Category Archives: Place

Mount Pauline

Alberta-BC boundary. Mount
Fraser River and Smoky River drainages
Near headwaters of Renshaw and Beaverdam creeks
53.535 N 119.8989 W — Map 083E12 — GoogleGeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1925
Name officially adopted in 1925
Official in BCCanada

Frederick Arthur Pauline [1861-1955] was the new Agent-General for British Columbia at the time of this mountain’s naming in 1925. The mountain was formerly known as “Curly Mountain”, after Donald “Curly” Phillips [1884–1938], a local guide, but the present name was chosen to avoid duplication.

During the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission surveys in 1923 a geodetic station “Curly” was established here. “Mount Pauline (not Curly Mtn)” identified in the 1930 BC Gazetteer.

References:

  • Cautley, Richard William [1873–1953], and Wheeler, Arthur Oliver [1860–1945]. 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
  • Cautley, Richard William [1873–1953], and Wheeler, Arthur Oliver [1860–1945]. Report of the Commission Appointed to Delimit the Boundary between the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Parts IIIA & IIIB, 1918 to 1924. From Yellowhead Pass Northerly. Ottawa: Office of the Surveyor General, 1925. Whyte Museum
  • Karamitsanis, Aphrodite [1961–]. Place names of Alberta. Volume 1: Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 1991
  • British Columbia Geographical Names. Mount Pauline

Mount Mowat

British Columbia. Mount
E of Moose Lake
52.9422 N 118.7325 W — Map 083D15 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1912
Official in BCCanada
Oliver Mowat

Oliver Mowat
Wikipedia

In 1911, Arthur Oliver Wheeler [1860–1945] gave this mountain its name “owing to a resemblance seen from a certain point of view to the well known features of Sir Oliver Mowat.” Kingston-born Oliver Mowat (1820-1903) was premier of Ontario from 1872 to 1896.

References:

  • Wheeler, Arthur Oliver [1860–1945]. “The Alpine Club of Canada’s expedition to Jasper Park, Yellowhead Pass and Mount Robson region, 1911.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 4 (1912):9-80

Mount Morkill

Alberta-BC boundary. Mount
Near headwaters of Morkill River
53.7 N 119.8333 W — Map 83E/12 — GoogleGeoHack
Official in BCCanada

The camera station “Morkill” was established on this summit in 1923 (BC-Alberta boundary sheet #37, and Report Part III, p.62); so-named by the Interprovincial Boundary Commission in association with Morkill River and Morkill Pass.

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
  • Interprovincial Boundary Commission. Boundary between Alberta and British Columbia. Sheet 37. Ottawa: Office of the Surveyor General, 1924. Internet Archive
  • Cautley, Richard William [1873–1953], and Wheeler, Arthur Oliver [1860–1945]. Report of the Commission Appointed to Delimit the Boundary between the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia – Part III – from 1918 to 1924. Atlas. Ottawa: Office of the Surveyor General, 1925
  • British Columbia Geographical Names. Mount Morkill

Mount Monroe

British Columbia. Mount
N of McBride, S of McKale River
53.3972 N 120.1789 W — Map 93H/8 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1965
Official in BCCanada
Stanley James Monroe

Stanley James Monroe
Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Named in remembrance of Canadian Army Lance Corporal Stanley James Monroe, K41218, from McBride, who was serving with the Canadian Forestry Corps when he was killed 1 July 1942, age 24.

Cpl. Stanley Monroe, 24, son of Adrian A. Monroe and Lela A. Monroe of McBride, B.C., formerly of Edmonton and more recently of Czar and Camrose, who was drowned recently in Lake St. Joseph, Quebec, while on routine duty. Funeral was held at McBride with military honors.

