Premier Range

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Premier Range
Premier Group
Range
Country Canada
Province British Columbia
Part of Cariboo Mountains
Highest point Mount Sir Wilfrid Laurier
 - elevation 3,516 m (11,535 ft)
 - coordinates 52°48′05″N 119°43′54″W / 52.80139, -119.73167

The Premier Range is a group of mountains within the Cariboo Mountains of east-central British Columbia, Canada. The range (also known as the Premier Group) is bounded by the Rausch River and the North Thompson River on the south and west and the Fraser River and its tributaries to the east and north.

In 1927, the year of Canada's Diamond Jubilee, it was decided that the names of the higher peaks in this range would be reserved to pay tribute to prime ministers of Canada, prime ministers of the United Kingdom, and premiers of the province of British Columbia. In practice, however, only one British prime minister and one British Columbia premier have been so honoured, and recent changes to Canadian geographic naming regulations make it unlikely that any British prime minister or other non-Canadian will receive such an honour in the future.

The named summits of the Premier Range are, in order of elevation:

Mountain Height (m) Height (ft) Naming
Mount Sir Wilfrid Laurier 3516 11535 Sir Wilfrid Laurier - 7th Prime Minister
Mount Sir John Abbott 3398 11148 Sir John Abbott - 3rd Prime Minister
Mount Sir John Thompson 3349 10988 Sir John Thompson - 4th Prime Minister
Mount Sir Mackenzie Bowell 3301 10830 Sir Mackenzie Bowell - 5th Prime Minister
Mount Stanley Baldwin 3256 10682 Stanley Baldwin - British Prime Minister
Mount Mackenzie King 3234 10610 Mackenzie King - 10th Prime Minister
Mount Arthur Meighen 3205 10515 Arthur Meighen - 9th Prime Minister
Mount Richard Bennett 3190 10466 Richard Bennett - 11th Prime Minister
Mount John Oliver 3123 10246 John Oliver - B.C. Premier
Mount Lester Pearson 3086 10125 Lester B. Pearson - 14th Prime Minister
Mount Louis Saint Laurent 3045 9990 Louis St. Laurent - 12th Prime Minister
Mount Pierre Elliott Trudeau 2640 8661 Pierre Trudeau - 15th Prime Minister
Mount Sir Allan MacNab 2297 7535 Sir Allan MacNab - Canadian industrialist

Before the Premier Range was selected, many mountains outside this area were named after Canadian prime ministers. Mount Mackenzie, Mount Tupper, Mount Macdonald and Mount Laurier rise over the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks that travel through the Rogers Pass near Golden, British Columbia. Mount Robert in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia honours Sir Robert Borden. Other than Laurier (who was also honoured with the name of a mountain in Yukon), none of these prime ministers have received the honour of also having a mountain named for them in the Premier Range.

[edit] External References

Coordinates: 52°50′N 119°45′W / 52.833, -119.75