Monthly Archives: March 2014

Grand Forks River

British Columbia. Former name: Fraser River drainage
Former name of Robson River
53.0333 N 119.25 W GoogleGeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1863 (Milton and Cheadle)
Not currently an official name.
Near the Grand Forks of the Fraser River. George Monro Grant, plate 37

Near the Grand Forks of the Fraser River. George Monro Grant, plate 37
Ocean to Ocean: Sandford Fleming’s Expedition through Canada in 1872

July 14 1863 — A few hours’ travelling in the morning of the 14th brought us to the Grand Fork of the Fraser, where an important branch from the north or north-east flows by five separate mouths into the main body of the Fraser, which we had been following thus far. Here we pulled up, in order to search carefully for safe fords by which to cross these numerous swollen streams. This Grand Fork of the Fraser is the original Tête Jaune Cache, so called from being the spot chosen by an Iroquois trapper, known by the sobriquet of the Tête Jaune, or Yellow Head,” to hide the furs he obtained on the western side
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, p. 257. Internet Archive
Also see:

Mount Sir Wilfrid Laurier

British Columbia. Mount
Premier Range, W of Tête Jaune Cache
52.8014 N 119.7317 W — Map 083D13 — GoogleGeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1927
Name officially adopted in 1927
Official in BCTopo map from Canadian Geographical Names
The Honourable Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Photo: William James Topley, 1906

The Honourable Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
Photo: William James Topley, 1906 Wikipedia

Mount Sir Wilfrid Laurier, part of the Premier Range, is the highest peak of the Cariboo Mountains (3580 m, 11,750 feet). Originally named “Mount Titan’” by American mountaineer Allen Carpé [1894–1932] in 1924, in 1929 it was officially renamed in the Premier commemorations to honour Wilfred Laurier [1841-1919], prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911.

Born at Saint-Lin, Canada East, Laurier was elected to the Québec legislature in 1871. In 1874, he was elected to the House of Commons, of which he was a member until his death. When the Liberal party won the 1896 election, Laurier became prime minister.

Laurier visited British Columbia in 1910. Learning that Laurier was in favour of larger reserves and recognition of aboriginal title, the chiefs of the Shuswap, Okanagan, and Thompson tribes presented him with a petition condemning BC land policies and game laws and rejecting BC’s takeover of their lands. Believing that the Queen’s laws would guarantee their rights, they requested treaties with the federal government.

The decision by Laurier’s government to expand the railway system by building two new railways, the Grand Trunk Pacific and the National Transcontinental, caused a serious rift within the party. The Liberal’s were defeated in the 1911 general elections.

The first ascent of Mount Sir Wilfrid Laurier was made in 1924 by Carpé, Rollin Thomas Chamberlin [1881–1948] , and A. L. (Pete) Withers , when the mountain was still known as “Mount Titan.”

References:

  • Carpé, Allen [1894–1932]. “Climbs in Cariboo Mts. and Northern Gold Range, Interior Ranges of British Columbia.” Alpine Journal, Vol. 37 (1925):63
  • Zillmer, Raymond T. [1887–1960]. “Explorations in the Southern Cariboos.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 27 (1939):48-61
  • Story, Norah. The Oxford Companion to Canadian History and Literature. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1967
  • Wikipedia. Mount Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Grand Fork

British Columbia. Former unofficial name: Fraser River drainage
Confluence of Robson River and Fraser River
53.0273 N 119.2582 W GoogleGeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1863 (Milton and Cheadle)
Not currently an official name.
This former unofficial name appears on:
Trutch’s map of BC 1871 [“Grand Fork of Fraser R.”]
McEvoy’s map Yellowhead Pass 1900
Near the Grand Forks of the Fraser River. George Monro Grant, plate 37

Near the Grand Forks of the Fraser River. George Monro Grant, plate 37
Ocean to Ocean: Sandford Fleming’s Expedition through Canada in 1872

The Grand Fork of the Fraser River is where it is joined by the Robson River. Passing the Fork in 1863, Walter Butler Cheadle [1835–1910] said, “This Grand Fork of the Fraser is the original Tête Jaune Cache, so called from being the spot chosen by an Iroquois trapper, known by the sobriquet of Tête Jaune or “Yellow Head,” to hide the furs he obtained on the western side.”
References:

  • Cheadle, Walter Butler [1835–1910]. Cheadle’s Journal of Trip Across Canada 1862-63. Ottawa: Graphic Publishers, 1931. University of British Columbia Library
  • Grant, George Monro [1835–1902]. Ocean to Ocean: Sandford Fleming’s Expedition through Canada in 1872. Being a Diary Kept During a Journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific with the Expedition of the Engineer-in-Chief of the Canadian Pacific and Intercolonial Railways. Toronto: James Campbell and Son, 1873. Google Books

