Author Archives: Swany

Rainbow (GTP railway point)

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British Columbia. Railway Point
Canadian National Railway, N side of Moose Lake
52.95 N 118.8667 W — Map 83D/15 — Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1912 (Wheeler)
Not currently an official name
20 miles west of the Yellowhead Pass on the Canadian National Railway
Mile 38 in Albreda Subdivision (Jasper to Blue River as of 1977)
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station built in 1913
This railway point appears on:
Wheeler’s map Mount Robson 1912
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway ticket 1914
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway map ca. 1918
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway map 1919
Pre-emptor’s map Tête Jaune 3H 1919
Canadian National Railway map 1925
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations

Indicated on the map that Arthur Oliver Wheeler [1860–1945] composed after the 1911 Alpine Club of Canada–Smithsonian Robson Expedition.

“Topographical Map Showing Mount Robson and Mountains of the Continental Divide North of Yellowhead Pass” shows the line of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.

Rainbow was among railway depots that were left vacant on the abandoned Grand Trunk Pacific Railway grade in 1917. Rainbow (GTP) was relocated to Red Pass junction in 1917.

Site of an internment camp for Canadians of Japanese descent during World War Two.

References:

  • Wheeler, Arthur Oliver [1860–1945]. “Topographical Map Showing Mount Robson and Mountains of the Continental Divide North of Yellowhead Pass to accompany the Report of the Alpine Club of Canada’s Expedition 1911. From Photographic Surveys by Arthur O. Wheeler; A.C.C. Director.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 4 (1912):8-81
  • Bohi, Charles W., and Kozma, Leslie S. Canadian National’s Western Stations. Don Mills, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2002
Also see:

Rainbow Range

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British Columbia. Range
NW ofMoose Lake
53.05 N 119.05 W — Map 083E03 — Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1900 (McEvoy)
Name officially adopted in 1951
Official in BC – Topo map from Canadian Geographical Names
This range appears on:
McEvoy’s map Yellowhead Pass 1900
Schäffer map of visits in 1907 and 1908 [as Rainbow Mountains]
Wheeler’s map Mount Robson 1912
Jobe’s map Jarvis Pass to Yellowhead 1915

Surveyor James McEvoy [1862–1935] of the Geological Survey of Canada traversed the Yellowhead Pass from the east in 1898, exploring as far as Cranberry Lake before returning to Edmonton.

On the return journey, some further work was done on the north side of the Fraser valley above Moose Lake, to ascertain the position of a band of rusty quartzite which weathers out to a brilliant red colour. Viewed from a distance, these mountains have a gorgeous appearance of red and yellow, and suggest the name of Rainbow Mountains. (1)

During the 1911 Alpine Club of Canada–Smithsonian Robson Expedition, Arthur Oliver Wheeler [1860–1945] wrote:

The Moose River flows from the heart of this range, of which Mount Robson is the king pin. The mountains are formed of rocks showing brilliant colours of crimson, red, and yellow, and these, mingled with the blues and greens of Nature’s everyday garb, present from distant points a highly prismatic effect that has given rise to the name. (2)

References:

  • 1. Annual Report. Volume XI. 1898. Ottawa: Geological Survey of Canada, 1901, p. 82. Natural Resources Canada
  • 2. Wheeler, Arthur Oliver Oliver [1860–1945]. “The Mountains of the Yellowhead Pass.” Alpine Journal, Vol. 26, No.198 (1912):382
Also see:

Rainbow Canyon

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British Columbia. Canyon: Fraser River drainage
Moose River, SE of Moose Lake
52.9167 N 118.8 W — Map 83D/15 — Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1910 (Talbot)
Name officially adopted in 1951
Official in BC – Canada
This canyon appears on:
Wheeler’s map Mount Robson 1912
Rainbow Canyon. Photo: Byron Harmon, 1911

Rainbow Canyon.
Photo: Byron Harmon, 1911
Canadian Alpine Journal 1912

Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot [1880–1924] crossed the Yellowhead Pass in 1910. He wrote, “There was a narrow, deep gulch in the Rainbow Mountains through which the Moose River flowed.”

Arthur Oliver Wheeler [1860–1945], who headed the 1911 Alpine Club of Canada–Smithsonian Robson Expedition, wrote:

”Moose River emerges from a canyon directly beside the railway. It is very fine and will be a most attractive feature to the travelling public. The canyon is not more than two hundred yards in length and about 150 feet deep. There are two falls near the head, of which the upper drops 50 feet and the lower 20 feet. Here the grandeur and awe of the spectacle culminates; the gorge is at its wildest, the sheer rock walls at their steepest; you are between the two falls; flying mist and spray fill the available space and eddy and circle continuously. On sunny days baby rainbows play hide and seek. I counted, at one and the same time, half a dozen at various points of view. The name Rainbow Falls and Canyon is suggested as attractive and appropriate; the more so that the mountain group, of which Robson is the dominating mass, is known as the Rainbow Mountains. The canyon is an exceptionally fine study of the action and effect of a powerful glacial torrent.”

References:

  • Talbot, Frederick Arthur Ambrose [1880–1924]. The new garden of Canada. By pack-horse and canoe through undeveloped new British Columbia. London: Cassell, 1911. Internet Archive
  • Wheeler, Arthur Oliver [1860–1945]. “The Alpine Club of Canada’s expedition to Jasper Park, Yellowhead Pass and Mount Robson region, 1911.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 4 (1912):9-80
Also see:

Pyramid (railway point)

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British Columbia. Railway Point
Canadian National Railway, S of Albreda River
52.35 N 119.1833 W — Map 83D/6 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1962
Official in BC – Canada
96 miles west of the Yellowhead Pass on the Canadian National Railway
Mile 114 in Albreda Subdivision (Jasper to Blue River as of 1977)
Canadian Northern Railway station built in 1915

Origin of the name unknown.

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Ptarmigan Peak

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British Columbia. Former unofficial name
Former name for Titkana Peak
52.05 N 119.2333 W — Map 83D/3 — Google — GeoHack
Not currently an official name.
This former unofficial name appears on:
Coleman’s map of Mount Robson 1910
Wheeler’s map Mount Robson 1912
Grouse - Ptarmigan, Mount Robson William James Topley, 1914

Grouse – Ptarmigan, Mount Robson
William James Topley, 1914 Library and Archives Canada

“My brother one day climbed Ptarmigan Mountain to have a look over that side of Mount Robson, but saw little through the clouds,” wrote Arthur Philemon Coleman [1852–1939] of his 1908 expedition to Mount Robson [1].

Coleman was accompanied by his brother Lucius Quincy Coleman [1854–1935] and George R. B. Kinney [1872–1961].

The name was changed to “Titkana Peak” by the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission to avoid duplication.

References:

  • 1. Coleman, Arthur Philemon [1852–1939]. The Canadian Rockies: New and Old Trails. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1911, p. 377. Internet Archive [accessed 3 March 2025]