Walter Moberly (1832–1915) was a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and surveyor who played a large role in the early

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 ...

and development of

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

, Canada, including discovering Eagle Pass, now used by 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 Canad ...

and the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on ...

Early life and education

He was born in

Steeple Aston Steeple Aston is a village and civil parish on the edge of the Cherwell Valley, in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire, England, about north of Oxford, west of Bicester, and south of Banbury. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population ...

, Oxfordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in 1832. In 1834 Walter moved with his family to Penetanguishene,

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of t ...

(now

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 C ...

), where his father, Capt. John Moberly, R. N. was appointed Post Commander. Walter received his primary education at the Base and later went to grammar school in

Barrie 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 ...

.Simcoe County pioneer papers, published Barrie, Ont., Simcoe County Historical Society, 1908 under title: Pioneer Papers.

Career

During the construction of the railway to Collingwood, Walter worked clearing bush and following that, chose a career of Lumberman, with timber holdings in Essa and Tossorontio, near Angus, and on the Severn River, in Muskoka. Most of his survey work was in British Columbia, and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

. It is thought that Walter was lured to the West, following a brief visit by Henry to the family home at

. From Ontario, Walter sailed via Cape Horn to reach British Columbia, a trip of over 16,000 miles as opposed to around 2,000 miles overland. His first survey work was laying out the streets for the community of

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

, now a suburb of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

. Between 1861 and 1864 he worked on several

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

building contracts. With Edgar Dewdney, Moberly helped construct the Dewdney Trail across the Coast Range from the town of

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

into the

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is pa ...

. Also under contract from the government, Moberly was involved in building a section of the Cariboo Road north of Lytton in the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annua ...

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cut ...

. This road was built to provide access to the

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

fields in the

Cariboo The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the caribou that were once abundant in the region. The Cariboo was ...

. In 1865, he was appointed Assistant Surveyor General of the Colony of British Columbia. His job was to explore new routes for travel and trade for the growing population of the territory. It was during this time that he discovered Eagle Pass through the Gold Range between

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 ...

in the north Okanagan and the Columbia River at what is now Revelstoke. The story is that he shot at an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

's nest and watched the birds fly up a valley. Reasoning that the birds were unlikely to fly up a blocked valley, he followed them up and discovered the pass. In his recollections, he says he blazed a tree in the pass and inscribed the words, "This is the Pass of the Overland Railway." The Canadian Pacific Railway did go through his pass but not for another 20 years. After 1865, he left the province and worked in the

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

fields of

. In 1871, when British Columbia was about to enter Confederation with Canada, one of the terms was a promise by Canada to build a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

across the continent. Moberly was sought out by Joseph Trutch, British Columbia's first provincial

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, and invited back to organize surveys for the railway. His survey crews headed out into the wilderness on the day the province joined confederation. Moberly's survey crews were responsible for the territory around what is now Eagle Pass, Revelstoke, and Golden. From the time of his discovery of Eagle Pass, he formed the conviction that this was the best route for the railway. However,

Sandford Fleming Sir Sandford Fleming (January 7, 1827 – July 22, 1915) was a Scottish Canadian engineer and inventor. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to colonial Canada at the age of 18. He promoted worldwide standard time zones, a prime meridian ...

, Chief Engineer of the railway project, asked Moberly to relocate his crews north to the Yellowhead Pass for the 1872 season. Moberly was very frustrated with these orders requiring him to abandon his preferred route. After the 1873 survey season, Moberly left the

Canadian Pacific Survey The Canadian Pacific Survey or Canadian Pacific Railway Survey comprised many distinct geographical surveys conducted during the 1870s and 1880s, designed to determine the ideal route of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Although much of the survey's ...

and moved to Manitoba. He continued to do private survey work there. Moberly was very bitter towards Major

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 ...

, who was credited with discovering the Rogers Pass through the

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 ...

in 1881. Moberly argued that while discovering Eagle Pass, he had explored the Illecillewaet River and that his journals aided Rogers in his exploration of the pass.

Honors

Because of his early explorations and visionary — some say wishful — ideas on the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway, he has a prominent spot in Canadian Pacific Railway lore. Placement of the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway took place in Eagle Pass at Craigellachie, British Columbia. Moberly Lake in northern British Columbia is named for Walter's younger brother

Henry John Moberly Henry John Moberly, also known as Harry or Harvey (1835–1931) was a fur trader. He entered the Hudson's Bay Company's service in 1854, and in 1862 was in charge of the post on Stuart Lake; gave his name to Moberly Lake in the Peace River co ...

, a fur trader who lived on that lake.

Writing

He published several books including his autobiographic book, ''The Rocks and Rivers of British Columbia'' (H. Blacklock & Co, London, 1885).

References

External links