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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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…

Pearson in 1957
Wikipedia

This Premier Range mountain was named for Lester B. Pearson (1897-1972), prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. In 1957 he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Association with Macleod Creek.

A formal portrait of The Most Reverend Robert Machray, taken near the end of his life.
Wikipedia

After Most Reverend Robert Machray, D.D., [1831-1904], an Anglican bishop and missionary and the first Primate of the Church of England in Canada (now called the Anglican Church of Canada). In 1865, he became Bishop of Rupert’s Land (in Canada), becoming archbishop of the province when his diocese was split in 1875. At the first General Synod of Canadian Anglicans in 1893 he was unanimously elected as the first Primate of All Canada, serving in the position until his death. In 1893, he was appointed a Prelate of the Order of St Michael and St George. He died unmarried at Winnipeg.

Honoured in the Calendar of Saints of the Anglican Church of Canada with a feast day on 10 March.