Author: rkelland

Castle Mountain to Mount Eisenhower and Back Again

In January 1946, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe and future President of the United States of America, was on an official visit to Canada. Prime Minister Mackenzie King was seeking a fitting honour to bestow on the general. Sir Leonard Brockington, a friend and former aide of the Prime Minister’s, suggested that Banff National Park’s Castle Mountain be renamed in the general’s honour, adding, in a statement that proved to be astoundingly inaccurate, that because the mountain “was not named for any individual … no one could be offended by a change of name” (quoted in memorandum, Pickersgill to King, 7 January 1946). Reportedly against the objections of the Geographic Board of Canada, King announced the renaming during a state dinner on January 9. Recounting that the people of Scotland had recently presented Eisenhower with a castle, King said that

We have no ancient castles in this country, but we have other things that are even more enduring. We have ancient mountains. We can’t very well present you with a mountain, but we have this mountain named ‘Castle Mountain’ and it is the wish of the Government of Canada and of the people of Canada to change the name from ‘Castle Mountain’ to ‘Mount Eisenhower’.

Reportedly visibly moved, Eisenhower responded by saying that he was “touched by such a tribute that one man should be so honoured and his name so perpetuated in this way,” adding that “One day I am going to see that mountain. There is one thing, too, of which I am fairly certain – it must be a bald peak” (Ottawa Journal, 10 January 1946). The mountain became Mount Eisenhower and the junction of the two main roads in the area became Eisenhower Junction. Oddly, the Canadian Pacific Railway station in the area retained the name Castle Mountain.

Although the audience at the state dinner responded enthusiastically to the announcement, protests erupted from across Canada and even from the United States. The Vancouver Province wrote that

The gesture is a gracious one …it is a pity that the gesture will be futile. No one who has seen Castle Mountain can call it anything but Castle. The mountain named itself in the first instance. Its battlemented towers, its buttresses, its crenalated crags shout Castle, Castle, Castle, all day long. They can never be made to say Eisenhower [cited in the Banff Crag and Canyon, 18 January 1946].

The Banff Crag & Canyon wrote that “the man on the street is wondering why out of all the peaks and lakes in the Banff National Park, Castle Mountain should have been selected” [11 January 1946], and on 18 January added that

‘Residents of Banff were highly pleased when they learned Castle Mountain was to be called Mt. Eisenhower,” quotes one of the daily papers. Just which resident? … Letters and comments of protest are being published daily, which must sound a rather sour note to the supreme Allied commander as and if he reads them. Far be it for anyone to mean to belittle such a gesture, but two generations or more have known this mighty monarch of the Rockies as Castle Mountain, and it will take some educating to change its name. Surely the choice of another mountain would have been more in order [12 January 1946].

The Alpine Club of Canada wrote to the Prime Minister noting Eisenhower’s achievements, but lamenting the loss of the historic and uniquely descriptive name and also protesting the lack of consultation and the seemingly random selection of Castle Mountain to be renamed. Read more →

Castle Mountain is an approximately 2,860 metre (9,383’) mountain located in Banff National Park. It is in the Bow Valley and situated approximately 30km northwest of the Banff town site and 20 km southeast of the Lake Louise town site. The name is descriptive and comes from the fortress- or castle-like appearance of the mountain; its peaks and ridges give the impression of the towers and battlements characteristic of a medieval fortress or castle. The mountain appears to stand alone in the middle of the valley and, although it is not amongst the tallest of the mountains in the area, it is one of the most picturesque and well-known mountains in the Canadian Rockies. This prominence has made the mountain the subject of one of the greatest naming controversies in western Canadian history.

The origins of the name Castle Mountain are found with the Palliser Expedition, which explored western British North America from 1857 to 1859.  In August 1858, the expedition split up to cover more territory. Dr. James Hector, the expedition’s geologist, led a party westward from the Morley area up the Bow Valley. On August 17, 1858, Hector’s party entered a wide portion of the Bow Valley between the Sawback Range and the Bow Range. He recorded in this Journal that “[s]eeming to stand out in the centre of the valley is a very remarkable mountain, still at a distance of 12 miles, which looks like a gigantic castle.”  Hector spent the next two days camped near the mountain, which he named Castle Mountain. [Interestingly, on August 12, 1858, just five days prior to Hector’s naming of Castle Mountain in the Bow Valley, Lt. Thomas Blakiston, another member of the Palliser Expedition had bequeathed the name Castle Mountain to a mountain near Pincher Creek. In order to avoid confusion, Blakiston’s mountain was officially named Windsor Mountain in 1915].

