18 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



2 GEORGE V., A. 1912 



the writer in the first of the six seasons devoted to the geology of the Boundary, 

 but the difficulty was more fully realized as the confusion of the nomenclature 

 already in vogue became apparent. 



It is manifest that any attempt to develop a constructive view of the 

 Boundary mountains should be founded as far as possible upon established units 

 already understood and named. The literature has, therefore, been carefully 

 searched to furnish this required foundation. The result has shown a truly 

 surprising variety of usages in names and in concepts of the topography. The 

 course of compilation inevitably led to the study of the nomenclature of western 

 ranges even far away from the Forty-ninth Parallel of latitude. Examples of 

 the differences of usage are recorded in the first part of this chapter. 

 The record may serve in some degree to illustrate the need of a consistent 

 scheme of nomenclature, possibly to suggest partial grounds on which uniformity 

 may some day be established. 



The second part of this chapter is concerned with a brief account of the 

 nomenclature that seems most appropriate for the ranges crossed by the 

 International Boundary. 



DIFFERENT NOMENCLATURES IN USE. 



The search for the variations of nomenclature was made both 

 among authorities responsible on the ground of priority and among 

 authorities influential as standard compilers from original sources. For 

 the present purpose of indicating the lack of uniformity and the confusion 

 into which the great mass of the people may be led by consulting existing works 

 of reference, it is not sufficient to record names found only in Government map 

 or careful scientific monograph. Perhaps more important still in this connection 

 is the record to be made from standard atlases, from school geographies, and 

 from standard influential guide-books. In reality, it has required the examin- 

 ation of but a very limited number of each kind of authoritative works to point 

 the moral. With few exceptions the only works consulted were printed in the 

 English language. 



DIVERSE NAMING OF THE WESTERN MOUNTAIN REGION AS A WHOLE. 



The question of the best general title for the western mountains may be con- 

 sidered as trite by those who do not feel the immediate need of its solution in their 

 professional work. The writer by no means believes it to be trite, as he now comple- 

 tely realizes the wide latitude in naming among the recent influential publications 

 dealing with North American geography. It is scarcely to the credit of our 

 geographical societies and alpine clubs that they will publish at length the state- 

 ment of one traveller, that he found mosquitoes in Newfoundland, of- another 

 that his hotel accommodation in Manila was bad, and leave undiscussed the 

 suggestive paper of Prof. Russell and his correspondents on the names of the 

 larger geographical features of North America.* There would be no advantage 



* Bull. Geog. Society of Philadelphia, 1899, Vol. 2, p. 55. 



