Category Archives: Place Names

Mammoth Mountain

British Columbia. Mountain
Former name for The Beaver
Earliest known reference to this name is 1914.
Not currently an official name.

This mountain is called “Mammoth Mt.” on J. Norman Collie’s 1910-11 map and on the “Preliminary Map of the Canadian Rocky Mountains between Jarvis Pass and Yellowhead Pass” (Bull. Amer. Geog. Soc. Vol. XLVII, No. 7, 1915), showing the route followed by Mary L. Jobe in August 1914, with guide Donald Phillips.

Both maps shows the Holmes River as “Beaver River.”

References:

  • Collie, John Norman [1859–1942]. “Exploration in the Rocky Mountains North of the Yellowhead Pass.” The Geographical Journal (London), 39 (1912):223-233. JSTOR
  • Jobe Akeley, Mary Lenore [1878–1966]. “Mt. Kitchi: A New Peak in the Canadian Rockies.” Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Volume 47, No. 7 (1915):481-497, Map follows p. 496. JSTOR
Also see:

Kitchi, Mount

British Columbia. Former unofficial name
Mount Sir Alexander
53.9333 N 120.3833 W GoogleGeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1915 (Jobe)
Not currently an official name.
This former unofficial name appears on:
Jobe map Jarvis to Yellowhead 1915
Mt. Kitchi from the southeast showing the Towers. 
Photo, Mary L. Jobe, 1914

Mt. Kitchi from the southeast showing the Towers.
Photo, Mary L. Jobe, 1914
Canadian Alpine Journal 1915

“Mount Kitchi” was adopted in 1915 as established by the reports in mountaineering journals by Mary Lenore Jobe Akeley [1878–1966]. The name was changed to “Mount Alexander Mackenzie” in 1916 as recommended by American alpinist Samuel Prescott Fay [1884–1971]. The name was further changed to “Mount Sir Alexander” in the 15th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1917.

To perpetuate the name “Kitchi,” Allen John Campbell [1882–1967], British Columbia Land Surveyor, placed it on Mount Kitchi to the north, as shown on his 1929 survey plan 10T264, McGregor River area.

References:

  • Fay, Samuel Prescott [1884–1971]. The Forgotten Explorer: Samuel Prescott Fay’s 1914 Expedition to the Northern Rockies. Edited by Charles Helm and Mike Murtha. Victoria, B.C.: Rocky Mountain Books, 2009
  • Jobe Akeley, Mary Lenore [1878–1966]. “The expedition to ‘Mt. Kitchi:’ A new peak in the Canadian Rockies.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 6 (1914–1915):135-143. Alpine Club of Canada
  • Jobe Akeley, Mary Lenore [1878–1966]. “Mt. Kitchi: A New Peak in the Canadian Rockies.” Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Volume 47, No. 7 (1915):481-497. JSTOR
  • Jobe Akeley, Mary Lenore [1878–1966]. “Mt. Alexander Mackenzie.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 7 (1916):62–73. Alpine Club of Canada
  • Fay, Samuel Prescott [1884–1971]. “Note on Mount Alexander Mackenzie and Mount Ida.” Alpine Journal, Vol. 36 (1924):421

Cochrane Creek

British Columbia. Creek: Fraser River drainage
Flows N into Fraser E of Mount Robson
53.0236 N 119.2167 W — Map 83E/3 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1989
Official in BCCanada

Twins Arthur John Cochrane [1891-1941] and Thomas Walter Cochrane [1891-1967] arrived in the area in 1911 to work on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway around McBride. The brothers homesteaded in the Robson valley, and worked with Donald “Curly” Phillips [1884–1938] and Roy Frederick Hargreaves [1891–1971] at Mount Robson and Berg Lake, respectively. (Biography supplied by daughter-in-law Ishbel Cochrane).

References:

Sir Alexander, Mount

British Columbia. Mount
N of McGregor River in Kakwa Provincial Park
53.9333 N 120.3833 W — Map 93H/16 — GoogleGeoHackBivouac
Earliest known reference to this name is 1917
Name officially adopted in 1917
Official in BCCanada
Elevation: 3270 m
This mount appears on:
Samuel Prescott Fay map Mount Alexander 1915 [as “Mt. Alexander”]
Charles Ernest Fay map Canadian Alps 1916 [as Mt. Alexander Mackenzie]
Mt. Alexander six mile distant. 
Photo: Samuel Prescott Fay, 1913

Mt. Alexander six mile distant.
Photo: Samuel Prescott Fay, 1913
Canadian Alpine Journal 1915

Mount Sir Alexander is named for Alexander Mackenzie [1764–1820], who crossed the Rockies from Athabasca territory to the Pacific in 1793. Mackenzie was the probably the first person to cross the continent of North America north of Mexico.