On August 19, Hector and a party member named Sutherland attempted to climb Castle Mountain. Hector recorded the details of the climb in his Journal:

[W]e began to rise very rapidly. At 1,000 feet above the valley, before we had quite got out of the woods, we came to a cliff, about 80 feet high, composed of quartzite and indurated sandstone of a pinkish hue… . After this we reached the first of the cliff ranges that are so conspicuous from the valley below … . When 2,000 feet above the valley we passed round to the N. side of the mountain, and found that a deep valley separated it from a lower spur composed of splintery shale of a dull red colour. The mass of the mountain, which rose more than 2,000 feet above us, seemed to be composed of thick bedded limestones, and these breaking away as the soft shales below them have been destroyed has given rise to the castellated appearance.

Hector’s party left Castle Mountain the next day to continue their exploration of the Bow Valley. On September 3, he again noted the mountain, which could be seen from Kicking Horse Pass, at a distance of 15 to 20 miles.

On his second journey up the Bow Valley in 1859, Hector camped at the north end of Castle Mountain. During this trip he recorded observations that the mountains on the west side of the valley were characterized by strata of soft shale, while the mountains on the east side of the valley were composed of limestone. Geologically speaking, he wrote, Castle Mountain, with its heavy shale, belonged with the mountains on the west side of the valley, even though the course carved by the Bow River placed the mountain on the valley’s east side.

The Palliser Expedition wrapped up in 1859. In 1861, Hector was appointed as the director of the Geological Survey of Otago, New Zealand. He spent the rest of his life in New Zealand, where he died in 1907 at the age of 73 years. Despite only spending two short visits to Castle Mountain, Hector’s vivid descriptions of the mountain and the name he gave it lived on.

In 1883, the Canadian Pacific Railway established a station near the mountain. This station was listed as Castle Mountain in the railway’s timetables and maps. Also in 1883, a mining town known as Silver City was established in the mountain’s shadow. It quickly grew to over 2,000 people before disappearing in 1885 after the expected ore deposits failed to materialize.

In 1912, the Geographic Board of Canada officially approved the name Castle Mountain to identify the mountain on federal maps. During the First World War, the Castle Mountain Internment Camp was established to contain detainees, mostly recently-arrived immigrants from Eastern Europe. Castle Mountain also featured prominently in promotional literature produced by the Canadian Pacific Railway and Banff National Park. The mountain continued to dominate the landscape of the region and the minds and imaginations of those that viewed it. The name Castle Mountain appeared to be indelibly affixed upon the map. The events of 1946 changed that.

To read Part 2, click here.

Location:

National Topographic System Map Sheet: 82 0/5 – Castle Mountain

Latitude/Longitude: 51° 17′ 59″ N & 115° 55′ 21″ W

Alberta Township System: Sec 8 Twp 27 Rge 14 W5

Description: Approximately 30 km northwest of the Banff town site and 20 km southeast of the Lake Louise town site.

Written by: Ron Kelland, Historic Places Research Officer and Geographical Names Program Coordinator

Additional Resources:

More information about Castle Mountain and Dr. James Hector can be found in:

Dell, R. K. “Hector, James: 1934-1907, geologist, explorer, administrator,” Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, available from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1h15/1.

Kordan, Bohdan S. and Peter J. Melnycky. In the Shadow of the Rockies: Diary of the Castle Mountain Internment Camp, 1915-1917. (Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 1991).

Spry, Irene M. ed., The Papers of the Palliser Expedition, 1857-1860. (Toronto: Champlain Society, 1968), available from http://link.library.utoronto.ca/champlain/search.cfm?lang=eng. [Dr. Hector’s Journal for 1858 can be found on pages 286-469].

Preparing a Naming Proposal 

The Historical Resources Act gives authority to make geographical naming decisions jointly to the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation and the Minister of Culture and Community Spirit. However, over the last number of decades, the Government of Alberta has not generally been proactive in naming geographical features. The responsible authorities believe that it is more appropriate for the citizens of Alberta to play the key role in making naming proposals. So, how does a person suggest a name for a geographical feature? The short answer is to submit a proposal.

