Marked the railroad bind the prairies,

League by league, with iron bands,

Felt the dizzy bridge-span leap its own dark flood.

Till the cow-town's rutted roadways

Into asphalt pavements grew.

By wires webbed and busy markets walled,

And the steel-trussed office building

Reared its cornice to the blue

Where the shanties of the mining camp had sprawled.

Now the hissing, rock-jammed rapids