Dalkin Island - Dryden Creek

Click here for an explanation of this information and reference sources

Dalkin Island 74 E/11 - Firebag River
31-99-9-W4
57° 38' N 111° 28' W
Approximately 100 km north of Fort McMurray

Named for T.W. Dalkin, an instrument man on a survey in the area in 1922.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Daphne Island 74 E/5 - Bitumount
25-95-11-W4
57° 16' 40” N 111° 39' 30” W
Approximately 65 km north north-west of Fort McMurray

Named after Daphne, daughter of J.N. Wallace, DLS, ALS, in 1925.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Darling Creek 84 G/7 - Alberta
23-95-5-W5
57° 15' N 114° 42' W
Flows north-west into Panny River approximately 180 km east north-east of Manning

This was named after trail locator L. Darling, who worked on the crews of J.S. Fletcher, DLS.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

David, Mount 82 N/15 - Mistaya Lake
18-33-20-W5
51° 50' N 116° 49' W
Approximately 115 km north-west of Banff

This 2,780 m mountain, the nearby creek and lake were named in 1920 after David Thompson (1770-1857) who travelled through the adjacent Howe Pass in 1806-1807. From 1816-1826, he was employed in surveying the border between Canada and the United States.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Deadman Creek 84 A/7 - Livock River
23-84-17-W4
56° 18' N 112° 35' W
Flows north into Athabasca River approximately 87 km south-west of Fort McMurray

The precise origin of the name of this creek is unknown but it is probably descriptive of its potential dangers as a death trap. The water from the creek entering Athabasca River is rough above the nearby Grand Rapids. The name was in use when H.S. Day, DLS, ALS surveyed the area in 1914.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Deep Creek 83 N/7 - Triangle
NE-23-73-20-W5
55° 20' N 116° 57' W
Flows east into Little Smoky River approximately 30 km south-west of High Prairie

The name has been in use since before the turn of the century. The origin is not necessarily descriptive for the surveyors in the area do not show the creek to be particuarly deep.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Deer Mountain 83 J/14 - Deer Mountain
68-8-W5
54° 55' N 115° 10' W
Approximately 22 km north-east of Swan Hills

The name was recorded as Deer Hills by Thomas Chalmers, DLS, in 1897. In that year, he surveyed a route through the Swan Hills as a possible overland route to the Klondike. It shows on a map from 1914 as Deer Mountain. For a time in 1922 there was brief consideration given to renaming it Chalmers Hill; the Geographic Board of Canada believed Chalmers too important to be commemorated by such an "unimportant peak" but he never did get anything more prominent named after him in Alberta. The elevation of the feature is 1,067 metres. It is one of the three features which comprise Swan Hills.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Delorme Lake 83 O/1 - Smith
SW-26-70-3-W5
55° 05' N 114° 21' W
Approximately 35 km south-east of Slave River

Although the origin of the name is not known, it was given to the lake between 1914 and 1922. It was likely named after V. Delorme who served as a picketman on the crew of H.W. Selby, DLS, 1909.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Delta Glacier 82 N/10 - Blaeberry River
11-32-19-W5
51° 44' N 116° 35' W
Approximately 95 km north-west of Banff

A.O. Wheeler named this glacier, the source of the Delta Creek, in 1918 after the wide delta found at the lower end of the creek.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Devil Lake 84 K/7 - Child Lake
16-108-17-W5
58° 22' N 116° 47' W
Approximately 24 km south-east of High Level

This lake is annotated as Devil's Lake on the survey map drawn in 1914 by P.M.H. LeBlanc, DLS. This is a translation of the Dunne-za or Beaver name, Minke Mets-li, by which Dunne-za residents refer to the lake. The suggestion from one resident that Bad Lake would be closer translation, as the lake is very dangerous during stormy weather, is an indication of the descriptive origin of the name.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Deville 83 H/7 - Tofield
32-51-20-W4
53° 27' N 112° 55' W
Approximately 50 km east south-east of Edmonton

Named after Dr. Edouard-Gaston Deville (1849-1924), the Surveyor General of Canada. Deville, as one of the first honorary members of the Alpine Club of Canada, introduced photo-topographic surveying into this country, and Arthur Wheeler pioneered its application to the mapping of the Rocky Mountains in 1895. Dr. Deville remained in charge of surveys until his death.
Place Names of Alberta Volume 3: Central Alberta by Tracey Harrison

Dillon River 73 M/9 - Alberta-Saskatchewan
7-1-78-1-W4
55° 44' N 110° 00' W
Flows into Saskatchewan approximately 130 km south-east of Fort McMurray

A local family name submitted by J.N. Wallace, DLS, ALS, who surveyed the 4th Meridian in 1909-1910. The 4th Meridian forms the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Dinosaur Ridge 83 L/5 - Two Lakes
35-61-14-W6
54° 19' N 119° 59' W
Approximately 77 km west north-west of Grande Cache

