Category Archives: Place Names

Divergence Peak

Alberta-BC boundary. Peak
N of Mount Hooker near head of Wood River and Whirlpool River
52.5 N 117.9917 W — Map 083C12 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1921
Official in BCCanada
Boundary between Alberta and British Columbia. Sheet 26. Surveyed in 1920

Boundary between Alberta and British Columbia. Sheet 26. Surveyed in 1920
Internet Archive

The altitude of Divergence Peak is 9275 feet. The watershed line does not reach the summit, but at an altitude of 8920 feet is deflected sharply from a little west of north to southwest, for which reason the name has been given to the peak.

So wrote surveyor Arthur Oliver Wheeler [1860–1945] of the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission regarding surveys done in 1920.

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
Also see:

Wallbridge Mountain

British Columbia. Mountain
SW of Cecilia Lake in Kakwa Provincial Park
53.9036 N 120.0694 W — Map 093H16 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1925
Official in BCCanada

Named by Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission surveyors in 1923:

The Bastille-Wallbridge ridge shows steep shale slopes on the southwest side and a precipitous rock face on the northeast side, the latter supporting a cliff glacier, two miles in length.

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. Parts IIIA & IIIB, 1918 to 1924. From Yellowhead Pass Northerly. Ottawa: Office of the Surveyor General, 1925. Whyte Museum
  • British Columbia Geographical Names. Wallbridge Mountain
Also see:

Raymond T. Zillmer

Ray Zillmer

Ray Zillmer
Wikipedia

Raymond T. Zillmer [1887–1960]

b. 1887 — Milwaukee, Wisconsin
d. 1960 — Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Zillmer was an American attorney, mountaineer, and conservationist. During the 1930s-40s, Zillmer became an accomplished and respected explorer and mountaineer. In July, 1934 Zillmer was part of a team of five mountaineers who completed the first ascent of Anchorite Peak, British Columbia, Canada. He would go on to complete several other first ascents and describe previously uncharted lands. In the summer of 1938, he and Lorin Tiefenthaler retraced the steps of the expedition of Alexander Mackenzie [1764–1820] in 1792-93 between the Fraser and Bella Coola rivers. He described the adventure in detail in his first of four articles published in the Canadian Alpine Journal.

Sources of biographical information about Zillmer:

  • Thorington, James Monroe [1895–1989]. “Raymond T. Zillmer, 1887-1960.” American Alpine Journal, 12:2 (1961) American Alpine Club
  • Wikipedia. Ray_Zillmer
Zillmer is the namesake of the following places in the Mount Robson region:

Works pertinent to the Mount Robson region of which Zillmer was author or co-author:

  • —   “Explorations in the Southern Cariboos.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 27 (1939):48-61
  • —   “The exploration of the source of the Thompson River in British Columbia.” American Alpine Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1940):69–81. American Alpine Club
  • —   “The location of Mt. Milton and the restoration of the names ‘Mt. Milton and Mt. Cheadle’.” American Alpine Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1943). American Alpine Club
  • —   “The exploration of the Cariboo Range from the east.” American Alpine Journal, 5:2 (1944):261-274. American Alpine Club
  • —   “The exploration of the sources of the McLennan River.” American Alpine Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1946). American Alpine Club
  • —   “Exploration of the McLennan completed.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 30 (1947):85-95
  • —   “The first crossing of the Cariboo Range.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 31 (1948):26–37
  • —   “Cariboo Range.” Canadian Alpine Journal, Vol. 27 (1950):120

Talbot Lake

Alberta. Lake: Athabasca River drainage
E of Jasper Lake
53.0978 N 117.9942 W — Map 083F04 — GoogleGeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1956
Official in Canada

Named in 1925 after Hon. Peter Talbot (1854-1919), Lacombe; member of the Senate of Canada, 1906-1919.

References:

  • 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

Adolphus Moberly

Adolphus Moberly, an Iroquois halfbreed. Arthur P. Coleman, 1908

Adolphus Moberly, an Iroquois halfbreed. Arthur P. Coleman, 1908
Coleman, The Canadian Rockies. New and Old trails. p 306

Adolphus Moberly [1887–]

b. 1887 —

Sources of biographical information about Moberly:

Moberly is the namesake of the following places in the Mount Robson region:

Events in the Mount Robson region in which Moberly was involved:

  • 1908 Coleman – Edmonton to Robson (guide)

Alberta-British Columbia Boundary

Alberta-BC boundary.
From the International Boundary on the 49th parallel of north latitude, northerly following the Continental Divide to a point on the 120th meridian of west longitude and northerly from there to 60 degrees north
Not currently an official name.

The boundary between the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia is defined by Sections 7 and 8 of the Imperial Act 29 and 30 Victoria, Chapter 67, (1858) which are as follows:-

7. Until the Union, British Columbia shall comprise all such territories, within the Dominion of Her Majesty, as are bounded to the south by the territories of the United States of America, to the west by the Pacific Ocean and the frontier of the Russian territories in North America, to the north by the Sixtieth Parallel of North Latitude, and to the East from the Boundary of the United States Northwards by the Rocky Mountains and the One hundred and twentieth Meridian of West Longitude; and shall include Queen Charlotte’s Island and all other Islands adjacent to the said Territories, except Vancouver Island and the Islands adjacent thereto.

*8. After the Union, British Columbia shall comprise all the Territories and Islands aforesaid and Vancouver Island and the Islands adjacent thereto.”

In the report of the Minister of the Interior to His Royal Highness in Council, which was approved on the 18th day of February, 1913, is embodied the following interpretation of the above definition, which interpretation was drawn by the Surveyor General of Dominion Lands and concurred in by the several Governments concerned:

“Between the International Boundary and the 120th degree of longitude, the Interprovincial Boundary is the line dividing the waters flowing into the Pacific Ocean from those flowing elsewhere. This line may cross several times the meridian of 120° longitude. Should this be the case, it is proposed that the Interprovincial Boundary follow the watershed line from the International Boundary to the most northerly crossing of the meridian and thence follow the meridian to the 60th degree of latitude. The watershed line being natural feature is preferable to the meridian as a boundary and there are as many chances that the proposal, if agreed to, shall be in favour of one Province as of the other.”

From the above quoted sections of the Imperial Act and the interpretation thereof adopted by the several Governments concerned, it will be seen that the Interprovincial Boundary, from the International Boundary to the most northerly crossing of the 120th meridian of west longitude, exists as a natural topographical feature, namely: the crest or watershed of the Rocky Mountains. Its precise delimitation, therefore, was not a matter of urgent necessity for many years after the Act was passed, but various causes arose, and grew in importance year by year, which made such delimitation advisable and even necessary.

Chief among these may be cited the discovery of valuable coal deposits at widely separated points of the Boundary, and extending over very large areas on either side of it. As a result of these discoveries, leases of coal lands have been issued by the Crown, either in the right of the Dominion of Canada or in that of the Province of British Columbia. In some cases the descriptions of these leases were based on surveys made by Dominion or Provincial land surveyors, who, for that purpose, were obliged to assume a provisional boundary; since the Boundary, or watershed, is by no means so well defined on the ground as might be supposed, particularly in the wider passes, the provisional boundary thus assumed is rarely, if ever, correct, and surveys made by Dominion and Provincial land surveyors, respectively, have been found to overlap.

References:

  • Cautley, Richard William [1873–1953]; Wallace, James Nevin [d. 1941]; Wheeler, Arthur Oliver [1860–1945]. Report of the Commission Appointed to Delimit the Boundary between the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Part I: From 1913 to 1916. Ottawa: Office of the Surveyor General, 1917. Internet Archive