References:

  • McBride Cemetary. Grave markers. 2000
  • British Columbia Geographical Names. Mount Monroe
Also see:

Mount Milton

British Columbia. Mount
N of junction of North Thompson River and Albreda River
52.6 N 119.1833 W — Map 83D/11 — GoogleGeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1863
Name officially adopted in 1961
Official in BCTopo map from Canadian Geographical Names
This mount appears on:
Milton and Cheadle’s map 1865
Mount Milton from Albreda Lake, on north branch of North Thompson River. Benjamin F. Baltzly, 1871

Mount Milton from Albreda Lake, on north branch of North Thompson River. Benjamin F. Baltzly, 1871
McCord Stewart Museum

William Wentworth Fitzwilliam Milton [1839–1877] journeyed across the northwest to the Pacific coast in 1862-63, accompanied by his physician, Walter Butler Cheadle [1835–1910].

In The North-West Passage by Land (London, 1865), the joint account of this expedition, they wrote, “We continued to follow the stream thus formed flowing south from Lake Albreda, which was reinforced by several branches from the westward, and saw before us a magnificent mountain, covered with glaciers, and apparently blocking up the valley before us. To this Cheadle gave the name of Mount Milton.”

References:

  • Milton, William Wentworth Fitzwilliam [1839–1877], and Cheadle, Walter Butler [1835–1910]. The North-West Passage by Land. Being the narrative of an expedition from the Atlantic to the Pacific, undertaken with the view of exploring a route across the continent to British Columbia through British territory, by one of the northern passes in the Rocky Mountains. London: Cassell, Petter and Galpin, 1865. Internet Archive
  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “The location of Mt. Milton and the restoration of the names ‘Mt. Milton and Mt. Cheadle’.” American Alpine Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1943). American Alpine Club
  • Wikipedia. William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton

Mount McNaughton

British Columbia. Mount
NE of Moose Lake, SW of Salient Mountain
53.0167 N 118.75 W — Map 83E/2 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1923
Official in BCCanada
Margaret McNaughton

Margaret McNaughton
Overland to Cariboo

Named by Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission surveyors after Margaret McNaughton [1856–1915], author of Overland to Cariboo, an account of an overland journey by 150 pioneers and goldseekers, from Fort Garry to the goldfields of British Columbia in 1862, published in Toronto, 1896.

Archibald McNaughton [1843-1900] was the youngest of the Overlanders who trekked from eastern Canada to the Cariboo gold fields in 1862. McNaughton was born and educated in Montreal. After arriving in the Cariboo in 1862, he spent several years in mining and several more in commerce. In 1884 McNaughton was appointed assessor and collector for the district of Cariboo. Later that year he entered the employ of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1885, the year he married his cousin Elizabeth McGregor (d. 1887) of Montreal, he was promoted to manager for the Cariboo for the Hudson’s Bay Company, a position which he held until his paralysis in 1894. In 1887 he was appointed postmaster for Quesnel. In 1888 he married Scottish-born Margaret Pebbles, who recorded his cross-country journey in her book, Overland to Cariboo.

References:

  • McNaughton, Margaret [1856–1915]. Overland to Cariboo: An eventful journey of Canadian Pioneers to the gold fields of British Columbia in 1862. Toronto: Willliam Briggs, 1896. Internet Archive
  • Wikipedia. Margaret McNaughton
  • British Columbia Geographical Names. McNaughton, Mount

Mount McCord

Alberta-BC boundary. Mount
N of Miette Pass E of Salient Mountain
53.05 N 118.6667 W — Map 083E02 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1923
Official in BCCanada

William C. McCord was head of a trail-making party for the Canadian Pacific Railway survey in 1872. Chief Engineer Sandford Fleming [1827–1915] travelled over the Yellowhead Pass that year, and wrote “McCord had selected his camping ground judiciously.” McCord’s camp was located between the pass and Moose Lake.

The mountain was possibly named by the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission in 1922.

