The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was not a conquest of man over nature as some historians have suggested and the driving of the last spike did not cement that victory. By studying the CPR from an environmental perspective, it becomes obvious that the relationship between the people and the environment in the mountains was two-fold: workers had an effect on the environment through fires, deforestation, excavation, and blasting, and the environment likewise had an effect on workers through the hardships of weather, challenging terrain, avalanches, and floods. Shortcuts, such as steep grades and wooden bridges, taken by the CPR throughout construction to save money and time, as well as the poor route choice, had unintended consequences for the operation of the railway. Massive deforestation and fires had repercussions for the watershed of the eastern Rocky Mountains and the choice of Rogers Pass meant that the CPR had to deal with numerous avalanches and deep snow. Steep grades and lines that were easily flooded or open to avalanches resulted in the deaths of numerous workers and expensive repairs to engines and the track. The construction of the CPR also had a notable impact on western Canada as it opened up the land to tourism, settlement, agriculture, and the lumber and mining industries. In building and operating the line, the CPR had to learn to adapt to the environment in order to carry out repairs quickly and get trains through.

The Quebec City festivals of 1927 and 1928 represent a unique instance of close collaboration between prominent figures in Canadian musical and cultural history, John Murray Gibbon and Marius Barbeau. Based on Anglocentric concerns for a unique Canadian identity and corresponding school of composition, the festivals served as points of contact between many artists and performers, including Juliette Gauthier and Florence Glenn. An analysis of specific performances at the CPR festivals and over the course of Glenn and Gauthier’s respective careers showcase how racialized attitudes towards Indigenous populations, and the static conceptualization of French-Canadian folk culture were navigated to perform “Canadian folksong.”

In 1887, following the completion of the CPR to the Pacific, William Stewart Drewry took part in the Topographical Survey of Canada's first experiment with photographic surveying, which he applied to the Rocky Mountain Railway Belt. He then surveyed the rich mining districts of BC during the Kootenay hardrock mining boom (1893-1909). In 1909, he became BC's first and only Chief Water Commissioner and, in 1911, he returned to surveying as BC's Inspector of Surveys. From 1913 until his retirement in 1929, he surveyed for government and in private practice. Throughout his career, Drewry operated between two land systems: first, a system based on customary rights and local obligations; and, second, a system based on private property and market exchange. Drewry implemented the latter capitalist system, attempting to empower the settlement society, which had the effect of ensuring corporate dominance and, to Drewry's dismay, monopolization of the BC landscape.