John Duncan McArthur
| John Duncan McArthur | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1854-06-25 Lancaster, Upper Canada |
| Died | 1927-01-10 Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Occupation | Railway contractor, lumberman, businessman |
| Partner | |
John Duncan McArthur (25 June 1854 – 10 January 1927 (aged 72)) was a Canadian railway contractor and businessman who built more than 2,800 miles of track across western and northern Canada, including portions of the first Canadian transcontinental railways and early lines serving the Thunder Bay region.[1]
Early life
McArthur was born on 25 June 1854 in Lancaster, Glengarry County, Upper Canada. He received his schooling in Glengarry County and worked as a farmer before moving west in 1879.[1]
Career as a railway contractor
After his move west, McArthur found work maintaining rail connections between Winnipeg and Saint Paul. When the Canadian Pacific Railway began its transcontinental construction in 1881, he secured subcontracts for rock cutting along the section between Winnipeg and Fort William, as well as prairie work farther west. After 1883 he obtained mountain section contracts through James Ross.[1]
In 1888 McArthur signed a contract to build the Red River Valley Railway from Winnipeg south to Emerson, a line chartered under the Manitoba government of John Norquay. The federal government of John A. Macdonald disallowed the provincial legislation authorizing the line, but construction continued. A dispute between CPR workers under William Whyte and McArthur's crews over crossing rights reached the courts, which decided in Manitoba's favour in 1889.[1]
From 1897 McArthur held the contract for the Crow's Nest Pass Railway between Lethbridge and Nelson. The project drew federal scrutiny over working conditions and worker treatment; a commission chaired by judge Calixte-Aimé Dugas investigated the allegations in 1898.[1]
McArthur also contracted with Canadian Northern Railway promoters William Mackenzie and Donald Mann for construction work in the prairie west. Under transcontinental railway legislation passed by Sir Wilfrid Laurier's government in 1903, he worked on segments of both the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and the National Transcontinental Railway. In 1905 he secured the contract for the western portion of the National Transcontinental line, running from Winnipeg to Superior Junction in northern Ontario — a corridor that passed through the Thunder Bay hinterland. His original bid of $33,073 per mile ultimately cost $78,745 per mile by the time the section was completed in August 1910.[1]
McArthur gained control of the Edmonton in 1911, which served the Peace River country of northern Alberta, and obtained the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway contract in 1913. The outbreak of the First World War interrupted construction; the Alberta government assumed control of the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway in 1920.[1][2]
Before the federal election of 1911, McArthur also contracted under the Liberal Party of Canada government to build a railway from The Pas to Port Nelson on Hudson Bay. The incoming Conservative government of Robert Borden initially suspended and then extended the contract. Construction reached mile 333 in December 1917 before halting due to funding difficulties, a fire that destroyed track-laying equipment, and uncertainty about the harbour at Port Nelson. The contract was cancelled in 1919 and the Canadian National Railways took over the remaining equipment. The route was ultimately redirected to Churchill, where the railway was completed in 1930–31.[1][3][4]
Lumber and pulp interests
Alongside railway contracting, McArthur developed extensive timber and pulp and paper interests. He held timber leases in Manitoba (near Birtle and at Lac du Bonnet) and in British Columbia, and organized the Manitoba Pulp and Paper Company. He completed a paper mill and associated hydroelectric plant at Pine Falls before his death. He also held an interest in a second pulp mill near Prince George and in mining operations near Moyie, as well as substantial real estate in Winnipeg.[1]
Personal life
McArthur married Mary McIntosh in January 1889 in Lancaster, Ontario. The couple had no children. Later in life McArthur sought treatment in the United States for pernicious anaemia, but the illness was not successfully treated.[1]
Death
McArthur died in Winnipeg on 10 January 1927. Despite completing more than 2,833 miles of railway and building several major industrial enterprises, he remained one of the most controversial railway contractors in western Canada's history.[1][5]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Theodore D. Regehr."Theodore D. Regehr, "McArthur, John Duncan," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15."[website].Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15 (University of Toronto/Université Laval).2005.University of Toronto/Université Laval.Link.(Rights: copyrighted | Access: open)
- ↑ J. A. Eagle."J. A. Eagle, "J. D. McArthur and the Peace River Railway"."[newspaper].Alberta History.1981.vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 33–39.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ H. A. Fleming."Canada's Arctic outlet: a history of the Hudson Bay Railway."[book].1957.Berkeley, California; repr. Westport, Connecticut, 1978.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ A. B. Woywitka."A. B. Woywitka, "Strike at Waterways"."[newspaper].Alberta Historical Review.1972.vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 1–5.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ "Obituary notice."[newspaper].Manitoba Free Press.1927-01-11.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)