Paperback

Surveying the Great Divide

The Alberta / BC Boundary Survey, 1913-1917

$69.55

  • Paperback

    160 pages

  • Release Date

    1 September 2022

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Summary

In 1917, during Canadas 50th anniversary, there was little celebration in the country as it entered the fourth year of World War I. This conflict had a tremendous economic and emotional impact on the various levels of government in the country and on the lives of many people in Canada. In western Canada, despite the turmoil and uncertain outcome of the war, one of the countrys major surveying projects continued. In 1913 the Alberta, British Columbia, and Dominion governments began surveying and marking the boundary between the two provinces along the Rocky Mountains. British Columbias representative, A O Wheeler, scaled many of the peaks along the Great Divide and did the phototopographic surveying. R W Cautley, the representative for the Alberta and Dominion governments, mapped the boundary through the economically important mountain passes. During the years of 1913-1917, the Boundary Commission surveyors mainly covered the area from Kicking Horse Pass to the United States border.

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781987915525
ISBN-10:1987915526
Author:Jay Sherwood
Publisher:Caitlin Press
Imprint:Caitlin Press
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:160
Release Date:1 September 2022
Weight:654g
Dimensions:230mm x 230mm
A-Format
B-Format
Surveying the Great Divide by Jay Sherwood - ISBN: 9781987915525
230 × 230 mm
C-Format
A4
mm / in
What They're Saying

Critics Review

“Readers familiar with Sherwood’s seven (!) previous books on surveying in British Columbia will know what to expect with Surveying the Great Divide: a thoroughly detailed and chronologically organized narrative, largely woven from the first-hand accounts contained in the journals, personal correspondence, and official memoranda of the surveyors themselves. Supplementing this account are more than one hundred glossy blackand- white photos (several full page) depicting surveyors at work, completed boundary monuments, and - most spectacularly - sweeping panoramic vistas of majestic peaks and timbered passes.” – Jason Grek-Martin, BC Studies
“Having read Surveying the Great Divide, I am awestruck by the hardships involved in surveying that border and full of admiration for the detailed fieldwork of a century ago … Thank you, Jay Sherwood, for putting this book together to commemorate these fine surveyors on our great country’s 150th birthday – and on the 100th anniversary of the completion of the survey of this tangled mountainous portion of the B.C.- Alberta boundary.” – Robert Allen, The Ormsby Review

About The Author

Jay Sherwood

Jay Sherwood started his career in surveying before becoming a teacher-librarian. He is the author of nine BC history books, including the four-book series about the career of surveyor Frank Swannell. Two of his works have been BC Book Prize finalists, and three have received BC Historical Federation awards. Ootsa Lake Odyssey won the 2018 Jeanne Clarke Memorial local history award. His most recent publications have been the two-part series on the Alberta-BC boundary survey. Sherwood is retired and currently lives in Burnaby.

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