William Brownlee (1877–1950) came to McBride in 1927, and after a year in town moved to a farm. He served a term as president of the McBride Farmers’ Institute. His son William L. (1908–1967) worked in the mines at Wells from 1933 until 1951, when he returned to McBride.

After breakfast, about one o’clock, being well refreshed, I set out with the view of ascending what seemed to be the highest peak on the north. The height from its apparent base exceeds 6000 feet, 17,000 feet above the level of the sea. After passing over the lower ridge of about 200 feet, by far the most difficult and fatiguing part, on snow-shoes, there was a crust on the snow, over which I walked with the greatest ease. A few mosses and lichens, Andreae and Jungermanniae, were seen. At the elevation of 4800 feet vegetation no longer exists not so much as a lichen of any kind to be seen, 1200 feet of eternal ice. The view from the summit is of that cast too awful to afford pleasure nothing as far as the eye can reach in every direction but mountains towering above each other, rugged beyond all description; the dazzling reflection from the snow, the heavenly arena of the solid glacier, and the rainbow-like tints of its shattered fragments, together with the enormous icicles suspended from the perpendicular rocks ; the majestic but terrible avalanche hurtling down from the southerly exposed rocks producing a crash, and groans through the distant valleys, only equalled by an earthquake. Such gives us a sense of the stupendous and wondrous works of the Almighty. This peak, the highest yet known in the northern continent of America, I felt a sincere pleasure in naming MOUNT BROWN, in honour of R. Brown, Esq., the illustrious botanist, no less distinguished by the amiable qualities of his refined mind. A little to the south is one nearly of the same height, rising more into a sharp point, which I named MOUNT HOOKER, in honour of my early patron the enlightened and learned Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow, Dr. Hooker, to whose kindness I, in a great measure, owe my success hitherto in life, and I feel exceedingly glad of an opportunity of recording a simple but sincere token of my kindest regard for him and respect for his profound talents. .” [1]

Robert Brown [1775–1858], the first keeper of the botanical department in the British Museum, was also the namesake of Brownian motion, the incessant motion of microscopic particles suspended in fluids. David Douglas was his student. Douglas’s ascent was the earliest recorded climb in the Canadian Rockies. [2]

When mountaineers first came to the Rockies in the late nineteenth century, they were anxious to find and climb this “highest yet known” peak. [3] In 1893 the highest mountain Arthur Philemon Coleman [1852–1939] could find near the Athabasca Pass was about 9,000 feet (2740 m) high. [4] In 1908 Hugh Edward Millington Stutfield [1858–1929] and John Norman Collie [1859–1942] took another look for the 17,000 foot Mount Brown and nearby 16,000 foot Mount Douglas. “If David Douglas climbed a 17,000 foot peak alone on a May afternoon,” they wrote, “when the snow must have been pretty deep on the ground, all one can say is that he must have been an uncommonly active person. What, of course, he really did was to ascent the Mount Brown of Professor Arthur Coleman. These two fabulous Titans, which for nearly seventy years have been masquerading as the monarches of the Canadian Rockies, must now be finally deposed, and Mounts Forbes, Columbia, and Alberta, with Peak Robson, west of the Yellowhead Pass, must reign in their stead. [5]”

Edward Willet Dorland Holway [1853–1923], in “New Light on Mounts Brown and Hooker,” states, “My theory is that possibly after he [Douglas] returned to England he learned of Thompson’s Survey and that he then inserted the height and named the mountains.” [6]

David Thompson’s [1770–1857] Narrative of his explorations in western America, under March 10th, 1809:

At the greatest elevation of the passage across the Mountains by the Athabasca River the point by boiling water gave 11,000 feet and the peaks are full 7,000 feet above this passage; and the general height may be fairly taken at 18,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean. [7]

Origin of the name unknown.

The British Columbia Geographical Names Office notes that “Boulder Creek” was submitted as a descriptive name for this feature by R.W. Haggen in February 1925. Presumably not adopted at the time because of duplicates, or the small size of the feature.

Glaciers at the head of the Blackwater (McKale) occasionally drop a chunk of graphite into the river. The water near the head of the river can be as black as ink, according to Everett Monroe [1917-1998].

