Author Archives: Swany

Martinson Creek

British Columbia. Creek: Fraser River drainage
Flows NW into Doré River
53.2986 N 120.26 W — Map 093H08 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1965
Official in BCTopo map from Canadian Geographical Names
The 1918 Wrigley’s British Columbia Directory lists “Martinson I mixed farming” under McBride, and “Martinson, Mentz farming” under Rooney.
References:

  • Wrigley Directories, Limited. Wrigley’s British Columbia Directory. Vancouver: 1918, p. 271. Internet Archive [accessed 6 February 2025]

Manteau Creek

British Columbia. Creek: North Thompson River drainage
Flown NE into North Thompson River W of Gosnell (railway point)
52.5083 N 119.3972 W — Map 83D/11 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1962
Official in BCCanada
This creek appears on:
Zillmer maps of Cariboo 1939-1948 [1947]

“Manteau” is French for a coat or blanket. What its significance is in this case is unknown.

Malton Range

British Columbia. Range
W of Canoe River, E of Albreda Riverand North Thompson River
52.6333 N 119.0667 W — Map 83D/11 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1961
Official in BCCanada
This range appears on:
Milton and Cheadle’s map 1865

Although this range was not mentioned in Milton and Cheadle’s published account, it appears on the map accompanying the report of their trip from Saskatchewan to British Columbia in 1863-64. Malton is a village in Yorkshire. Milton’s father, William Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 6th Earl FitzWilliam, was member of parliament for Malton from 1837 to 1841. One of Fitzwilliam’s seats, “The Lodge,” was situated at Malton.

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. Internet Archive
  • White, James [1863–1928]. “Place names in the vicinity of Yellowhead Pass.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 6 (1914–1915):107-114

Main Street

Feature type: street
Province: British Columbia
Location: McBride
Latitude: 53.3011 N
Longitude: 120.1695 W
Google Maps

“The towns fringing the Grand Trunk Pacific, which on the average are spaced about eight miles apart, are all located on the northern side of the line, with one or two exceptions. The principal thoroughfare striking directly from the station is always the Main Street, and is generally known as such. It is a noble highway 80 feet in width, which provides a 60 foot roadway.” So wrote Frederick Talbot in his book written for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1912.

References:

  • Talbot, Frederick Arthur Ambrose [1880–1924]. The making of a great Canadian railway. The story of the search for and discovery of the route, and the construction of the nearly completed Grand Trunk Pacific Railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific with some account of the hardships and stirring adventures of its constructors in unexplored country. London: Seely, 1912. Internet Archive
Also see:

Macleod Creek

British Columbia. Creek: Fraser River drainage
Flows SE into Goat River, E of Legrand
53.4056 N 120.8789 W — Map 93H/7 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1965
Official in BCCanada

Possibly named for Kenneth McLeod, a trapper who in 1886 accompanied Robert Buchanan on an expedition from Barkerville down the Goat River.

References:

  • Wright, Richard. “Tales of a trail [Goat River].” BC Outdoors, (1985)

Mackenzie Creek

British Columbia. Creek: Fraser River drainage
Flows SW into Fraser River, S of Humbug Creek
53.6992 N 120.8756 W — Map 093H10 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1965
Official in BCCanada

Origin of the name unknown. Probably not named after fur-trader Alexander Mackenzie [1764–1820], who crossed into the Fraser River drainage about 100 km downstream.

MacDonald Meadows

Feature type:
Province: British Columbia

Donald MacDonald was a packer around 1910, in the days just before the railroad. His headquarters were near the present Tête Jaune Cache Motel, and the field across the highway was pasture for his horses.

Lynx Mountain

Alberta-BC boundary. Mountain
E of Mount Robson
53.1264 N 119.0481 W — Map 083E03 — GoogleGeoHackBivouac
Earliest known reference to this name is 1908 (Coleman)
Name officially adopted in 1923
Official in BCTopo map from Canadian Geographical Names
Elevation: 3190 m
“My brother [Lucius] one day explored the main glacier for two or three miles,” wrote Arthur Philemon Coleman [1852–1939] of his visit to Mount Robson in 1908, “making the curious find of the bones of a lynx among some moraine debris on the ice. Why had the animal chosen that out-of-the-way desert of ice as a burial place? We named the nearest mountain to the west Lynx Mountain, in his honour.”

References:

  • Coleman, Arthur Philemon [1852–1939]. The Canadian Rockies: New and Old Trails. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1911, p. 319. Internet Archive [accessed 3 March 2025]