Applications or proposals to name a geographical feature are made to the Alberta Geographical Names Program. The application form is available on the program’s website along with the Geographical Names Manual, which will help guide applicants through the application process and provide some details about the research standards and principles that guide geographical naming in Alberta. It is highly recommended that applicants read the manual before starting the application to ensure that the proposed name is appropriate and meets the “Principles and Guidelines for Geographical Naming” (more on these in a future blog post).

On the application are a number of questions that should be completed as thoroughly as possible. This remainder of this blog post will walk you through the application form. Read more →

The name Skrine Creek has been officially adopted for a previously unnamed creek in the Porcupine Hills. The name commemorates Walter and Agnes “Nesta” Skrine (pronounced “screen”), who were early operators of a medium-sized ranch in the region. The spring-fed creek rises in the Municipal District of Ranchland No. 66 and flows northerly into the Municipal District of Willow Creek, where it joins Mosquito Creek approximately 24 kilometres west of Nanton.  

Walter Skrine was born in Somerset England in 1860. After receiving his education at Oxford University, he managed a coffee plantation in Ceylon until the early 1880s. In either 1883 or 1884, he to migrated to the Canadian northwest, where he began ranching along the Highwood River in the “Pekisko Hills” (Little Rolling Hills) region. After losing most of his cattle during the disastrous winter of 1886/87, he moved further west and established a ranch on Mosquito Creek. He chose the site due to the protection offered by the surrounding hills and the plentiful water supplied by the area’s creeks and springs. He settled first as a squatter, but later filed on a 160-acre homestead and leased nearly 16,000 acres of surrounding land. Starting with 200 head of cattle, he grew the herd to 700 head by 1898. Walter was active socially and politically within the ranching community. He ran, unsuccessfully, for the Territorial Assembly and, in 1885, the North-West Stock Association, a protest movement against the policies of the existing territorial stock association, was formed during a meeting at Skrine’s house in 1885.   

In 1895, Walter travelled to Ireland where he married Agnes “Nesta” Shakespeare Higginson of County Antrim. Walter and Nesta travelled back to Canada, where she took an active role in the daily activities of the ranch. Nesta was a very well-educated young woman and a talented writer and poet. She was published throughout Europe, mainly in Blackwood’s Magazine, under the pseudonym Moira O’Neill. She also published a short novel, The Elf-Errant (1895) and two books of poetry, Songs of the Glens Antrim (1900) and More Songs of the Glens of Antrim (1920). Ranching life and the landscape of the Canadian West provided inspiration for much of her prose and poetry, notably a prose piece entitled “A Lady’s Life on a Ranche,” which has been republished in many anthologies about southern Alberta ranching history, and a number of poems in both of her published books.   

Unlike many of their fellow ranchers, the Skrine’s welcomed the arrival of farmers into the region and assisted many of them in establishing themselves. However, the transition of the local economy from ranching to farming put pressures on many ranchers. In 1902, Walter and Nesta sold the Bar S Ranch to a neighbour and returned to Ireland. They settled at Ballyrankin House in County Wexford. In 1921, the house was burned by Irish patriots, one of many such attacks on English gentry during “The Troubles.” Undaunted, the Skrines, purchased the Newlands House, about a mile away and re-christened it as Ballyrankin House. Walter Skrine died here in 1930 following a hunting accident. Nesta Skrine died on January 22, 1955. As of 2011, the Bar S Ranch continues to operate on the same land originally selected by Walter Skrine in the 1880s.   

The proposal to name this water feature Skrine Creek was received from Clay Chattaway, the current owner/operator of the Bar S Ranch in September 2009. The proposed name was supported by both Municipal Districts, the surrounding land-owners and descendants of the Skrine family living in Ireland. The proposed name received the approval of the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation in November 2010 and the Minister of Culture and Community Spirit in February 2011.   

Creek Location

Click here for a full view of Aerial Imagery of the Region Around Skrine Creek.

National Topographic System Map Sheet: 82 J/8 – Stinson Creek

Latitude/Longitude: 50° 16′ 56″ N & 114° 5′ 57″ W to 50° 19′ 37″ N and 114° 6′ 18″ W

Alberta Township System: Sec 20 Twp 15 Rge 1 W5 to Sec 5 Twp 16 Rge 1 W5

Description: Rises in the MD of Ranchland No. 66 and flows north into the MD Willow Creek No. 6. The creek flows northerly into Mosquito Creek, approximately 24 km WSW of Nanton.  

