Monroe, Mount

A number of members of a Monroe family have been in the McBride area since the 1910s; the particular individual for which the mountain was named is unknown. Some say it was named for a second cousin, not George.

George Monroe (1885-1974) was born in Idaho and graduated from high school in West Virginia. George taught school in Washington state before immigrating to Canada in 1903. After a few years in Alberta, where he and brother Adrian started cattle ranching, he came west with the railroad. In the summer of 1914 he arrived in McBride. Looking for a homestead, he built a raft and set out from Burns Landing, drifting down the Fraser until he came to the mouth of Tumbledick Creek. He filed homestead rights on land nearby. His wife Ethel and children Warner and Sadie arrived later that year. Everett was born in 1917. George’s brother Adrian (1889-1950) and father David Taylor Monroe (d. ca 1930), a veteran of the American Civil War, also moved to the valley. Many descendants live in the area.

Over the years the Monroes farmed, raised sheep, trapped and made posts and poles. George was foreman at Wally Jeck’s first mill at Mile 5 in 1918. In 1926, so the children could attend school, the family moved back to the United States. George attended a seminary in Indiana and held pastorates in Michigan and Colorado. In 1930 they returned to their farm near McBride. For many years their greenhouse, gardens and fruit trees helped supply fresh fruit and vegetables to McBride. They also sold lambs and chickens. In the early days George acted as minister and occasionally as undertaker.

McBride cemetary. Grave markers. .

Robson Valley Courier. Weekly newspaper published by Pyramid Press of Jasper from1969–88. .

Wheeler, Marilyn. The Robson Valley Story. McBride, B.C.: Robson Valley Story Group, 1979.
  Available at the Glenbow Library: Call Number 971.18 R667r