swelling mountains close the view.”
Subsequently, George decided to attend the prestigious Royal School of Mines in London, England, in their three-year program in geology and mining. George studied there from 1869 to 1872, excelled, and graduated as a distinguished student.
From the time Dawson began his serious geological work with his appointment to the Geological Survey of Canada in 1875, his many explorations in Western Canada brought great credit to him and his country. Consistently, his reports were of the highest order, bearing evidence of his striking powers of observation and deduction. Though thoroughly scientific they always took account of the practical and economic sides of geology, and, accordingly, commanded the attention and confidence of mining capitalists, mine managers and others interested in the development of mineral resources. When in the field, geology was, of course, the principal object of his investigations. But, Dawson’s wide knowledge of collateral sciences enabled him not merely to collect natural history specimens in an intelligent and discriminating way and discuss the flora and fauna of different regions, but also to make important observations on the customs and languages of Indians, keep meticulous meteorological records, and determine latitudes and longitudes.
In 1895, George Dawson was appointed director of the Geological Survey of Canada. Later, in connection with his holding this position, it was said: “In one sense he is the discoverer of Canada, for the Geological Survey of which he has been the chief, has done more than all agencies combined to make the potentialities of the Dominion known to the world.”
Because of his many excellent contributions to geology and science Dawson received much acclaim. George received the degree of D.Sc. from Princeton in 1877, and that of L.L.D. from Queen’s University in 1890, McGill University in 1891, and the University of Toronto in 1899. He was awarded the Bigsby Gold Medal by the Geological Society in 1891 for his services in the cause of geology, and was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Two years later, in 1893, he was elected president of the Royal Society of Canada, and in 1897 president of the geological section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at their Toronto meeting. In 1897 he also was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1896 he was president of the Geological Society of America, and his retiring address at their Albany, New York, meeting, “The Geological Record of the Rocky Mountain Region in Canada,” later published as a bulletin of the Geographical Society of America,4 was prized as a summary of Dawson’s latest views on problems connected with the complex geology of the west.
Many other distinctions, which cannot be enumerated here, fell to his lot. It was said: “It fails to few men to have so many high honors and grave responsibilities thrust on them in so short a period; the succession is probably without parallel in Canada’s history; yet it is the common judgement that the honors were fully merited, the responsibilities borne in such manner as to add renown to the country and the crown.5”
2Sir John William Dawson (1820-1899) was one of the most prominent figures in nineteenth-century Canadian intellectual and scientific life. After studies at Edinburgh University in the 1840s, Sir William was appointed Nova Scotia’s first superintendent of education. Serving for three years, he resigned in 1853 when seeking a position at Edinburgh. Though unsuccessful, Sir William was unexpectedly offered the principalship of McGill in 1855, a position he held for some forty years until retiring in 1893. Under his leadership, that institution emerged as a reputable centre for teaching and research. He was also active in a variety of intellectual pursuits and was often embroiled in controversy because of his unflinching theological conservatism.
3George was suffering from Pott’s disease, tuberculosis of the spine, a slow-working and painful disease that causes the affected vertebrae to soften and collapse and the spine to twist and curve.
4“Geological Record of the Rocky Mountain Region in Canada,” Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 12 (1901):57-92.
5W.J. McGee, “George Mercer Dawson,” American Anthropologist n.s., 3 (1901), 160.
GEORGE AND HIS GRANDFATHER
George’s grandfather, James Dawson,6 lived in Pictou, Nova Scotia. There, in his younger years, when sailing ships plied the oceans, he carried on a most profitable shipping business and became a well-to-do man. Like many others, though, James Dawson suffered heavy losses when steamships supplanted sailing vessels, so many that he lost almost everything. About this time, he started a publishing business which soon became a successful enterprise, so that little by little he paid back his debts. This was an arduous task and greatly to his credit.
From the following letters, you will see that James Dawson had deep religious convictions and a great love for his grandchildren. These letters written in 1857 provide rich and detailed observations, and reveal many interesting and worthwhile thoughts. His religious admonitions were rather severe but, nonetheless, his kindness and firm beliefs must surely have exerted a lasting influence.
James Dawson to George & Anna Dawson,7 Pict1ou, Nova Scotia, 10 January 1857.
Dr. George & Anna
Twas on three weeks ago, if you recolect I told you of my voyage up the St. Lawrence as far as the Little Scattered Town of Three Rivers – we left it, about nine o clock in the morning and proceeded up stream against Wind and current – the day looked like rainy, and we could not see far around us for the dense clouds that hung like a pall from the skies.
Very soon after we <we> left Three Rivers, we met one of these [...] large Rafts which I had often heard of, but never saw before It was about the size of one of my fields at the Farm, as our Pilot told us that it covered about 4 acres and would contain more than 10,000 Tons of Timber [we] counted upon 19 Temporary Houses – saw upon it Great numbers of Men, Women & children and pigs, Dogs, & Hens – they had long poles erected at the end of some of the houses, with [...] at the Top which they light in the night time to warn vessels going up or down the River to Reef clear – soon after passing this we entered St Peters Lake,8 which is merely an expansion of the River, about 15 miles long – The water is all very shallow except a channel which runs straight through the middle of the Lake having on each side at regular Distances [many] posts about 20 feet high with [...] on the Top that look like [...] – but are in fact Beacons on light houses to guide the mariner through in dark nights, when in the middle of the lake we passed another great Raft – hence the appearance of the [Houses] all around us looked very queer. The country all around is very low and level, so that we could see nothing of the land at all, nothing but the Tops of the Trees here and there which looked as if they were growing in the Water, when we were nearly through the lake we came up with 5 or 6 small steamers, which were employed in Dredging up the mud into large leavies to deepen the channel under the command of a Captain Bell, whose death you may have since then seen announced in the Montreal Papers – our Captain spoke to him as we passed – poor man he did not know how soon he would be in the grave & yet we are all equally uncertain how soon we shall Die. The rest of my Travels must be postponed till next letter.
I expect to have a new [volm.] of the “Band of Hope”9 in a few days and will send you one
