No Ordinary Man. Lois Winslow-Spragge

      

      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

       Foreword

       Editor’s Introduction

       The “Little Doctor,” George Mercer Dawson

       A Brief Biography

       George and His Grandfather

       Childhood Essays

       A Boyhood Diary

       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

       Ethnological Endeavours

       Glimpses at George’s Personal Life

       Anna: An Enduring Friend

       A Loyal Son and Sibling

       Contributions to Queen and Country: The Bering Sea Commission

       A Wide-Ranging Mind

       Selected Poems of George Mercer Dawson

       Science and Exploration in Canada

       The Lasting Legacy of George Mercer Dawson

       For Further Reading

       About the Author

       About the Editor

       Visual Credits

       Index

      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