perhaps as the second spike, as his first attempt mangled the spike so badly that it had to be discarded. (The bent spike was to be covered with diamonds and presented to his wife as yet another love token.)
Strathcona dressed appropriately, whether for the bush or the board room, because he was a man who respected conventions. Yet he knew there were times when conventions could be respected too much. How else could he have lived for over 40 years with a woman to whom he was married in every way that counted, except legally? (What with one thing and another, the couple did not undergo a legal ceremony of marriage until they were grandparents in their seventies.)
Isabella Hardisty (1825-1913) was described by Strathcona as his “stay and comforter throughout a long life.” [p. 492] A woman of much intelligence and self-confidence, qualities she seems to have inherited from her maternal grandmother, a woman of the country known as Jeanny Sutherland, she yet did one stupid thing in her life. This was to take up with the hot-tempered and abusive James Grant. She had the courage to leave him and, along with their small son, Jamesie, seek the protection of young Mr Smith.
Soon afterwards, Isabella conceived her only child by Donald, a daughter named Maggie. As McDonald’s describes Lady Strathcona’s death at their home in Grosvenor Square, with her husband at her side holding her hand, she looks back to their beginnings in North West River: “She had seduced him and made him love her and he had never stopped doing so.” [p. 492] Bold words, but they carry conviction. Donald Smith is not likely to have made the first move towards a woman in distress.
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/43/lordstrathcona.shtml
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Canadian Yesterdays by Edgar A Collard
So much more to say..it calls for another post. Stay tuned !
Talk soon,
Janice
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