Page:Canadian Alpine Journal I, 1.djvu/66

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Field for Alpine Club
48

with him, the result being: first, the formation of an Alpine section of the Appalachian Club, and eventually the organization of the American Alpine Club, of which Professor Fay is now President. From 1890 on, "Appalachia," the organ of that Club, set forth the conquests made by its members in the Canadian mountains, and furnishes much instructive and interesting reading.

An account and map of the expeditions of Professor A. P. Coleman[1] and Professor L. B. Stewart of Toronto University, accompanied by L. Q. Coleman,[1] to the headwaters of the Athabaska river, by new and unmapped routes, will be found in "The Geographical Journal" of January, 1895. These trips, made in 1892 and 1893, resulted in the discovery of Fortress lake, lying directly upon the Continental watershed, and in the dethroning of Mt. Brown, on the west side of the Athabaska pass. The mountain was climbed by Professor Stewart and L. Q. Coleman and the altitude fixed, by barometric readings, at 9050 feet instead of over 16,000 feet, as it is, even at the present date, shown in standard geographies and on published maps. At this time, eight peaks over 9000 feet above sea level were climbed, and three over 10,000 feet. A later expedition in 1903 resulted in the mapping of the Brazeau snow-field, never before visited by white men.

In 1894, W. D. Wilcox, S. H. S. Allen and two other young college men visited Lake Louise, of which the striking beauty had already been realized to such an extent that the Railway Company had built a small chalet on its borders to accommodate a few visitors. On this occasion, they discovered Paradise valley, where the Club will camp during the present summer. The explorations then made and, the following year, to the headwaters of the Bow river, resulted in Mr. Wilcox's artistic and beautifully illustrated book,


  1. 1.0 1.1 Active Member of the Alpine Club of Canada.