Category Archives: Place Names

Dominion Pass

British Columbia. Unofficial name
Between Castle Creek and Cariboo River
53.0163 N 120.3732 W GoogleGeoHack
Not currently an official name.

Location approximate.

From 1871 to 1874, four expeditions searched the Cariboos to determine whether there was a practical route that could be used. In 1871, James A. Mahood, with a large party, left Quesnelle, crossed Dominion pass, and went down Castle river to the Fraser, where he wintered and continued his fruitless search the next year. Dominion pass is northwest of the higher portion of the Cariboos. This crossing with pack animals, may have been the first recorded crossing of a glacial pass in Canadian mountains..

— Zillmer

This pass does not currently seem to have a name. “Dominion Pass” is not currently recognized.

References:

  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “Explorations in the Southern Cariboos.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 27 (1939):48-61. Alpine Club of Canada

Wapiti River

British Columbia and Alberta. River: Smoky River drainage
Flows NE across BC-Alberta boundary into Smoky River
54.7333 N 120 W — Map 093I09 — GoogleGeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1915
Name officially adopted in 1947
Official in BCTopo map from Canadian Geographical Names

Identified as “Callahoo River” on “Sketch map of region between Yellowhead Pass & Peace River” by Richardson and Hale, 1915 (received March 1920, LI 101402, file 34275-S).

References:

Also see:

Park Range

Alberta-BC boundary.
Canadian Rocky Mountains
Not currently an official name.

The Park Ranges, also known as the Main Ranges (neither names recognized in the official gazeteers) are a group of mountain ranges in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta. It is one of the three main subranges and the most central of the Continental Ranges, extending from southeast of Mount McGregor to the Fernie Basin.

References:

Also see:

Kitchi Creek

British Columbia. Creek: Fraser River drainage
Flows W into McGregor River, E of Mount Kitchi
53.9633 N 120.6364 W — Map 093H15 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1965
Official in BCCanada

Adopted in 1986 in association with Mount Kitchi, from a Cree word meaning “great” or “mighty.”

References:

Also see:

Jarvis Lakes

British Columbia. Lakes: Peace River drainage
N of Kakwa Lake near BC-Alberta boundary
54.0931 N 120.1967 W — Map 093I01 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1965
Official in BCCanada

Adopted 17 August 1965 on 93I, as labelled on BC map 1H, 1917, and on plan 10T264, “Topographic survey of head of McGregor River” by A.J. Campbell, BCLS, 1929, and as recommended for adoption by BC Geographic Division 1933 (file 34275s #3

Five lakes in the chain. 3 drain east to Kakwa River, the other 2 drain west through Jarvis Creek.

Named by R. W. Jones, a GTP surveyor who was in the area about 1904-06 (information from S. Prescott Fay, file P.1.47).

Jarvis Creek flows out of a chain of 5 lakes…” (excerpt from Major Hannington’s journal, 24 February 1875, being an account of his explorations with E.W. Jarvis, 1874-75, and marking this location as “Summit between B.Columbia and the N.W. Territory”

This feature had been mis-labelled “Barbara Lakes” on “Exploration…Wapiti River to the Fraser River” compiled in 1928 by H.G. Dimsdale & Prentiss Gray (Geog. map 14-P) “….we found in Jarvis Pass a chain of four beautiful lakes, sketched by Mr. Prescott Fay about 1914, fed by the perpetual snows and ice-fields of Mounts Teepee and Kitchi [sic]. These lakes were the principal source of the Barbara River [sic], so we called them Barbara Lakes….” ( from”A New Low Pass of the Rockies” by Prentiss Gray, published in Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. vol LXXX No.2, August 1932) [note that Gray’s names “Barbara River” and “Barbara Lakes” (after his daughter) were not accepted – he had simply ignored the prior existence of “Jarvis”.

References:

Chetang Ridge

Alberta. Ridge
E of Adolphus Lake
53.1725 N 119.0694 W — Map 083E03 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1956
Official in Canada

A number of Indian dictionary words have been applied to mountain peaks by modern travellers. The Indian practice, however, is more to describe a physical feature by a sentence than by a word. Such artificial names include the following: Chetang (hawk)…

— Douglas 1919

“Chetang Ridge” is listed at the Indigenous Geographical Names dataset as a word of undetermined language.

References:

  • Douglas, Robert [1881–1930]. “Notes on Mountain Nomenclature.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 10 (1919):31-35

Joel, Mount

British Columbia. Former unofficial name
Cariboo Mountains, S of McLennan R
Not currently an official name.
This former unofficial name appears on:
Zillmer maps of Cariboo 1939-1948 [1946]

We went over over the ridge without much trouble, however, and then took a course westward a little below timber line, whereas, had we known it, we could have again taken a better route on the quite level alpine meadows above timber line. Shortly after noon we saw N3 below us and were surprised to see smoke in the valley. Jim thought the camper was Joel Nord, a prospector whom he knew, but he was not sure, so he cautioned me to be quiet as he approached the camp and held his loaded gun ready for firing.

It proved to be Joel Nord, who had been prospecting for mica in this locality for three years. We camped with him, and I obtained a great deal of information from him, for he had made a very thorough examination of the country to the N., S., and W. of us and had staked out over half a dozen mica claims that looked very promising. The information proved to be of great value and saved us considerable effort and time.

— Zillmer 1946
References:

  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “The exploration of the sources of the McLennan River.” American Alpine Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1946). American Alpine Club

Nord, Mount

British Columbia. Former unofficial name
Cariboo Mountains
Not currently an official name.
This former unofficial name appears on:
Zillmer maps of Cariboo 1939-1948 [1946]

We went over over the ridge without much trouble, however, and then took a course westward a little below timber line, whereas, had we known it, we could have again taken a better route on the quite level alpine meadows above timber line. Shortly after noon we saw N3 below us and were surprised to see smoke in the valley. Jim thought the camper was Joel Nord, a prospector whom he knew, but he was not sure, so he cautioned me to be quiet as he approached the camp and held his loaded gun ready for firing.

It proved to be Joel Nord, who had been prospecting for mica in this locality for three years. We camped with him, and I obtained a great deal of information from him, for he had made a very thorough examination of the country to the N., S., and W. of us and had staked out over half a dozen mica claims that looked very promising. The information proved to be of great value and saved us considerable effort and time.

— Zillmer
References:

  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “The exploration of the sources of the McLennan River.” American Alpine Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1946). American Alpine Club

Swoda Creek

Alberta. Creek: Smoky River drainage
Flows W into Smoky River near Wolverine Mountain
53.3097 N 119.2542 W — Map 083E06 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1956
Topo map from Canadian Geographical Names

“Swoda Mountain” is listed at the Indigenous Geographical Names dataset as the Stoney language name for Smoky River.