04/06/2026
📸 Last Rail Spike, Craigellachie, British Columbia, Canada, 1885
This remarkable photograph captures a defining moment in Canadian history. The gentleman driving the final spike is Donald Alexander Smith, later known as Lord Strathcona, who was born in Forres, Scotland, in 1820.
From humble beginnings in the Highlands, Smith went on to become one of the most influential figures in the development of Canada. He played a pivotal role in the creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway, an ambitious transcontinental route that connected Montreal with Vancouver and transformed travel, trade and settlement across the country.
The completion of the railway reduced a journey that once took weeks to just a matter of days, helping to shape modern Canada as we know it today.
A decade later, in 1895, Donald Smith purchased the Glencoe Estate and commissioned Scotland's leading architect, Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, to design the magnificent house that still stands today.
It's fascinating to think that the story of Glencoe House is connected to one of the most significant engineering achievements of the nineteenth century, linking the Scottish Highlands with the vast landscapes of Canada.