Additional Resources 

Additional information about Walter and Nesta Skrine and the history of the Bar S Ranch can be found in the following resources: 

Skrine, Agnes, “A Lady’s Life on a Ranche,” In A Flannel Shirt and Liberty: British Emigrant Gentlewomen in the Canadian West, 1880-1914, edited by Susan Jackel, 95-110. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1982. Originally published in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine vol. 163 no. 987 (January 1898). 

Higginson, T. B. “Moira O’Neill in Alberta,” Alberta Historical Review vol. 5 no. 2 (Spring 1957): 22-25. 

Klassen, Henry. “A Century of Ranching at the Rocking P and the Bar S.” In Cowboys, Ranchers and the Cattle Business: Cross-Border Perspectives on Ranching History, edited by Simon Evans, Sarah Carter and Bill Yeo, 101-122. Calgary: University of Calgary Press and Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000.

Blog Post Written by: Ron Kelland, Historic Places Research Officer and Geographical Names Program Coordinator

A previously unnamed creek in the Bow Valley near Canmore has recently been named Bill Griffiths Creek. The name commemorates William “Bill” Griffiths. The spring-fed creek rises just east of the TransCanada Highwayand just south of the town of Canmore. It flows south-easterly, generally parallel to the Canadian pacific Railway tracks, for approximately four kilometres before joining the BowRiver about three kilometres upstream from the hamlet of Deadman’s Flats.

Bill Griffiths was a fisheries biologist with Alberta Fish and Wildlife. He received a Bachelor’s degree from the Universityof Alberta and a Masters degree from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. He worked for Alberta Fish and Wildlife briefly in 1976 and again from 1979 to 1983, this time as the Regional Fisheries Biologist based in Calgary. In this position he initiated new fisheries management strategies and regulations aimed at enhancing the Bow River’s trout fishery. He also did freelance consulting work in Burundi, Africa from 1983 to 1984, after which he returned to Alberta as an Environmental Assessment Biologist with Alberta Environment.

In 1985, he returned to Fish and Wildlife where he coordinated volunteer efforts to establish fisheries habitat enhancement programs. In 1987, he completed two major enhancement projects; one at Gap Lake in conjunction with the Sarcee Fish and Game Club and the other on a small creek near Canmore with the cooperation of the Upper Bow Valley Fish and Game Club. This second creek, which is the one that now bears his name, is now considered to be one of the most important spawning areas for brown trout in the BowRiver watershed. Due largely to his efforts, the Bow River has become recognized as a world-class trout fishery by scientists, writers and anglers.

Bill Griffiths died in 1988 and this creek has been locally known as “Bill Griffiths Creek” since that time. This name, now made official, commemorates his commitment to developing the brown trout fishery in the Bow River and his connection to this creek, which has become the subject of many studies and reports.

The naming proposal was made by former colleagues and students of Bill Griffiths. Local support was indicated by a petition. The Municipal District of Big Horn, the Town of Canmore and the management of the Kananaskis Country Provincial Parks all supported the proposed name. The Alberta Historical Resources Foundation approved the name during its November 27, 2010 meeting and the Minister of Culture and Community Spirit concurred with the decision on February 23, 2011. Notice of the decision was published in Alberta Gazette on April 15, 2011.

Aerial view of Bill Griffiths Creek

Creek Location

National Topographic System Map Sheet: 82 0/3 – Canmore

Latitude/Longitude: 51° 4′ 20″ N & 115° 20′ 0″ W to 51° 3′ 30″ N and 115° 17′ 30″ W

Alberta Township System: SW¼ Sec 27 Twp 24 Rge 10 W5 to SE¼ Sec 23 Twp 24 Rge 10 W5

Description: Flows south-easterly into the Bow River, approximately 3 km south east of Canmore and 75 km west ofCalgary.

Written by: Ron Kelland, Historic Places Research Officer and Geographical Names Program Coordinator

 

Part 1: Geographical Naming in Canada 

The geographical names we are familiar with today have come from many sources. Some are aboriginal names, but most are names that were given to features by explorers, fur traders, land surveyors, settlers and government officials. Many names throughout North America, particularly the western regions, developed on an almost ad hoc basis, with no overall guiding framework. Many features soon came to have numerous names and many different spellings and variations. Governments began to see the importance of establishing guidelines to ensure that consistent and reliable maps could be produced.

