Thomas Edmonds Wilson (August 21, 1859 – September 20, 1933) was a Canadian outfitter and guide.

Early life

Wilson was born in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada and graduated from

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Barrie, Ontario Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

, in 1875. In October 1878 he enrolled in the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph and joined the Volunteer Militia Field Battery of Ontario, made up of OAC students. He left the college in 1879, possibly without graduating.

Prominence

Tom Wilson's outfitting and guiding career began in 1881 with his volunteering to be the personal attendant to explorer

A.B. Rogers Albert Bowman Rogers (28 May 1829 – 4 May 1889), commonly known as Major A.B. Rogers, was an American surveyor now best remembered for his discovery of the Rogers Pass in British Columbia, Canada. He also has the distinction of having Ro ...

. As history was written, Wilson became familiar with the area West of

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

; and hence became the primary backcountry outfitter. Tom Wilson hired good people and was known to initially employ other notable back country guides such as Bill Peyto, Jimmy Simpson, Billy Warren, Sid Unwin, Phil Stephens and others. He outfitted many notable explorers one of which was

Mary Schäffer Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Travels

He initially travelled west via

Fort Benton, Montana Fort Benton is a city in and the county seat of Chouteau County, Montana, United States. Established in 1846, Fort Benton is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in Montana. The city's waterfront area, the most important aspect of its 1 ...

, United States. He joined the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

(NWMP) and was stationed at

Fort Walsh Fort Walsh is a National Historic Sites of Canada, National Historic Site of Canada that was a North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) fort and the site of the Cypress Hills Massacre. Administered by Parks Canada, it forms a constituent part of Cypress ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

Sept. 22, 1880. He was assigned to monitor

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...

(Ta-tanka I-yotank), who had relocated to Canada after the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

. He resigned in 1881 and joined a survey party seeking a route for 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 ...

through the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

. He guided Major

to the discovery of the Rogers Pass. In 1882 his own indigenous guide Edwin Hunter led him to what was known to indigenous peoples as the lake of little fishes and is now known as Lake Louise and named it "Emerald Lake". The named lasted until 1884 when the name "Emerald Lake" was changed to Lake Louise in honour of

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, (Louisa Caroline Alberta; 18 March 1848 – 3 December 1939) was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In her public life, she was a strong proponent of the arts and highe ...

, wife of the governor general,

John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, (6 August 1845 – 2 May 1914), usually better known by the courtesy title Marquess of Lorne, by which he was known between 1847 and 1900, was a British nobleman who wa ...

, or Marquess of Lorne. Wilson and his guide Edwin Hunter continued their travels and upon seeing a second beautiful " Emerald Lake" in 1882; where the name stuck. This lake is 39 km West of Lake Louise on Hwy 1 and is in

Yoho National Park Yoho National Park ( ) is a National Parks of Canada, national park of Canada. It is located within the Canadian Rockies, Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordered ...

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, ...

. Emerald Lake is near

Field, British Columbia Field is an unincorporated community of approximately 169 people located in the Kicking Horse River valley of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, within the confines of Yoho National Park. At an elevation of , it is west of Lake Louise along ...

and is a popular destination resort for hikers and

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

camping. In 1883, Wilson established his business at Banff, Lake Louise and Field, British Columbia.

Family life

In 1885 he married

Minnie McDougall As a first name, Minnie is a feminine given name. It can be a diminutive (hypocorism) of Minerva, Winifred, Wilhelmina, Hermione, Mary, Miriam, Maria, Marie, Naomi, Miranda, Clementine or Amelia. It may refer to: People with the given name * M ...

, 1865–1936, of

Owen Sound Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attract ...

; and established a guiding and outfitting business in

Morley, Alberta Morley is a First Nations settlement within the Stoney 142/143/144 Indian reserve in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located along the Canadian Pacific Railway between the Trans-Canada Highway and the Bow River, upstream from Ghost Lake. It has ...

on the

Stoney First Nations The Nakoda (also known as Stoney or ) are an Indigenous people in Western Canada and, originally, the United States. They used to inhabit large parts of what is now Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana, but their reserves are now located in Albe ...

reserve. The Wilsons had six children, Thomas Edmonds "Ed", 1898–1979, John Clark, 1888–1932, Adelaide Ann "Ada", 1886-1967?, Rene, ?-1968, Bessie (Dier) and Dora Burrell (McRitchie), 1898–1963.

Guiding and outfitting

In 1893 he moved his backcountry outfitting business to Banff, Alberta and then sold it in 1904. Subsequently, Tom Wilson operated a horse ranch at Kootenay Plains. Tom Wilson was a noted explorer and guide and is credited with discovering Lake Louise, Alberta and blazing the trail to Mt. Assiniboine.

Tributes

Mount Wilson, in Banff, and Wilson Road, in

, Ab. are named for him. See Trail Blazer of the Canadian Rockies / Thomas Edmonds Wilson.Edward J. Hart, “WILSON, THOMAS EDMONDS,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 16, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003-- Calgary : Glenbow, 1972; William F. E. Morley's article "Tom Wilson of the Canadian Rockies" in Alberta History, vol. 54, no. 1 (Winter 2006), p. 2-9

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Thomas Edmonds 1859 births 1933 deaths Canadian Pacific Railway people People from Ontario Mountain guides