William Cornelius Van Horne

William Cornelius Van Horne was the driving force behind the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the visionary who turned the Canadian Rockies from an engineering obstacle into a global tourist destination. His strategy was simple but revolutionary: “If we can’t export the scenery, we’ll import the tourists.”

Rise to power. Born in Illinois in 1843, Van Horne began as a telegraph operator and rose through American railroads. Recruited as CPR General Manager in 1881, he completed the transcontinental line five years ahead of schedule. He was a ruthless executive and a sophisticated intellectual; a fossil collector and talented amateur painter. Where others saw granite walls and expensive grades, Van Horne saw “capital.”

Selling the scenery. By 1885 the railway was finished but in debt; trains ran empty through the unpopulated West. Van Horne marketed the Rockies as the “Switzerland of North America,” targeting wealthy Victorian travelers with luxury and wilderness. He gave free rail passes to landscape painters (John Arthur Fraser) and photographers (the Notman studio) on condition they produce work depicting the Rockies; these images were exhibited in London, Paris, and the eastern US, creating a romanticized image of the Canadian West before most Canadians had seen it. He famously ordered a hotel in Banff re-oriented when he realized the kitchen had the best view.

Lake Louise. Van Horne personally commissioned the first accommodation at Lake Louise in 1890; “Chalet Lake Louise,” a modest single-storey log cabin (central room, kitchen, two bedrooms) for alpinists and travelers taking the horse-drawn tram from Laggan. The humble cabin burned in 1893 and was replaced by larger wings, evolving into the Chateau Lake Louise.

Commercialized preservation. Van Horne’s approach was utilitarian: preservation for revenue, not ecology. He lobbied the government to create National Parks around his hotels (Mount Stephen House, Banff Springs, Lake Louise), arguing that if the land weren’t protected from lumberjacks and miners, the “asset” (the view) would be ruined. The Canadian National Park system began partly as a way to protect the CPR’s tourism investments. He believed wilderness had no value if people couldn’t reach it comfortably; justifying tea houses, cog railways, and luxury dining in the forest. He chose the southerly Kicking Horse Pass route over the Yellowhead to consolidate Canadian territory.