Lady Macdonald And The Cowcatcher

When Canada's "First Lady" got a great look at the Rockies

The story of Agnes Bernard and Sir John A. Macdonald began in 1856 when the two met for the first time when Agnes was 20. At the time, her brother, Hewitt Bernard, was the private secretary to Macdonald.

Bernard didn’t want his sister seeing Macdonald because he knew of Macdonald’s problems with heavy drinking.

Macdonald was also married to his first wife at the time, Isabella, but she passed away one year later.

A decade later the couple met again while Macdonald was in London to negotiate the British North America Act. They quickly fell in love and married on Feb. 16, 1867, only months before Sir John A. became Canada’s first Prime Minister.

In 1869, their only child, Margaret, was born. She suffered from severe handicaps and was confined to a wheelchair throughout her life.

Throughout her adult life, Agnes travelled extensively and loved to try new ways of travel. This included taking canoes and toboggans, as well as riding a bicycle when it was still a relatively new invention. Later in her life, she loved riding in automobiles.

Known for her keen wit and perceptive mind, she wrote two sketches of her travels on the Canadian Pacific Railway. The first was By Car and by Cowcatcher, and the second was An Unconventional Holiday.

It was the first account that has become the most famous.

While in the Canadian Rockies as she and her husband travelled across Canada on the newly-completed Canadian Pacific Railway, she decided that she wanted a better look at the beautiful landscape. She was also getting bored of the view from the train car and wanted to mix things up a bit.

So, she decided to ride on the cowcatcher at the front of the train.

The engineer did not want her to ride on the front of the train, calling it a very bad idea. He was firm in his decision.

Sir John A. Macdonald was not keen on the idea, but the railway superintendent agreed to sit with her to keep her safe on the train. With the Prime Minister and Superintendent overruling him, the engineer agreed to have Agnes on the front of the train.

Once she was securely attached to the cowcatcher on a box that was secured to the front, the train began to move through the Rockies in British Columbia.

She stated in her account,

“There is glory of brightness and beauty everywhere and I laugh aloud on the cowcatcher, just because it is all so delightful.”

The steep drops over the Great Divide of the mountains terrified the Superintendent but by all accounts Agnes was delighted with the ride. Once the train stopped, Sir John A. went to the front of the train and his wife asked him to come up with her.

He agreed, and the Superintendent went back into the train. Sir John A. and Agnes travelled only a few kilometres before they stopped and got back into the train.

She rode up on the front of the train several times throughout the Rockies, usually with the Superintendent

In her account, she relates the unfortunate fate of some pigs who wandered on the track along the Fraser Valley. She stated,

“There was a squeak, a flash of something near, and away we went…I shut my eyes tightly almost as soon as the pigs appeared, I cannot bear testimony of the fact.”

The poor Superintendent was hit by the body of one of the pigs and nearly fell off.

At one point, the engineer had to stop suddenly after a slide had deposited dirt and gravel over the rails. If he had not stopped, the train may have jumped the track.

This didn’t seem to bother Agnes who delighted in the close call.

Even a forest fire kept Agnes at the front of the train. The engineer was told to rush through the area before the fire cross the tracks. Agnes was told to come in but she refused, stating it would be a delightful new sensation to experience.

Eventually the train reached the end of the rail in B.C. and Agnes had quite the story to tell about seeing the Rockies from the front of a train.