Sir James Hector

Sir James Hector was a Scottish physician and geologist who served as surgeon, geologist, and de facto field leader on the British North American Exploring Expedition (Palliser Expedition, 1857–1860). His work in the central Rockies; Vermilion Pass, Howse Pass, Kicking Horse Pass, and the Bow River headwaters; produced the first systematic European survey of the region and informed the CPR’s later route selection.

1858: Bow valley to Vermilion Pass. From Old Bow Fort (near Morley), Hector ascended the Bow past present-day Banff and Castle Mountain to the head of the valley near Castle Junction. He crossed and named Vermilion Pass for the reddish ochre clays on the BC side used by Indigenous people as pigment. At the summit he recorded the water divide; the first stream he had seen flowing to the Pacific. His party followed the Vermilion River to the Kootenay, then north to the Beaverfoot and Kicking Horse Pass.

The kicking incident. While recovering a stray horse near Wapta Falls, Hector was kicked in the chest and knocked unconscious for hours; his men dug a grave before he revived. The river and pass were named “Kicking Horse” in dark humour. Hector continued up the valley and crossed the pass used by the CPR.

Upper Bow and Mistaya. On the east side of the Divide, Hector turned north along the main range; past the site of Mount Hector, along the Bow above Bow Lake, past Hector Lake (named for him by George Mercer Dawson); among the first Europeans to record the true headwaters of the Bow. He continued over Bow Summit and down the Mistaya to the North Saskatchewan. The circuit (Bow → Vermilion → Kootenay → Beaverfoot → Kicking Horse → upper Bow → Mistaya → North Saskatchewan) was completed in 38 days.

1859: Howse Pass. Hector returned in 1859, ascending the Bow, turning up the Pipestone River, and crossing Pipestone Pass to reach the Saskatchewan and Howse systems. He re-traversed Howse Pass; used by Kootenay and Peigan people and by David Thompson (1807); systematically surveying it for British mapping and railway assessment. He descended the Blaeberry to the Columbia and met Palliser at Fort Colville.

Legacy. Across his Palliser years Hector mapped or crossed eight passes including Bow, Kicking Horse, Vermilion, Pipestone, Howse, Athabasca, Sunwapta, and Yellowhead. His notebooks provided what George Mercer Dawson called “the first really trustworthy general geological map of the interior portion of British North America.” Peter Erasmus recalled Hector “could walk, ride, or tramp snowshoes with the best of our men” and never asked for lighter duties.