38 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



2 GEORGE V. F A. 1912 



the headwaters of the North Thompson river southward to Lower Arrow lake-t 

 This usage was confirmed by Selwyn and Dawson, each in turn Director of the 

 Geological Survey of Canada. § Nevertheless, the new general map of Canada 

 issued by the Department of the Interior at Ottawa (1902) gives the name 

 ' Gold range ' to this larger group. The extension of the limits of the Gold 

 range is a departure from the official tradition of both the provincial and 

 Dominion governments. It appears best to hold the name ' Gold range ' to its 

 original designation of a local mountain group, and retain the title ' Columbia 

 range ' with a broader meaning. 



For the immense Cordilleran unit stretching from end to end of the Selkirk 

 Valley, and bounded on the east by the Columbia river, there is no question 

 that the name ' Columbia range ' is more significant and appropriate than the 

 name ' Gold range.' The latter name has a special disadvantage worthy of 

 note. Although Dawson, in his later writings, used the name ' Gold range ' 

 in its original sense of a local mountain group, he as often used ' Gold range ' 

 or 'Gold ranges' to include the Selkirk, Purcell, 'Columbia', Cariboo, and 

 Omineca ranges. This inconsistent usage robs the title ' Gold range ' of even 

 that modicum of value which it has as an alternative for the more significant 

 title. As already stated, the name ' Columbia range,' with its comprehensive 

 meaning, has the priority. 



The extension of the apposite title, ' Columbia range ' (with variant 

 'Columbia system'), to cover the larger area described in the foregoing para- 

 graphs is, it is true, not according to tradition, but, as in the case of the Selkirk 

 system and Purcell range, the widening of the meaning is justified by the lack 

 of definition as to the true areal extent of the ' Columbia range ' in its original 

 use, and is enforced by the fact of crest continuity within a fairly well delimited 

 belt of the Cordillera. 



The southern third of the Columbia system is characterized by compara- 

 tively low mountains, which in rock composition are allied both to the northern 

 part of the system- and to the belt of the Interior Plateaus. These southern 

 mountains commonly show uniformity in summit levels; yet there are no 

 remnant plateaus or very few of them, and it is advisable to regard these 

 mountains as forming a group distinct from the Interior Plateaus. A con- 

 venient name for part of the group, ' Colville mountains,' was given as early 

 as 1859-60 by the members of the Palliser expedition. In the preliminary 

 paper it was proposed that the Colville group should include the mountains 

 lying between the two forks of the Kettle river as well as all the part of the Col- 

 umbia system south of the river. Further study and the test of actual convenience 

 in description have since suggested the expediency of recognizing the moun- 

 tains between the two forks of the Kettle river as forming an independent 

 subdivision, and to them the name ' Midway mountains ' is given. Further- 

 it: S. Fleming, Exploratory Survey, Canadian Pacific Railway report, Ottawa, 1874, 

 Map-sheet, No. 8. 



§ Forest Map of British Columbia, published by G. M. Dawson in Report of 

 Progress, Geol. Surv. of Canada, 1879-80. 