Oddly, the official naming of geographical features in Canada began in the United States with the establishment of the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1890. The board began making naming decisions for features located in Canada. As the names adopted by American government officials were accepted by other countries, Canadian government officials saw the need to exert Canada’s sovereignty over place names within its territories. In 1897, the Geographic Board of Canada (GBC) was established and given the authority to make naming decisions for geographical features within Canada. This board would go through periodic name changes – to the Canadian Board on Geographic Names in 1948, the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names in 1961, and the Geographical Names Board of Canada in 2001.

Starting in 1897, the federal government held complete authority over naming decisions in Canada. As years passed, the provinces began to gradually play a larger role in these decisions. In 1899, the existing seven provinces and the North West Territories were permitted to appoint a representative to the GBC. These provincial and territorial representatives could present the opinions of their respective jurisdictions on the appropriateness and spelling of names. In 1961, jurisdiction over naming was almost completely transferred to the provinces, but the federal government retained control over naming on federally controlled lands – National Parks, Indian reserves, military bases and in the territories. In 1979, geographical naming on federal lands became joint decisions between the province and the relevant federal department or agency. The territories did not gain the authority to name their own geographical features until 1984.

Today each province and territory has the authority to make its own geographical naming decisions. The Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) still exists, but its mandate has changed. Today it serves mainly as a supporting body that aids the provincial and territorial programs. It does so by serving as a liaison between the provincial programs and federal departments, it co-ordinates policy regarding nomenclature and procedures, it advises on research, it promotes the use of official names through information-sharing, it represents Canada at international naming conferences and on naming bodies, such as the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names and it maintains the Canadian Geographical Names Database, which is a registry of all official geographical names in Canada.

To be continued with “Part 2: Geographical Naming in Alberta.”

Written by: Ron Kelland, Historic Places Research Officer and Geographical Names Program Coordinator

Origin of the Names Battle Lake, Battle Creek and Battle River

In February, we received a comment on our Facebook page about the origins of the name Battle Lake. This water feature is located approximately 53 km west of Wetaskawin. It is one of a series of water features in the area that are identified by the name Battle, including Battle Creek, Battle Lake and Battle River.

The name Battle Lake was first recorded in the 1883 field notes of Tom Kains of the Dominion Land Survey (DLS). He recorded it as “Battle River Lake” due to its location on the Battle River. He later shortened the name to Battle Lake and, in 1901, that form of the name was approved by the Geographic Board of Canada for use on maps.Battle Lake is fed by Battle Creek, which flows easterly into the lake at its north-westerly point. The creek was first recorded by the DLS as “Battle Lake Creek” in 1903. Two year later, the DLS shortened the name to Battle Creek, but the name was not officially adopted until 1960.

The name Battle River has a much longer history. The first recorded reference to the Battle River was by explorer Anthony Henday, who spent considerable time in the region during the 1750s. He referred to the river as “Chacutenah.” The inspiration and translation of that name is not currently known.

The name Battle River is first recorded by explorer Peter Fidler. In his journal entry of November 14, 1792, he writes that his party “came to the Battle or Fighting River, which is only about 3 yards wide & very little water in it, which runs in a very serpentine course thru a valley SE & NW & falls into the Saskatchewan river after receiving several small streams about 40 miles below Manchester House” [Note: Manchester House was a Hudson’s Bay Company post just east of present day Lloydminster].

The name Battle River is supposedly a translation of the Cree no-tin-to-si-pi and/or the Stoney kec-hi-sab-wapta, although it is also referred to by the Blackfoot as kinok-kxis-sis-ughty (little or half river). Traditional and local knowledge is that the river formed the boundary between the territories of the Blackfoot and the Cree peoples and that many battles occurred along its length.

Interestingly there was another Battle Lake located about 65 km to the south east. In 1914, it appeared on maps as Battle Lake. It was believed that having two lakes with the same name in such close proximity would cause confusion, so, by 1921, the name of this lake was changed to Samson Lake after Cree Chief Samson.

For a larger view of the above map, click here.

Written by: Ron Kelland, Historic Places Research Officer and Geographical Names Program Coordinator