The name for this ridge, which is 1,691 m in altitude, was proposed by R.W. Cautley on October 18, 1922 for the skyline resemblance of the ridge to the shape of a dinosaur.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Disaster Point 83 F/4 - Miette
25-48-28-W5
53° 11' N 117° 58' W
Approximately 38 km south-west of Hinton

Dr. Edouard Deville, Surveyor General of Canada, named this point because Sir Sandford Fleming's brandy flask was broken on a rock here. CPR surveyor Fleming was exploring a possible route for the CPR in 1872 when this "disaster" occurred.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Divergence Peak 83 C/5 - Fortress Lake
6-41-28-W5
52° 30' N 118° 00' W
Approximately 40 km south-east of Jasper

Named by A.O. Wheeler in 1921, this 2,827 m mountain peak lies at an angle on the Alberta-BC boundary.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Dogpound 82 O/8 Crossfield
5-29-3-W5
51° 28' N 114° 24' W
Approximately 52 km north north-west of Calgary

The name for this locality was first used in 1883 by a surveyor named Fawcett. Perhaps the most likely origin is its derivation from the translation given by the Cree. It refers to the dogs pounding on the banks of the creek as the Indian braves returned to winter camp after hunting food. During the winter, it is said that some tribes settled along the banks of the creek as it provided a natural roadway to the game area.
Place Names of Alberta Volume 2: Southern Alberta by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Donald Creek 74 D/14 - Wood Creek
29-90-9-W4
56° 44' N 111° 24' W
Flows north-west into Athabasca River approximately 10 km north of Fort McMurray

Named by S.C. Ellis for a son of C.H. Freeman, an instrument man on a survey during 1924.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Donna Creek 84 M/11 - Donna Creek
14-122-9-W6
59° 35' N 119° 25' W
Flows north-west into Petitot River, approximately 127 km north of Rainbow Lake

This precise origin of the name of this creek is unknown. The name was submitted by B.M. Rustad, ALS, following his 1964-1965 survey of the 31st Baseline.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Donnelly Island 84 J/6 - Adams Landing
4-108-8-W5
58° 21' N 115° 15' W
In Peace River, approximately 109 km east south-east of High Level

The name was applied to this island by C.P. Hotchkiss in 1920 after his first assistant, Cecil Donnelly, DLS, ALS. (1889-1966) during survey work in the area.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Douglas River 74 L/8 - Brander Lake
10-12-108-1-W4
58° 22' N 110° 01' W
Flows west into Old Fort River approximately 192 km north north-east of Fort McMurray

It as named after G. Douglas, the explorer with J.R. Akins, DLS, and his survey crew who were working on the 28th Baseline in 1917.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Doupe Bay - Saskatchewan
As Chief Surveyor for the western lines of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Jacob Lonsdale Doupe was a well-respected land surveyor in Canada. He surveyed hundreds of subdivisions and townsites along the CPR railway lines. The Saskatchewan Geographic Board named a bay after him in Jan Lake shown on map 63L15 at Latitude 54 degrees and 55 minutes, Longitude 102 degrees and 50 minutes.
Jack Webb, ALS (Hon. Life)

Dover River 74 E/4 - Fort MacKay
19-94-11-W4
57° 10' N 111° 45' W
Flows east into MacKay River approximately 53 km north north-west of Fort McMurray

The precise origin of the name of this river is unknown although it is recorded by G.H. Blanchet, DLS, by that name in 1914. The term "dover" is derived from the Welsh Gaelic word "dwfr" and means "the waters" or "the stream."
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Doze Lake 74 M/16 - Andrew Lake
13-125-1-W4
59° 52' N 110° 00' W
Approximately 350 km north north-east of Fort McMurray

The name was adopted in 1939, after J.W. Doze, ALS, an assistant on the Saskatchewan-Alberta Boundary Commission's party who surveyed the boundary from Lake Athabasca to the 60th parallel.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Dragon Peak 83 C/5 - Fortress Lake
17-40-26-W5
52° 27' N 117° 43' W
Approximately 55 km south-east of Jasper

The descriptive name for this mountain peak, 2,940 m in altitude, was applied in 1921 by A.O. Wheeler. At the time of naming the rock shape near the summit was said to resemble a dragon.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Driftwood Lake 84 C/11 - Driftwood
8-88-22-W5
56° 37' N 117° 27' W
Approximately 35 km south south-west of Manning

The name was noted in 1919 by J.A. Buchanan, DLS, ALS, and is probably descriptive of dead wood on its shores.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Dromore, Mount 83 C/13 - Medicine Lake
6-46-27-W5
52° 57' N 117° 53' W
Approximately 16 km north-east of Jasper

This mountain was named by M.P. Bridgland in 1916 after the town of Dromore, County Down, Ireland. The word "dromore" is Gaelic for "great ridge."
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Dryden Creek 84 E/8 - Botha River
33-97-1-W6
57° 28' N 118° 06' W
Flows south into Botha River, approximately 65 km north north-west of Manning

The creek was likely named after J. Dryden, a mounder in the survey crew of J.R. Akins, DLS, in 1915.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey