Monthly Archives: March 2014

Pitney Road

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Feature type: road
Province: British Columbia
Location: Forks off Hwy 5

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.

References:

  • Personal correspondence.

Peterson

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British Columbia. Railway Point
Canadian National Railway, between Valemount and Tête Jaune station
52.9208 N 119.3764 W — Map 83D/14 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1989
Official in BC – Canada

Named after a former Canadian National Railway roadmaster.

References:

  • CN (Canadian National Railway). Transportation planning branch, Edmonton, and historical office, Montréal. 2000

Pepper Pit Road

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British Columbia. Road
Forks off N Dunster-Croydon Road

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.

References:

  • Wheeler, Marilyn. The Robson Valley Story. McBride, B.C.: Robson Valley Story Group, 1979

Penny Mountain

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British Columbia. Mountain
N of headwaters of Canoe River
52.7833 N 119.65 W — Map 83D/13 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1962
Official in BC – Canada

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.

References:

  • Holway, Edward Willet Dorland [1853–1923]. “The Cariboo Mountains.” Canadian Alpine Journal, 8 (1917):36-39
  • Wexler, Arnold [1918–1997]. “Ascents in the Cariboo Mountains.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 27 (1950):41-50
Also see:

Penny

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British Columbia. Locality
Canadian National Railway, North of Slim Creek
53.85 N 121.2833 W — Map 093H14 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1983
Official in BC – Canada
159 miles west of the Yellowhead Pass on the Canadian National Railway
Mile 70 in Fraser Subdivision (McBride to Prince George as of 1977)
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station built in 1914. The Penny depot was moved from Lindup in 1947.
This locality appears on:
Pre-emptor’s map Fort George 1G 1916
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway map ca. 1918
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations
The Penny Grand Trunk Pacfic station at its new home at the Central BC Railway & Forestry Museum in Prince George

The Penny Grand Trunk Pacfic station at its new home at the Central BC Railway & Forestry Museum in Prince George
Exploration Place — Central BC Railway & Forestry Museum

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station at Penny was originally built in 1914 at Lindup at a cost of $4005. As Lindup developed as a community, it was found that they had no need for a train station, consequently the station was relocated to the community of Penny in 1947.

Wrigley’s Directory for 1918 lists:

Penny — a post office and station on the G. T. P. Railway, 76 miles east of Prince George.
Nearest G. T. P. telegraph office is at Lindup, 4 1-2 miles.
Population, 50 to 85.
Local resources: Timber and lumbering.
Local lumber mills included Penny Lumber Co Ltd (mfrs fir and hemlock lumber) and Red Mountain Lumber Company, Roy Spur and Thomas Wall, proprietors.

Type E stations, of which the Penny Station was one, where once common along the GTP/CNR tracks west of Winnipeg, but now few remain. It was decided that the station would be relocated once again, to the Prince George Railway & Forestry Museum. In 1986 plans for the new move began. It was determined that an ice bridge over the Fraser River (there was no bridge in Penny) needed to be built. The station would be transported by truck across the river and up a steep grade to the highway on the south side which went to Prince George. Volunteers and workers had to wait until the river was frozen thick enough to carry the 45 – 50 tonne station across, which required 4 sets (8) tires at each end of the building. Finally in 1987/1988 it was cold enough to try to move the station. The station was brought to Prince George in two sections. Three chimneys and the built-on kitchen were removed and brought in separately. It took 4 days to go the 140 km to Prince George. The total load was too wide (960 cm) and long (1935 cm) to easily negotiate corners in the road or pass over bridges. Hydro lines had to be raised, private fences removed and replaced, permits had to be acquired, but finally the station arrived at the museum on February 13, 1988.

The Penny Post office opened in February, 1916.

References:

  • Wrigley Directories, Limited. Wrigley’s British Columbia Directory. Vancouver: 1918. Internet Archive
  • Penny Reunion Committee 1995. A Penny for Your Thoughts. Prince George: 1995
  • Wikipedia. Penny, British Columbia
Also see:

Parapet Peak

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Alberta-BC boundary. Peak
E of headwaters of Fraser River
52.6667 N 118.3 W — Map 83D/9 — Google — GeoHack — Bivouac
Name officially adopted in 1965
Official in BC – Canada
Elevation: 3107 m

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.”

References:

  • Wates, Cyril G. [1883–1946]. “The Geikie Valley in 1923.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 14 (1924):51-59
  • Wates, Cyril G. [1883–1946]. “The Eremite and beyond.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 22 (1933):64-70
  • British Columbia Geographical Names. Parapet Peak
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