George Mercer Dawson

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George M. Dawson in May 1885

George Mercer Dawson (born August 1, 1849 in Pictou , Nova Scotia , † March 2, 1901 in Ottawa ) was a Canadian geographer , geodesist and paleontologist .

Life

George Mercer Dawson was the son of Sir John William Dawson (1820-1899), the principal of McGill University . At the age of eleven he developed tuberculosis of the spine ( Pott Gibbus disease ), which deformed his back and stunted his body growth.

During his lengthy recovery phase, he received lessons from his father and tutors. Later, he attended the High School of Montreal and McGill University (part-time). Then he moved to London to study geology and paleontology at the Royal School of Mines (now part of Imperial College London ) from 1869 . After three years he graduated with outstanding results. In 1890 Dawson obtained an LL.D. degree ( Doctor of Law ) from Queen's University in Kingston, in 1891 also from McGill University.

In the 1870s, Dawson made a career as a professor of chemistry at Morrin College in Québec City . In the subsequent period he conducted extensive surveys in Western Canada , beginning with the International Boundary Survey between 1872 and 1876. His 387-page report on 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 (Geology and mineral resources in the region near the 49th parallel from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains , with lists of the collected plants and animals as well as remarks on the fossils of the moment to Grasslands National Park belonging Killadeer Badlands ) earned him reputation as a scientist. In 1874, Dawson discovered the first dinosaur fossils in Canada in Grasslands National Park .

From 1883 to 1884, Dawson traveled through the Canadian Rockies on behalf of the Canadian government to map the larger mountains and passes, as well as major rivers. He discovered many peaks, including Mount Assiniboine (3,618 meters) and Mount Temple (3,543 meters). The Mount Hector was in 1884 by Dawson after James Hector (1834-1907), a geologist that of John Palliser cited Palliser Expedition named. As a result of his field measurements, a map of his work was published in 1886, which covered roughly the area between the border with the USA, the Red Deer Valley and the Kicking Horse Pass in the Canadian Rockies .

In 1887 he led an expedition to the Yukon region and worked out some of the first maps of this later independent territory. His report was reprinted ten years later when the need for information about the area skyrocketed as a result of the Klondike gold rush . The city of Dawson in the Yukon Territory was named in honor of Dawson , as was Dawson Creek in British Columbia .

Dawson was in 1875 as a member of the Geological Survey Commission of Canada ( Geological Survey of Canada included), 1883 the deputy director and director in 1895. In 1891 he became a member ( Fellow ) of the Royal Society and in 1900 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1900 he was President of the Geological Society of America .

Dawson died unexpectedly of acute bronchitis in Ottawa . He is buried in the family grave in Mont-Royal Cemetery in Montreal.

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personal data
SURNAME Dawson, George Mercer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian geographer, geodesist and paleontologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1849
PLACE OF BIRTH Pictou , Nova Scotia
DATE OF DEATH March 2, 1901
Place of death Ottawa