“Mount Kitchi” was adopted as the name of this mountain in 1915, as established by the reports of Mary Lenore Jobe Akeley [1878–1966] in mountaineering journals. The name was changed to “Mount Alexander Mackenzie” in 1916 as recommended by American alpinist Samuel Prescott Fay [1884–1971]. The name was further changed to “Mount Sir Alexander” in 1917.

Alexander Mackenzie crossed the continental divide through what is now Arctic Pacific Lakes Park and would not have seen Mount Sir Alexander.

References:

  • Mackenzie, Alexander [1764–1820]. Voyages from Montreal on the River St. Lawrence through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in the years 1789 and 1793. London: T. Cadell, Jun., and W. Davies, 1803. Internet Archive
  • Fay, Samuel Prescott [1884–1971]. “Note on Mount Alexander Mackenzie and Mount Ida.” Alpine Journal, Vol. 36 (1924):421
  • Fay, Samuel Prescott [1884–1971]. The Forgotten Explorer: Samuel Prescott Fay’s 1914 Expedition to the Northern Rockies. Edited by Charles Helm and Mike Murtha. Victoria, B.C.: Rocky Mountain Books, 2009
  • Fay, Samuel Prescott [1884–1971]. “Mount Alexander.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 6 (1914–1915):121
  • Jobe Akeley, Mary Lenore [1878–1966]. “Mt. Kitchi: A New Peak in the Canadian Rockies.” Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Volume 47, No. 7 (1915):481-497. JSTOR
  • Jobe Akeley, Mary Lenore [1878–1966]. “The expedition to ‘Mt. Kitchi:’ A new peak in the Canadian Rockies.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 6 (1914–1915):135-143
  • Jobe Akeley, Mary Lenore [1878–1966]. “Mt. Alexander Mackenzie.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 7 (1916):62–73
  • Jobe Akeley, Mary Lenore [1878–1966]. “A winter journey to Mt. Sir Alexander and the Wapiti.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 9 (1918):58-65
  • Vreeland, Frederick K. “Early Visits to Mount Sir Alexander.” American Alpine Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1930). American Alpine Club
  • British Columbia Geographical Names. Sir Alexander, Mount

McLennan Range

Feature type:
Province: British Columbia
Location: Informal name for SE range of the Cariboo Mountains, head of McLennan River

Informal name used by mountaineers to refer to the range at the head of the McLennan River, also called the Cariboo Range (of the Cariboo Mountains). Neither “Cariboo Range” nor “McLennan Range” are official names.

Quoting an article in the October 31, 1861, British Colonist about Alfred C. Perry, Munday wrote, “This may be the earliest record of exploration in what is now officially the McLennan Range, but as all early references are to the Cariboo Range that term will be used here.”

Thorington wrote, “Cariboo Range. This range is now officially the McLennan Range. The first crossing was made in 1947 by R. T. Zillmer and his son, from Tête Creek to Canoe River, thence to the N. Thompson and out to Gosnell.”

Zillmer responded that there was no official change of the Cariboo Range to the McLennan Range, a name he used for “that higher portion of the Cariboo Range which is E. of the Raush River and the headwaters of the Azure River, and E. and N. of the North Thompson River.”

References:

  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “Exploration of the McLennan completed.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 30 (1947):85-95. Alpine Club of Canada
  • Munday, Walter Alfred Don [1890–1950]. “That terrible snow-peaked range.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 31 (1948):77-. Alpine Club of Canada
  • Thorington, James Monroe [1895-1989]. “Canada, Cariboo Range.” American Alpine Journal, 7:2 (1949). American Alpine Club
  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “Cariboo Range.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 27 (1950):120. Alpine Club of Canada

Blackstone Creek

British Columbia. Creek: North Thompson River drainage
Flows SW into head of North Thompson River, SW of Valemount
52.6333 N 119.65 W — Map 83D/12 — GoogleGeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1939
Name officially adopted in 1963
Official in BCCanada
This creek appears on:
Zillmer maps of Cariboo 1939-1948 [1939]

Ray Zillmer [1887–1960] wrote of his exploration of the source of the North Thompson River:

It was my purpose [in 1939] to travel up the Thompson Valley to its source, explore its source, determine its relation to the Raush, and cross the range, if possible, going out by way of the Canoe River.…

We had two other alternatives. One was to climb the moun­tain E. of where we then stood, by following a ridge alongside and S. of a creek that came into the Thompson a little N. of us, named Blackstone Creek by Miss Frye. Above timberline we would get to a large icefield which fed this creek and which we called Blackstone Glacier.

Ella Frye was a trapper on the North Thompson for many years.

