When the government of Canada promised the province of British Columbia a railway line from coast to coast in exchange for joining the dominion of Canada instead of the United States , it was necessary to find a route over the majestic Rockies . This was no easy task, one that fell to Major "hells Bells" Rogers, a man so tough and surely who seemed to survive on a diet of chewing tobacco and raw beans. The Major did find a way across the Rockies, and in 1883 the Canadian Pacific Railway was built through Sliding 29, now known as the town of Banff.