George Mercer Dawson

See also: Dawson

George Mercer Dawson , August 1st, 1849 with Pictou, Nova Scotia - March 2nd, 1901 with Ottawa was a scientist and a Canadian expert .

He was the son of Sir John William Dawson and of Margaret A.Y. Mercer. At eleven years it was reached of Tuberculose of the backbone (Badly of Pott), which caused him a deformation of the back and stopped its growth. This physical handicap did not prevent it from becoming one of the largest scientists of Canada. Its tutors and his father provided for his educational needs during its slow convalescence. Dawson followed later courses to the College of Montreal and the Université McGill (part-time) before going to London in 1869 to study there the Géologie and the Paléontologie in Royal School off Mines (now integrated into the Imperial College of London). Dawson obtained its diploma after three years with the highest distinctions in its class. The doctorate was conferred to him by Queen' S University in 1890 then by the McGill University in 1891.

Dawson concluded a thorough study of Canada Occidental at the XIXe century while starting with the Investigation into the border between the United States and Canada of 1872 to 1876. The result was a ratio of 387 pages called Géologie and Resources of the Area around the parallel 49ème since the Lake of Wood to the Rocky Mountains, with the Lists of the Plants and the Animals observed and the Notes on the Fossils. This report/ratio made of Dawson a respected scientist. Its land surveys made it possible to develop the sectors of agricultural activities, of forestry development and mining in the Canadian West.

In 1883 and 1884, Dawson travelled through Rock Canadian where the Canadian government had charged it with drawing up the chart of the principal mountains and the principal collars, and also of the important rivers. Among the many peaks which he discovered the Assiniboine Mount (3,618 m) and the Mount Temple (3,543 m) appear. Following its research on the ground, a chart of its work was published in 1886, covering Rock Canadian American border with Red Deer Valley and Kicking Horse Pass.

In 1887, it carried out a forwarding in Yukon, establishing some of the first charts of what was to become the Territories of the North-West. His report/ratio was republished ten years to later satisfy the interest of the public for the area following the Gold rush of Klondike. The Town of Dawson City, old capital of the Yukon, was named thus according to him. Dawson Creek, in British Columbia, bears also its name in its honor.

He became Member of the Geological Commission of Canada (CGC) in 1875, where he was promoted assistant editor in 1883 and finally director in 1895. He carried out a statement of ground of the Colombia-British who influenced the decisions of the Canadian government concerning the layout of the railway towards the Pacific.

In 1882, it was one of the founding members of the Royal Company of Canada.

In 1887, in company of William Ogilvie and Richard McConnell, it carried out the land survey of the border between Alaska and Yukon and studied the gold bearing layers there.

He died suddenly in Ottawa in only one day of a acute Bronchite. He is buried in the corner reserved for his family with the cemetery of the Royal Mount in Montreal.

Bonds Internet

Biography of the '' Dictionary off Canadian Biography Online ''
George Mr. Dawson

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