GEORGE M. DAWSON 



IN the death of Dr. George M. Daw- 

 son the Dominion of Canada has 

 sustained a great loss in the do- 

 mains of geographic science and of 

 affairs, for Dr. Dawson was not only 

 one of her leading scientific men, but 

 took an active part in her political 

 matters. 



Dawson was born at Pictou, Nova 

 Scotia, in 1849, his father being the 



George M. Dawson 



celebrated geologist, Sir William Daw- 

 son. After a thorough training at Mc- 

 Gill University and at the Royal School 

 of Mines of lyondon, he commenced his 

 long career of geographic and geologic 

 explorations as geologist and botanist 

 on the Northwest Boundary Commis- 



sion in 1873. Two years later he joined 

 the Geological Survey of Canada, and 

 for nine years was engaged in the ex- 

 ploration of British Columbia, the Yu- 

 kon Valley, and the high plains of the 

 northwest. While his work was pri- 

 marily geological, still we owe to him, 

 more than to any other explorer, our 

 present knowledge of the northwestern 

 part of North America. In 1883 he was 

 appointed assistant director of the Geo- 

 logical Survey, and in 1895 became its 

 director, which position he held until 

 his death, on March 2, igoi. 



During his quarter centur}^ of active 

 work many duties were imposed upon 

 Mr. Dawson and many were the honors 

 he received. In 1891 and 1892 he served 

 on the Bering Sea Commission, and for 

 his services received the order of Com- 

 panion of St. Michael and St. George. 

 In 1 89 1 he received from the Royal 

 Societ}^ of England, of which he was a 

 fellow, the Bigsby medal for his re- 

 searches in geology, and degrees were 

 conferred upon him by Queens College 

 and McGill University. In 1893 he 

 was elected President of the Royal So- 

 ciety of Canada. 



Dr. Dawson's work was mainly that 

 of an explorer, and for that he had, in 

 spite of his physical defect, wonderful 

 ability and fitness. To draw broad and 

 accurate generalizations from the slight 

 data obtained by the explorer requires 

 close observation , great breadth of vision, 

 and high reasoning powers, and in the 

 selection of Dawson for this work the 

 Canadian authorities made no mistake. 

 He has laid down with great accuracy 

 the leading geographic and geologic 

 features of the Canadian Northwest, 

 and thus constructed a skeleton on 

 which future work will supply the 

 details. 



H. G. 



