Mount Robson is a mountain, and a place, of many rich stories.
And the stories associated with the area’s earliest human history are just the ones Zac Robinson gathered to create a brand new exhibit for the Mount Robson Provincial Park (MRPP) visitors centre’s museum.
Robinson, University of Alberta assistant professor in the phys ed and recreation department, collaborated with his colleague, history professor Liza Piper, MRPP senior Park Ranger Hugo Mulyk and Val Kerr, a MRPP interpreter, to plan two large-scale museum panels to be unveiled this month. The panels were designed and created by Suzan Chamney, a former long-time Canmore resident. The exhibit’s addition to the museum helps celebrate the centennial of legendary native Austrian guide Conrad Kain’s historical ascent of the Rockies’ highest peak, 3,954-metre Mount Robson, and also the designation of 224,866 hectare Mount Robson Provincial Park, both of which happened in 1913.
Kain climbed Robson’s east face (now the Kain Face) with W.W. “Billy” Foster, who served as ACC President from 1920 to 1924, and Albert “Mack” MacCarthy, a prominent ACC and American Alpine Club member. Their ascent took place during a special Mount Robson camp organized by the ACC, whose attendees arrived at Yellowhead Pass via the newly completed Grand Trunk Northern Railway.
Covering one long wall and half of a second, the exhibit will complement existing displays focussing on the ecology, biology and natural history of the Mount Robson area, and the story of the park’s UNESCO designation in 1990 as part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains World Heritage Site. The new text and historical images describe those who have been a part of the area’s history for centuries, including early explorers, fur traders, map-makers, railway surveyors, outfitters and the activities and contributions of First Nations peoples.
“We really wanted to highlight the long human history of the area,” said Robinson, himself of Métis descent. “First Nations peoples, for example, have been moving through the Robson and Yellowhead Pass area for centuries. They knew it well. The low elevation of the Pass made it an important travel route for various peoples from across the country.”
Creation of the new exhibit was made possible thanks to funding from B.C. Parks, the ACC, the University of Alberta and the Network in Canadian History and Environment (niche-canada.org/research). Alpinist magazine generously allowed the use of their route lines drawn on Robson’s image.
“It has been a pleasure to be involved with this project as we had been developing ideas for the anniversary celebrations for a few years,” Mulyk said. “At my first discussion with Zac I knew we were on the same wavelength and the end result would be something we would be very proud of. I hope this display will provide a snapshot of the history of the park for visitors to the area, celebrate our pioneers and their sometimes amazing feats and provide special meaning and recognition for residents of the Robson Valley, many who have historical ties to this park and area.”
An active ACC volunteer, trip co-ordinator and executive board member, Robinson said the Club has been a strong advocate for the park since its earliest days. As an academic historian – not to mention an experienced mountaineer – Robinson said he’s interested in “the values people have invested in these places, and how they change over time.”
“We wanted to get that across – the multitude of investments – in order to show just how important these places have been, and still are, to so many people, whether it’s tourists or locals, labourers or adventure seekers, etc.,” he said.
Among the area’s numerous colourful characters, the Overlanders comprised a “parade of bumbling Easterners” lured by the promise of the Cariboo Gold Rush in the 1860s. They, like so many visitors to the region in the 19th century, hired aboriginal guides. One such guide, who purportedly made 29 trips through the pass, claimed to have seen the top of the great “Snowcap” or “Cloud Cap Mountain” just once. For all the names the mountain was already known by, Robinson said, the precise origin of Robson remains unknown.
“It’s amazing, we have all these beautiful names for the mountain, like Yuh-hai-has-kun, a Shuswap name meaning Mountain of the Spiral Road, and yet nobody knows where Robson came from with any certainty,” Robinson said. “The earliest written mention is found in a document dating back to 1862-63, by a pair of tourists, Viscount Milton and Dr. Walter Cheadle on their cross-continent trip, recorded in a book titled, The Northwest Passage by Land.”
In a book published a few years afterward, the mountain is referred to as “Robson’s Peak,” perhaps indicating it was named for a person.
Another prominent early figure was a Métis trader, Pierre Bostonais, who ran a small trading post at the confluence of the Robson and Fraser rivers around 1820. Bostonais was well-known for his shock of blond hair, which led to the naming of Tęte Jaune, which, translated from French, means yellowhead.
Robson also has its share of darker stories, such as the period during Second World War when interned Canadians of Japanese descent were put to work constructing the road over the pass.
Along with the new museum exhibit, centennial celebrations taking place at Mount Robson this summer include a special ACC camp where, for the first time in decades, the club will host a board meeting, reminiscent of early meetings held at annual ACC camps. Representatives of the New Zealand and Austrian alpine clubs will attend and a couple of mountain guides will do their best to facilitate a Robson centennial ascent if conditions co-operate.
Members of the Conrad Kain Centennial Society will also run a week-long camp for teens from Kain’s home area of B.C.’s Columbia Valley. Parks Canada’s Mountain WHIT theatre will perform their Conrad Kain biographical play at Berg Lake for campers in the area.
When asked if he’d climbed the Monarch of the Rockies, Robinson replied he had.
“We climbed the Kain Route back in . . . 2002, maybe? It was August; it’d been warm. So we climbed the face at night, and got treated to northern lights and a sunrise on the summit. It was really beautiful.”
To learn about various Robson centennial events being hosted by BC Parks, including public presentations by Chic Scott and Bob Sandford, visit env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks.