References:

  • Report of the Canadian Pacific Railway Royal Commission. Volume III Conclusions. Ottawa, 1882 Government of Canada. Government of Canada
  • Fleming, Sandford [1827–1915]. “Memories of the Mountains: The Yellow Head Pass.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 1 (1907):11
  • Holmgren, Eric J., and Holmgren, Patricia M. Over 2,000 place names of Alberta. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Modern Press, 1973. Internet Archive

Mount Mackenzie King

British Columbia. Mount
W of headwaters of Canoe River, Premier Range
52.7758 N 119.7508 W — Map 083D13 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1962
Official in BCCanada
William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1945

William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1945
Wikipedia

The prominence was named in 1962 for William Lyon Mackenzie King [1874-1950], Canadian prime minister 1921-30 and 1935-48.

King was prime minister in 1927, during the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation. One of the suggestions from the National Committee for the Celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation was to name mountains in the area now known as the Premier Range after prime ministers of Canada or Great Britain or premiers of British Columbia. In 1962, King garnered one of the peaks.

The mountain was known as “Hostility Mountain” since Walter Don Munday’s description of his 1925 attempt. In 1963 the Alpine Club of Canada was informed by the director of the Geographical Branch that “Hostility Mountain” was now “Mount Mackenzie King.”

References:

  • Munday, Walter Alfred Don [1890–1950]. “In the Cariboo Range – Mt. David Thompson.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 15 (1925):130-136
  • Anon. “Place names in the Premier Range, Cariboo Mountains, B.C.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 46 (1963):20
  • British Columbia Geographical Names. Mount Mackenzie King

Mount John Oliver

British Columbia. Mount
Head of Tête Creek
52.8839 N 119.6853 W — Map 083D13 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1928
Official in BCCanada

Walter Alfred Don Munday [1890–1950] and Phyllis Munday [1894–1990] named this peak “Mount Aspiration” in 1925, but in the commemorations of the Premier protocol, it was renamed to honour John Oliver [1856–1927], premier of British Columbia from 1921 to 1927.

Born in England, Oliver moved to Ontario with his family in 1870, and five years later moved to Delta, B.C. In 1886, he married Elizabeth Woodward, and they had five sons and three daughters. He was elected to the provincial legislature in 1900. His appearance was that of the successful farmer with his heavy tweeds, solid boots, and cloth cap. As leader of the opposition Liberal party, Oliver lost his seat in 1909. He was re-elected in 1916, when the Liberals formed the government, and was appointed minister of Agriculture and Railways. In 1918, at the death of Harlan Brewster, Oliver became premier. Under Oliver’s leadership, the sale of liquor became a government monopoly, and “John Oliver’s drug stores” opened in various parts of the province.

Oliver visited McBride in 1925. His daughter taught school and was principal in McBride in the early 1920s.

References:

  • Jackman, S. W. Portraits of the premiers: An informal history of British Columbia. Sidney, B.C.: Grey’s Publishing, 1969
  • Robson Valley Courier. Weekly newspaper published by Pyramid Press of Jasper from 1968–88 (1968–1988).

Mount David Thompson

British Columbia. Former unofficial name
Mount Sir John Thompson
52.7333 N 119.7333 W GoogleGeoHack
Not currently an official name.
This former unofficial name appears on:
W. A. D. Munday’s map Cariboos 1925 [now Mount Sir John Thompson]

Originally named “Mount David Thompson” in 1924 by the climbing party of Allen Carpé [1894–1932] and Rollin Thomas Chamberlin [1881–1948], in the mistaken belief that the nearby pass was the true source of the North Thompson River (see W. A. D. Munday’s explanation and sketch map). The mountain was subsequently renamed in the Premier Range commemorations. Oddly, the mountain now sports the name of another Thompson.

Carpé’s other 1924 names, David Pass and David Glacier, were retained.

The names applied by Mr. Carpé have been replaced by the Geographic Board as follows: Mt. David Thompson is Mt. Sir John Thompson…

References:

  • Carpé, Allen [1894–1932]. “Albreda Mountain.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 16 (1927–1927):177
  • Munday, Walter Alfred Don [1890–1950]. “River Sources in Cariboo Mountains.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 17 (1928):76