George Mercer Dawson

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George M. Dawson in May 1885.

George Mercer Dawson Dawson began his career in the 1870s as a professor of chemistry at Morrin College in Quebec City. He then performed extensive surveys of Western Canada in the 19th century beginning with the International Boundary Survey from 1872 to 1876. The result was a 387-page report called Geology and Resources of the Region in the Vicinity of the 49th parallel from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, with Lists of Plants and Animals Collected, and Notes on the Fossils from the Killadeer Badlands currently part of Grasslands National Park. This report established Dawson as a respected scientist.

During 1883 and 1884, Dawson travelled through the Canadian Rockies where he was tasked by the Canadian government to map out major mountains and mountain passes as well as significant rivers. Some of the many peaks he discovered were Mount Assiniboine 3,618 metres (11,870 ft) and Mount Temple 3,543 metres (11,620 ft). As a result of his field research, a map of his work was published in 1886 covering the Canadian Rockies from the US border to Red Deer Valley and Kicking Horse Pass.

In 1887, he led an expedition into the Yukon, developing some of the first maps of what later became the separate territory. His report was republished ten years later to satisfy the public's interest in the region as a result of the Klondike Gold Rush. Dawson City was named after him. Dawson Creek, British Columbia is also named in his honour.

Dawson became a staff member of the Geological Survey of Canada in 1875, progressed to assistant director in 1883 and finally to director in 1895.

Dawson died unexpectedly in Ottawa after a one day bout with acute bronchitis. He was interred in the family plot in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.