References:

  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “The exploration of the source of the Thompson River in British Columbia.” American Alpine Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1940):69–81. American Alpine Club

Wolverine Pass

Alberta-BC boundary. Former unofficial name
Smoky and Fraser drainages
Carcajou Pass
53.2333 N 119.2667 W GoogleGeoHack
Not currently an official name.

“Nearly midway between Bess Pass and Robson Pass is a pass of the watershed which is locally known as Wolverine Pass,” wrote boundary surveyor Arthur Wheeler [1860-1945 ]. The pass had been named by Donald Phillips [1884–1938]. “There is another Wolverine Pass in a more southerly part of the Canadian Rockies, so the pass under discussion is here referred to as Carcajou Pass, a synonym for Wolverine.”

References:

  • Wheeler, Arthur Oliver [1860–1945], and Cautley, Richard William [1873–1953]. Report of the Commission appointed to delimit the boundary between the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Part II. 1917 to 1921. From Kicking Horse Pass to Yellowhead Pass.. Ottawa: Office of the Surveyor General, 1924. Whyte Museum

Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Mount

British Columbia. Mount
S of McLennan River in the Premier Range
52.8028 N 119.4253 W — Map 083D14 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 2006
Official in BCCanada
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Wikipedia

Named in 2006 after the Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919-2000), Canada’s 15th Prime Minister, 1968-79 and 1980-84.

Upon Trudeau’s death, then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien floated the idea of renaming Mount Logan, Canada’s highest peak, for Trudeau; when this met with resistance, this formerly unnamed peak was given the designation on June 10, 2006, in a ceremony held at Valemount and attended by Trudeau’s eldest son, Justin.

Elsewhere in the Premier Range, mountains 10,000 feet or higher have been named for former Prime Ministers; this particular mountain, while only 8661 feet elevation, is the most prominent feature on the near horizon overlooking Valemount, is accessible from the Yellowhead Highway, and offers climbing and exploring opportunities for outdoors enthusiasts.

References:

Mica Creek

British Columbia. Former name: Fraser River drainage
Former name for McLennan River
52.9681 N 119.4611 W GoogleGeoHack
Not currently an official name.

“The stream here called McLennan River, its real source, is also known as Mica Creek,” wrote Walter Alfred Don Munday [1890–1950] in 1925.

References:

  • McEvoy, James [1862–1935]. “Map Showing Yellowhead Pass Route From Edmonton To Tête-Jaune Cache.” (1900). Natural Resources Canada
  • Munday, Walter Alfred Don [1890–1950]. “In the Cariboo Range – Mt. David Thompson.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 15 (1925):130-136, p. 136. Alpine Club of Canada

Cariboo Range

Feature type: Mountain Range
Province: British Columbia
Location: Former name for Cariboo Mountains

Map of the Cariboo Mining District to illustrate the report of Amos Bowman

Map of the Cariboo Mining District to illustrate the report of Amos Bowman
Cariboo Gold Rush

This former name for the Cariboo Mountains originally included all of that range, but early mountaineers restricted “Cariboo Range” to “that higher portion of the Cariboo Range which is E. of the Raush River and the headwaters of the Azure River, and E. and N. of the North Thompson River” (Zillmer 1944).

Amos Bowman’s 1887 map of the Cariboo Mining District labelled these mountains as “Cariboo Range,” but the name “Cariboo Mountains” was instead officially adopted in 1918. Neither “Cariboo Range” (nor “McLennan Range”) are official names.

Both Munday (1948) and Thorington (1949) state that “[the Cariboo range] is now officially the McLennan Range,” referring to the restricted area along the headwaters of the McLennan River. Zillmer (1950) contradicted that with reference to communications with the Canadian Board on Geographical Names and Chief Cartographer of British Columbia.

References:

  • Bowman, Amos [1839–1894]. Maps of the principal auriferous creeks in the Cariboo mining district, British Columbia. Ottawa: Geological Survey of Canada, 1895. Hathi Trust
  • Bowman, Amos [1839–1894]. Map of the Cariboo Mining District, British Columbia, to illustrate the report of Amos Bowman. Cariboo Gold Rush
  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “Explorations in the Southern Cariboos.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 27 (1939):48-61. Alpine Club of Canada
  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “The Exploration of the Cariboo Range from the East.” American Alpine Journal, 5:2 (1944):261-274. American Alpine Club
  • Munday, Walter Alfred Don [1890–1950]. “That terrible snow-peaked range.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 31 (1948):77-. Alpine Club of Canada
  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “The first crossing of the Cariboo Range.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 31 (1948):26–37. Alpine Club of Canada
  • Thorington, James Monroe [1895-1989]. “Canada, Cariboo Range.” American Alpine Journal, 7:2 (1949). American Alpine Club
  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “Cariboo Range.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 27 (1950):120. Alpine Club of Canada