NO ORDINARY MAN
NO ORDINARY MAN
GEORGE MERCER DAWSON
Lois Winslow-Spragge
Edited by Bradley Lockner
NATURAL HERITAGE/NATURAL HISTORY INC.
No Ordinary Man
Published by Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc.
P.O. Box 95, Station O
Toronto, Ontario M4A 2M8
© Anne V. Byers, 1993
All Rights Reserved
No portion of this book, with the exception of brief extracts for the purpose of literary review, may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the publishers.
Editor: Bradley Lockner
Cover Design: Steve Eby
Interior Design: Derek Chung Tiam Fook
Printed and bound in Canada by Hignell Printing Limited, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Winslow-Spragge, Lois. No ordinary man: George Mercer Dawson 1849-1901
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-920474-61-6
1. Dawson, George M., 1849-1901. 2. Geologists - Canada - Biography. I. Lockner, Bradley John, 1950 – II. Title
QE22.D3W55 1993 551'.092 C91-094843-7
Cover Photographs: (clockwise from upper left)
Sioux Camp, Turtle Mountain, Manitoba, 1873. Oxen Train leaving the Depot, Eighty-One Miles West of Red River. Bridge over Souris River, Manitoba, June 1874. Oxen Train and Horse Train, Fifty-three Miles West of Red River. Painting of G.M. Dawson.
CONTENTS
The “Little Doctor,” George Mercer Dawson
A Voyage to Great Britain with Father
Summers on the Lower St. Lawrence River
A Voyage by Sail to Great Britain
First Year at the Royal School of Mines, London, 1869-70
Summer 1870, with Parents in Scotland
Second Year at the Royal School of Mines, 1870-71
A Summer of Field Work in the English Lake District
Third Year at the Royal School of Mines, 1871-72
Geologist/Naturalist on the British North American Boundary Commission
Enduring Achievements with the Geological Survey of Canada
Life and Exploration on the Western Frontier
Pioneering Work in a New Land: Dawson and the Yukon
Glimpses at George’s Personal Life
Contributions to Queen and Country: The Bering Sea Commission
Selected Poems of George Mercer Dawson
Science and Exploration in Canada
The Lasting Legacy of George Mercer Dawson
FOREWORD
Never before have Canadians been in greater need of inspiration or a guiding light as they are today. Perhaps Georger Mercer Dawson’s indomitable spirit, his courage and determination against heavy odds, his love for truth and beauty, his high moral standards will bring strength and conviction to those who read his story.
Under the title Life and Letters of George Mercer Dawson, my mother, Lois Winslow-Spragge, in 1962, privately published one hundred copies of Dr. Dawson’s story for the benefit of her family and friends. The History Department of the Public Archives of Canada at that time expressed gratitude to my mother for the wisdom she showed in preserving George’s papers and in publishing the story of his life.
Now