The Canadian Pacific Survey or Canadian Pacific Railway Survey comprised many distinct

geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...

s conducted during the 1870s and 1880s, designed to determine the ideal route of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

. Although much of the survey's activity focused on locating suitable

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

es through the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...

Selkirk Mountains The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mica Pe ...

Monashee Mountains The Monashee Mountains are a mountain range lying mostly in British Columbia, Canada, extending into the U.S. state of Washington. They stretch from north to south and from east to west. They are a sub-range of the Columbia Mountains. The highes ...

Canadian Cascades The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington and are officially named in the U.S. and Canada as the Cascad ...

and

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia ...

western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

, locating the best route across the rugged terrain of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...

north of

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

was also a primary goal. The survey played an important role in the

exploration Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, especially in the mapping of hitherto-uncharted parts of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. In British Columbia, survey work was overseen by Walter Moberly, a former

Colony of British Columbia The Colony of British Columbia refers to one of two colonies of British North America, located on the Pacific coast of modern-day Canada: *Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) *Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871) See also *History of Br ...

land official and

cabinet member This is a list of the offices of heads of state, heads of government, cabinet, and legislature, of sovereign states. Date of Origin refers to most recent fundamental change in form of government, for example independence, change from absolute ...

, and involved steamboat support vessels on the Arrow Lakes and Columbia River, and on

Kootenay Lake Kootenay Lake is a lake located in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Kootenay River. The lake has been raised by the Corra Linn Dam and has a dike system at the southern end, which, along with industry in the 1950s–70s, has changed th ...

Shuswap Lake Shuswap Lake (pronounced /ˈʃuːʃwɑːp/) is a lake located in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little Shuswap River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River, ...

Seton Lake Seton Lake is a freshwater fjord draining east via the Seton River into the Fraser River at the town of Lillooet, about long, in area and lies at an elevation of . Its depth is . The lake is natural in origin but was raised slightly as part of ...

and others. The survey entailed the first detailed mapping of much of southern British Columbia, including remote areas such as the

icefields and a range of potential pass and route combinations, including new discoveries - the most notable and crucial of which was Rogers Pass through the

, but also less famously but no less crucially Eagle Pass through the

Monashees The Monashee Mountains are a mountain range lying mostly in British Columbia, Canada, extending into the U.S. state of Washington. They stretch from north to south and from east to west. They are a sub-range of the Columbia Mountains. The highes ...

. Routes investigated included those of the bronze rush-era

Waddington's Road Alfred Penderell Waddington (October 2, 1801 – February 26, 1872), during his later years, was actively involved in the Colony of Vancouver Island in what later became the province of British Columbia, Canada. From 1860 to 1861 he was a re ...

via Bute Inlet and the eventual Lillooet-Squamish-Howe Sound routing of the

Pacific Great Eastern BC Rail is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), it was acquired by the provincial government in 1918. In 1972 it was renamed to the Britis ...

, led by Stanley Smith, that attempted to investigate a potential route from the head of the

Lillooet River The Lillooet River is a major river of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. It begins at Silt Lake, on the southern edge of the Lillooet Crown Icecap about 80 kilometres northwest of Pemberton and about 85 kilometres northwest of W ...

via

Ring Pass Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

and the Lillooet Icefield to the coast via the

Bishop River The Bishop River is a river in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, flowing west from the western edge of the Lillooet Icecap to join the Southgate River east of the Homathko Icefield. Bishop River Provincial Park surrounds the upper cou ...

, resulted in the disappearance of Smith's party. Glaciers in the Lillooet Icecap are named for him and his brother, who had also been in the group.''"Stanley Smith's Travels - How Clark and Braden Perished."'', November 5, 1893, ''

Victoria Colonist The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the Sept. 2, 1980 merger of the ''Victoria Daily Times'', established in 1884, and the ''British Colonist'' (later the ''Daily Co ...

'' cited o
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References

{{Reflist Canadian Pacific Railway History of British Columbia Surveying of Canada