Big Bend Country was important as it was one of the few land routes possible for a wagon road to connect the Pacific Colony with the rest of British North America. After the gold rush in the late 1860s, travellers used canoes or river steamers until the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s. In the early 20th century, the Southern Trans-Provincial Highway was the only automobile route which connected southwestern British Columbia with Alberta. The Big Bend Highway, part of the Central Trans-Provincial Highway, was constructed between 1929 and 1940 and was jointly funded by the provincial and federal governments. It was a relief project during the Great Depression and constructed by pick and shovel. Initially designated as Route A, it opened on June 29, 1940 and was re-designated as Highway 1 in 1941. It was regarded as a perilous gravel road that featured steep grades and runoffs from melting snow in the summer and was closed in the winter, with travellers preferring to use a car shuttle train. In 1949, the Trans-Canada Highway Act was passed which allowed construction of the Trans-Canada Highway, and in 1956 the decision was made to reroute the highway between Revelstoke and Donald through Rogers Pass, which officially opened on September 3, 1962; reducing the travel time by approximately 5 hours.