Monthly Archives: March 2014

McGregor River

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British Columbia. River: Fraser River drainage
Flows W into Fraser River, N of Upper Fraser
54.1794 N 122.0336 W — Map 93J/1 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1915
Official in BC – Topo map from Canadian Geographical Names
Captain James Herrick McGregor

Captain James Herrick McGregor
CVWM

Previous to 1915 this river was known as the Fraser River North Fork (or South Branch of North Fork Fraser River, and also formerly known as Big Salmon River.

Surveyor James Herrick McGregor [1869–1915] was born in Montreal and received his early education in the east. He obtained his commission as a British Columbia Provincial Land Surveyor 1891. He practiced his profession for a few years in the Kootenays and subsequently settled in Victoria.

McGregor was involved in the 1891-98 triangulation and photo-topographic surveys of the southern Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Alberta-British Columbia boundary.

McGregor did much of the exploration and survey work in the area around the confluence of the Fraser River and McGregor River upstream of Prince George.(1)

He enlisted in World War I and was killed in the Battle of Ypres.

References:

Also see:

McGregor Range

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British Columbia. Range
Between McGregor River and Torpy River
54.05 N 121.2833 W — Map 093I03 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1958
Official in BC – Canada

“McGregor Mountains” adopted in the 1930 BC Gazetteer as labelled on BC Lands’ map 1H, 1917. Form of name changed to “McGregor Range” in 1958.

Named in association with McGregor River.

References:

McGillivray Ridge

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Alberta-BC boundary. Ridge
N of Athabasca Pass
52.3928 N 118.1769 W — Map 083D08 — Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1812
Name officially adopted in 1924
Official in BC – Canada
This ridge appears on:
Boundary Commission Sheet 27 (surveyed in 1920 & 1921)
Boundary Commission Sheet 27 A (surveyed in 1921)
William McGillivray

William McGillivray

Gabriel Franchère [1786–1863], who travelled through the Athabasca Pass with the North West Company’s brigade in 1814, wrote, “Mr J. Henry, who first discovered the pass, gave this extraordinary rock the name of M’Gillivray’s Rock, in honor of one of the partners of the N. W. Company.”

William McGillivray [1764?-1825] , elder brother of Simon McGillivray and uncle of Duncan McGillivray, was one of the leading members of the North West Company. He was a member of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, 1808-09, for Montreal West, and of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, 1811-25. He died in 1825 in London, England.

McGillivray was born in Scotland and brought to Montreal in 1784 by his uncle Simon McTavish of McTavish, Frobisher and Company. McGillivray was made a partner in the North West Company in 1790, and on McTavish’s death in 1804 McGillivray became the company’s chief director. Fort William, the company’s headquarters on Lake Superior, was named in his honor in 1807. McGillivray commanded a company of voyageurs in the War of 1812, assisting Issac Brock at the capture of Detroit. In recognition of these services he was appointed to the legislative council of Lower Canada in 1814. Between 1814 and 1816 he directed the North West Company’s opposition to the Red River Settlement and was captured when Lord Selkirk seized Fort William in 1816 as a reprisal for the destruction of the settlement. McGillivray emerged unscathed from the protracted legal proceedings that followed. He was associated with his brother Simon and with Edward Ellice in 1821 during the negotiations that ended in union between the Hudson’s Bay and North West companies and was made a member of the joint board formed to manage the fur trade. He died in London, England.

McGillivray’s Rock is close to the lake known as the Committee Punch Bowl at the summit of Athabasca Pass.

Gabriel Franchère was probably mistaken in crediting “J. Henry” with naming and discovering the Athabasca Pass. David Thompson was the first European recorded to have crossed the Athabasca Pass, early in 1811.

References:

  • Simpson, George [1792–1860]. Fur trade and empire. George Simpson’s journal entitled Remarks connected with fur trade in consequence of a voyage from York Factory to Fort George and back to York Factory 1824-25. Frederick Merk, editor. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1931, p. 35. University of British Columbia Library
  • Franchère, Gabriel [1786–1863]. Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America, in the years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814, or the First American Settlement on the Pacific. Translated and edited by J. V. Huntington. New York: Bedfield, 1854. Gutenberg
  • Canadian Board on Geographical Names. Place-names of Alberta. Published for the Geographic Board by the Department of the Interior. Ottawa: Department of the Interior, 1928. Hathi Trust
  • Story, Norah. The Oxford Companion to Canadian History and Literature. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1967
  • Gainer, Brenda. The human history of Jasper National Park, Alberta. Manuscript report 441. Ottawa: Parks Canada, 1981. Parks Canada
  • Wikipedia. William McGillivray
Also see:

McDonell Peak

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Alberta-BC boundary. Peak
A peak of Mount Fraser
52.6508 N 118.3061 W — Map 083D09 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1951
Official in BC – Canada
This peak appears on:
Boundary Commission Sheet 28 (surveyed in 1921)

The wife of Simon Fraser [1776–1862] was daughter of Colonel Allan McDonell of Dundas County, Ontario.

The feature was named by the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission in 1921.

