A portcullis is a strong frame or grating, formed of vertical and horizontal bars of wood or iron, suspended by chains, and made to slide up and down in vertical grooves at the sides of the gateway of a fortress, so as to be capable of being quickly let down as a defence against assault. The feature was named by the survetors of the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission in 1921.

A portal is a gateway or entrance. The lake sits at the portal to Yellowhead Pass. The name does not appear in any historical documents that I am aware of.

Origin of the name unknown.

Gerald (b. 1948) and Linda (b. 1950) Pitney moved to the Valemount area in 1973. Gerald, who was born in Vancouver, has worked as school bus driver and manager of the Valemount ice arena. Linda, born in Brandon, Manitoba, has worked at local stores.

Origin of the name unknown. Likely named by the surveyors of the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission.

George (1899-1978) and Pearl (b. 1904) Pepper came to Dunster from Calgary in 1958. George was born in Calgary, and Pearl in Poplar Point, Manitoba. Pearl’s family moved to Saskatchewan in 1910, and George’s in 1918. They were married in Saskatchewan in 1924, and farmed there until moving to Alberta in 1937. From 1942 to 1955, George was in the Army and the civil service.

In 1955 he returned to Calgary where he worked and drove stage for the Brewster Line and also was a packer for the Brewster’s at Banff and for the lodge at the Columbia Icefields.

George suffered from poor health and couldn’t stand hard work. After their move to Dunster, they farmed with horses, and when they eventually got a tractor, George couldn’t use it because of his health. Their house burnt in 1963, and they sold their property. In 1974 they moved to McBride.

Named in 1949 by alpinist Arnold Wexler [1918–1997] after a penny found in a sardine can left by explorers Edward Willet Dorland Holway [1853–1923] and Andrew James Gilmour [1871–1941]
in 1916.