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Ley HarrisTo be correct, his full name was Ley Edwards Harris and he was born in Gananoque, Ontario. Incidentally, the Edwards family (his mother's family name) founded the Blinkbonnie Hotel in Gananoque and is still in operation. He has two brothers, Charles and Emery plus one sister, Rebecca. The family moved west and settled in the Priddis area of Alberta in the early part of the century. Ley received his education in Alberta and subsequently married Miss Emma Thiessen from a well known southern Alberta family. They in turn had three children - Dorothy, Herbert and Joan. After receiving his commission as a land surveyor, he worked for the federal government in Banff National Park where Mount Harris was named after him. I first became acquainted with Mr. Harris when I was articled to him in 1951 when we worked in the Calgary area. The thing I remember best of all the things he taught me was his shovel, the careful paring similar to that of an archeologist when looking for evidence, and the depth we would dig in some cases to find original soil. One other instance I do recall was my lesson in closing accuracy and adjusting a closed traverse. After making a survey and noting the closure error to be out several feet both in latitude and departure, I brought into play my newly found textbook methods (transit rule, compass rule) or adjusting a traverse. I proudly presented my work to Mr. Harris and nearly caused an early cardiac arrest when he could see what I had done. He then kindly enlightened me how to adjust a traverse. He, of course, meant go out and re-run the traverse until the error was at least 1/5000 and preferably 1/10,000 (new surveyors, this is a transit and tape accuracy). Mr. Harris was active and vital to the very end of his days and spoke well of the good life he enjoyed while practicing his profession.
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