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
  • Holmgren, Eric J., and Holmgren, Patricia M. Over 2,000 place names of Alberta. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Modern Press, 1973. Internet Archive
Also see:

McCabe

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British Columbia. Railway Point
Canadian National Railway, between Valemount and Tête Jaune Cache
52.9389 N 119.4069 W — Map 083D14 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1989
Official in BC – Canada

G. S. McCabe was Canadian National Railroad trainmaster at Jasper. He had previously been rules inspector at Prince George and general yardmaster at Kamloops.

References:

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

McBride Community Park

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British Columbia. Former name
Former park on N side of Doré River on Museum Road
53.3333 N 120.2 W — Map 093H08 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1955
Not currently an official name

Established as a Class C provincial park primarily for the use and enjoyment of local residents in 1955.

In June 1969, Helena Lonsdale, secretary of the McBride Community Park, wrote a letter to the editor urging development of the park for the tourists expected as the highway to Prince George neared completion. Help at a clean-up day included George Monroe, 84, who split firewood.

Provincial status was cancelled in February 1976 and transferred to the village of McBride. The park was discontinued in the 1980s as it was being used as a late-night party venue.

References:

  • Robson Valley Courier. Weekly newspaper published by Pyramid Press of Jasper from 1968–88 (1968–1988).

McBride

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British Columbia. Village: Fraser River drainage
On Fraser River 140 km west of Yellowhead Pass
53.3042 N 120.1639 W — Map 093H08 — Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1911 (GTP map)
Name officially adopted in 1965
Official in BC – Canada
90 miles west of the Yellowhead Pass on the Canadian National Railway
Mile 63 in Tete Jaune Subdivision (Red Pass to McBride as of 1977)
Mile 0 in Fraser Subdivision (McBride to Prince George as of 1977)
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station built in 1913. Rebuilt in 1919
This village appears on:
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway map [ca. 1912]
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway timetable 1914
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway map ca. 1918
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway map 1919
Canadian National Railway map 1925
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations
Sir Richard McBride

Sir Richard McBride
Wikipedia


McBride in 1914

McBride in 1914
Northern British Columbia Archives

“The first townsite laid out on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in this district is McBride (Mile 90), which will be a divisional point. Yards have been laid out here on a large scale and the construction of shops and a roundhouse is well under way. The town which will arise here will probably contain the first post-office, and being in the heart of the best agricultural land will no doubt become a general centre.” — Morkill, South fork of the Fraser, 1913

In 1910, when Louie Knutson first came through what is now the village of McBride, it was known as the Flats. In 1911 surveyors chose as a townsite and divisional point Mile 90, where the valley opened up into a wide flat area with an ample water supply. They named the new town after the premier of British Columbia, Richard McBride (1870-1917).

The McBride post office opened in February 1914.

Richard McBride’s government chartered a new railway, the Grand Trunk Pacific, but the government did not initially grant a subsidy. Later it did make certain grants which lead to cries of corruption and a demand for investigation. After winning another election in 1907, McBride went off to England, where Lord Grey observed, “I like the look of that picturesque buffalo, McBride.” For his labours on behalf of the province, his ardent support of the Conservative party, his promotion of the imperial connection, his championing of the navy and for the loyal support he gave the federal Prime Minister, Robert Borden recommended to the Governor-General that McBride be invested with the Order of the Knight, Commander of St. Michael and St. George.

McBride’s most famous decision was the acquisition of two Seattle-built submarines in early August 1914, just before American neutrality laws came into effect. “The people’s Dick” beat Uncle Sam to the draw. A few days later the submarines were taken over by the Dominion government.

McBride settled in London, Englnd, where he became agent-general for British Columbia. Health declining, he resigned his post on 20 May 1917, hoping to return to his native province. He died on 6 August 1917, at age 47.

References:

  • Morkill, Dalby Brooks [1880–1955]. “Report on Survey on the South Fork of Fraser River from Horse Creek to Beaver River. December 28, 1912.” Report of the Minister of Lands for the Province of British Columbia for the year ending 31st December 1912, (1913):238-240. Google Books
  • Walker, James Alexander [1887–1959]. “South fork of Fraser River, vicinity of McBride. November 11, 1914.” Report of the Minister of Lands for the Province of British Columbia for the Year Ending 31st December 1914, (1915). Google Books
  • Lower, Joseph Arthur. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and British Columbia (thesis). University of British Columbia, 1939. University of British Columbia Library
  • Jackman, S. W. Portraits of the premiers: An informal history of British Columbia. Sidney, B.C.: Grey’s Publishing, 1969
  • Wheeler, Marilyn [1932–2016]. The Robson Valley Story. McBride, B.C.: Robson Valley Story Group, 1979
  • Wikipedia. Richard McBride
Also see:

Mazama Creek

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British Columbia. Former name: Columbia River drainage
Former name for Hugh Allan Creek
52.45 N 118.6667 W Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1923 (Phillips)
Not currently an official name.
This former name appears on:
Boundary Commission Sheet 27 (surveyed in 1920 & 1921) [Former name of Hugh Allen Creek]

Describing the pass at the head of Whirlpool River, Donald “Curly” Phillips [1884–1938] wrote, “Crossed by Phillips’ party from Whirlpool River to Mazama Creek (Goat River)” (not the current Goat River).

References:

  • Phillips, Donald “Curly” [1884–1938]. “Athabaska Pass to Tonquin Valley via Goat and Fraser Rivers.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 13 (1923):153