Gosnell (railway point)

British Columbia. Railway Point
Canadian National Railway, junction of Albreda River and North Thompson River
52.5 N 119.1167 W — Map 83D/6 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1930
Official in BCCanada
85 miles west of the Yellowhead Pass on the Canadian National Railway
Mile 103 in Albreda Subdivision (Jasper to Blue River as of 1977)
R.E. Gosnell, Legislative Librarian [1894 to 1897]

R.E. Gosnell, Legislative Librarian [1894 to 1897]
British Columbia Archives

Perhaps named after Robert Edward Gosnell [1860–1931], a historian and journalist. Born in Québec and educated in Ontario, he came to British Columbia as a newspaperman in 1888. He was the first librarian of the British Columbia legislative library (1893-98), editor of the Victoria Colonist, and the first provincial archivist (1908–1910). He was secretary to James Dunsmuir and succeeding premiers. In later years he was a freelance journalist. Gosnell was the author of several history books, including A History of British Columbia (1906) and co-authored Sir James Douglas (1908).

Settlement at Gosnell came with the construction of the Canadian Northern Railway in 1913. There was a Japanese internment camp here during World War II. The Gosnell post office operated from 1960 to 1964.

References:

  • Story, Norah. The Oxford Companion to Canadian History and Literature. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1967
  • Wallace, W. Stewart. MacMillan Dictionary of Canadian biography. Toronto: MacMillan, 1978
  • Topping, William. A checklist of British Columbia post offices. Vancouver: published by the author, 7430 Angus Drive, 1983
  • Valemount Historic Society. Yellowhead Pass and its People. Valemount, B.C.: 1984
Also see:

Gordon Road

Feature type: road
Province: British Columbia
Location: Loops N off Hwy 16 E of McBride

Donald Gordon arrived at Swift Creek (Valemount) in 1912. He and his wife Minnie opened the area’s first cafe, later enlarged into a hotel, in 1922. Donald and Minnie Gordon, “rancher and housekeeper,” appear on the 1937 Valemount voters’ list. The Gordons’ place was a favorite spot for parties. Minnie, who was part Indian, always had a pot of moose stew on the stove for visitors. If any old-timer had not been seen for a few days, Minnie would head out with her medicine bag on a mission of mercy. She was also a mid-wife. The Gordons moved to Kamloops and later New Westminster.

But was this road near McBride named for them?

References:

  • Robson Valley Courier. Weekly newspaper published by Pyramid Press of Jasper from1969–88.
  • Yellowhead Pass and its people. Valemount, B.C.: Valemount Historic Society, 1984

Goodair Peak

British Columbia. Peak
S of headwaters of Geikie Creek
52.6583 N 118.3833 W — Map 83D/9 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1951
Official in BCCanada

Jasper Park warden Percy Hamilton Goodair (died 1928 at the age of 52) was killed by a grizzly bear and buried near his cabin in the Tonquin Valley. Goodair was an educated Englishman who traveled extensively in South Africa and Australia before coming to Jasper and joining the warden service.

In September 1928, after Goodair failed to contact Parks headquarters for over a week, wardens went in to search. Their dog found Goodair’s snow-covered body lying on a trail near the cabin. He had claw marks on his face and a handkerchief stuffed under his arm in an attempt to stop bleeding from an opened artery.

An attendee who had met Goodair at the 1926 Alpine Club of Canada camp in the Tonquin stated, “So died, where he would have liked to, one of the most delightful and cultivated gentlemen I have known. He was in no sense a climber, although he could mount the hills faster than I care to do; but he had an intense love of the mountains surpassed by no man. You know the setting of his Maccarib Creek Cabin faces towards the Ramparts. Of that glorious outlook he never tired. We spent five nights with him and he would call us our again and again to see the magnificent and ever-changing light effects on the peaks.”

In Goodair’s files was a letter stating, “If anything happens to me I want to be buried in the mountains.” The wardens made a coffin with floor-boards from the cabin veranda. A number of Goodair’s Masonic brothers went in with the doctor and police, who were holding an inquest, and conducted the funeral. “He was one of our best wardens and loved the outside life and disliked the town,” said a Parks report.

The was formerly known as “Warden Peak” in association with Portcullis Peak. After the Goodair, the new name suggested in his memory by the Alpine Club of Canada.

References:

  • Jasper-Yellowhead Historical Society Archives. J. B. Snape, Dominion Government Engineer, Jasper National Park, 1921–1949 (1921–1949).
  • “P. H. Goodair.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 18 (1929):106