There is a tributary of the Fraser River downstream from Prince George also known as the Blackwater: West Road (Blackwater) River. Blackwater in this case is a translation of the traditional name, derived from early native recognition that its many tributaries collect water from swamps and muskeg on the plateau, imparting a dye which stains the riverbed black (“Blackwater River”, by W.Hillen, Toronto, 1971). “West Road” was the name given by Alexander Mackenzie [1764–1820] in 1793. The feature is labelled “Black or West Road River” on Trutch’s 1871 map and labelled “Blackwater or West Road River” on the 1875 geological map of British Columbia by George Mercer Dawson [1849–1901].

Raymond T. Zillmer wrote of his exploration of the source of the Thompson River:

It was my purpose [in 1939] to travel up the Thompson Valley to its source, explore its source, determine its relation to the Raush, and cross the range, if possible, going out by way of the Canoe River.…

We had two other alternatives. One was to climb the moun­tain E. of where we then stood, by following a ridge alongside and S. of a creek that came into the Thompson a little N. of us, named Blackstone Creek by Miss Frye. Above timberline we would get to a large icefield which fed this creek and which we called Blackstone Glacier.

Ella Frye was a trapper on the North Thompson.

Not necessarily the same source as Blackman Road. Origin/significance not known. David Thompson [1770–1857] ascended the Canoe River for more than 50 miles above his “Boat Encampment” and described this prominent feature, but apparently did not apply any name.

William (1878–1918) and Katherine (1876–1969) Blackman and their family arrived at Swift Creek in 1915. Emigrants from Germany, the family moved to the United States in the early 1900s, and came to Canada in 1911. William worked at coal mines in Cadomin and Pocohantas in Alberta. After their move to Swift Creek, William walked to Prince George and back to register their homestead claim. When William died in 1918 at 38 years old, Katherine was left with ten children, aged from one to seventeen years: Tracie, Kathryn, William Jr., Henry, Theodore, Agnes, Charles, Frank, John, and Olive. Numerous descendants live in the Robson Valley.

BC Archives — William Blackman interview
Interviewed by Imbert Orchard, location unknown, 1960s
Mr. William Blackman describes his father, a miner who came from Ohio. William was born in Pennsylvania, and he describes how his father went west to Strathcona, Alberta, as a packer. He describes the family as they traveled across Alberta, including time at the Pocahontas Mine, until settling in Mile 49, which was then the end of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad. He describes the area around Cranberry Lake at that time. He describes the family homestead around 1906. He discusses several of the old timers who surveyed the land around that time. Mr. Blackman describes a winter where the temperature got down to 60 degrees below zero in 1915 and 1916. He continues to describes winters and how the weather was tough and working for a lumber company. He describes the now abandoned town of Lucerne; the activities there; the CPR; and the lumber industry. He describes journeys down the Canoe River including the geography. Mr. Blackman offers anecdotes about the hot springs off the Canoe River and then describes lakes in the area and more on the Canoe River. He describes Swift Creek and the boating activity there. He describes the river from Mile 49 to Golden and how some of it was impassible. He describes several ways to get into the area, mentioning the towns and geography, including trading routes. He describes Athabasca Pass; the CPR; the Yellowhead and general difficulties of passing through the area. He discusses Indian reservations at Tete Jaune. He tells an anecdote of an Indian, Johnny Moullier, who came through the area who walked from Mile 49 to Chu Chua in 1916. More anecdotes about people carrying things along the Canoe River in 1908.

Mr. Blackman discusses an expedition up north on a survey party to the Peace River Country in great detail, including anecdotes about the experience, people who worked on the survey and the jobs they did, and the geography in detail. TRACK 2: Mrs. E. Blackman describes how her father, Arthur ‘Curly’ Cochrane, worked as a cook on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1911. She was born near Montreal and she describes her family, their farming practices and the family homestead. She describes Tete Jaune as it was when she was a child. She discusses the produce on the farm and nearby; farms. She discusses the area between Dunster and McBride. She discusses the variety of berries in the area, which they would sell to the railroaders. She discusses the post-WWII boom in the area.