Origin of the name unknown.

In fortifications, a parapet is a defence of earth or stone to cover troops from the enemy’s observation and fire. The name was suggested by shape and by association of sound with Paragon Peak, continuing the fortification theme established by interprovincial boundary surveyors in the 1920s. The name does not appear on the 1924 Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission maps.

Cyril G. Wates [1883–1946] explored the area in 1924, writing at one point that “our first care was to select a sleeping place and protect it from the wind. A flat spot was found with a large rock making a natural wall on one side, and we then proceeded to complete our house by enclosing the other three sides with a parapet about two feet high, over which we fastened one of our canvas squares, propping the centre with one of the axes.” Wates returned in 1933, writing, “We passed close under the cliffs of Parapet Peak.”

A paragon is a thing of supreme excellence. The name appears on map sheet 28 of the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission, published in 1924.

In 1919 Allen Carpé [1894–1932] and Howard Palmer [1883–1944] were the first climbers to visit Tonquin Valley where they climbed McDonell Peak and Paragon Peak.

Origin of the name unknown.

Origin of the name unknown.

The name is presumably connected to the crossing of the continental divide in 1811 by David Thompson [1770–1857], as it is the first watercourse on the Pacific side of Athabasca Pass.

It’s mentioned by Donald “Curly” Phillips [1884–1938] in 1923, after the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission surveys in the area, so perhaps it was named by the Commissioners.

This creek is named on the Provincial Pre-emptor’s Map of 1914, so it probably originated during the surveys or construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.

Named in 1972 at the suggestion of BC Parks.

The “Overlanders” were an ad-hoc group of gold-seekers on their way from eastern Canada to join the Cariboo gold rush in British Columbia. In 1862 they travelled through the Yellowhead Pass and would have gone by this falls on the Fraser River near Mount Robson. There is no mention of “Overlander Falls” in surviving records, or any record of the use of the name prior to its official adoption by the BC Geographical Names Office in 1986, it as proposed by the BC Parks Branch.

The Overlanders travelled in loosely organized groups totalling about two hundred. At Edmonton, the lead group hired André Cardinal, a native of Jasper, to guide them to Tête Jaune Cache. At the Cache they met a camp of the native Secwépemc (Shushwap) people who were salmon fishing. The Shuswap were not familiar with the route down the Fraser River, and only familiar with the route toward the North Thompson River for a few days’ travel.

At Tête Jaune Cache the party split. All but 36 went down the Fraser, in rafts and dugout canoes. As the first group left on September 1 the Shuswaps are reported to have said, “Poor white men. No more.” Three of the men drowned in the Fraser. The rest eventually made it to Quesnel. Two of the 36 that headed for the North Thompson and Kamloops also drowned. Both groups met discouragement when they neared the goldfields, where hundreds of disillusioned miners were on their way out. All but a few of the overlanders headed for the coast without even going to the goldfields at Barkerville.