From Telegrapher to Titan: The Life of William C Van Horne

David Kimmel, Ph.D., is a Montreal-based freelance writer.

Not since the 1920s has the Van Horne life story been told in
monographic form, and no previous author has attempted to understand the
Canadian railway tycoon’s very human side.

Van Horne was a man of interesting contradictions: studious yet
impulsive, hospitable yet parsimonious, humble yet bombastic. He had
good reason to be all these things. Born in modest surroundings in the
pre-Civil War American Midwest, he taught himself everything he knew and
swiftly rose to the top of the burgeoning transportation industry. When,
in the early 1880s, the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway
looked destined to fail, Van Horne came to the rescue. Later, he
contributed to the modernization of Cuba by building up its rail
infrastructure. It was said that he did more for the island nation in a
few years than the Spanish Empire had done in four centuries.

Needless to say, he also became wealthy. As a noted art collector (and
a painter of some talent himself), he was a tastemaker. But he is not to
be included among the philanthropists of his generation. He rarely gave
to public causes, and gained the status of “Benefactor” of the
Montreal Museum of Fine Art only by making the minimum contribution
necessary. However, through his agency, Canadian artists were able to
ride the CPR rails on reduced fares so they could paint the young
country.

Biographers often attribute the successes of their subjects to uncommon
force of will. Van Horne’s personality also had destructive qualities.
For example, Knowles shows how his domineering character weighed heavily
on his children and only grandchild. That she offers such a balanced
account of the man is one of this book’s many virtues.