George Mercer Dawson (1849–1901)
Trained at McGill and the Royal School of Mines in London, George Mercer Dawson became one of the leading field geologists of nineteenth-century Canada. Despite a severe spinal illness in youth, he undertook extensive survey work across the western plains, British Columbia, and the Yukon.
Beginning with the International Boundary Commission in the 1870s and continuing with the Geological Survey of Canada, Dawson mapped large stretches of western territory, reporting on geology, mineral resources, and landscape. His work informed railway planning and resource development, and he later served as director of the Geological Survey from 1895 until his death.
Beneath My Feet: The Memoirs of George Mercer Dawson, by Phil Jenkins
A reconstructed memoir drawn from Dawson’s letters, journals, and reports, presenting his life and work in his own words where possible. The narrative centres on his years of exploration and survey in western and northern Canada, tracing his fieldwork on the prairie, in British Columbia, and in the Yukon.
