Narraway River - Quitting Lake

Click here for an explanation of this information and reference sources

Narraway River 83 L/12 - Nose Creek
20-66-13-W6
54° 44' N 119° 55' W
Flows north in Wapiti River, approximately 74 km west south-west of Grande Prairie

This river was officially named in 1923 after A.M. Narraway, DLS, who was the Controller of Surveys in Ottawa. His duties took him to the 120th Meridian and this river in 1922.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Nash Lake 74 L/2 - Larocque Lake
NE-2-105-5-W4
58° 05' N 110° 42' W
Approximately 148 km north of Fort McMurray

The name shows on maps as early as 1919. It was likely named after J. Nash, an axeman on F.V. Seibert's surveying crew. Seibert and G.H. Blanchet, DLS, and their crews worked on the 27th Baseline during the seasons from 1915 to 1918.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Nassawald Peak 82 J/13 - Mount Assiniboine
23-12-W5
51° 00' N 115° 39' W
Approximately 20 km south of Banff on the Alberta-BC boundary

This 2,995 m mountain peak was named in 1913 after Nasswald Austria. This was the birthplace of Conrad Kain, a member of a survey party who climbed the peak in that year.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Neath Creek 73 M/8 - Grist Lake
15-13-73-1-W4
55° 19' N 110° 01' W
Flows south-west into Calder River, approximately 100 km north of Cold Lake

This name appears on a federal government map as early as 1913. J.N. Wallace, DLS, ALS, stated in 1916 that it was named after a place in Wales.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Needle Peak 83 D/9 - Amethyst Lakes
26-41-2-W6
52° 33' N 118° 12' W
Approximately 38 km south south-west of Jasper

The name for this 2,850 m mountain peak, given by A.O. Wheeler in 1922, is descriptive of the outline of the summit.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Newby River 74 D/2 - Quigley
22-81-4-W4
56° 01' 53” N 110° 31' 43” W
Flows south-west into Winefred River via Hook Lake approximately 93 km south south-east of Fort McMurray

This river is named after W. Newby, a member of a survey party. Earlier names were recorded by the surveyor Philip Turnor.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Ney Lake 74 M/16 - Andrew Lake
NW-12-124-1-W4
59° 46' N 110° 01' W
Approximately 339 km north north-east of Fort McMurray on the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary

The name has appeared on federal government maps since at least 1946 and is named after Cecil Herman Ney, DLS, from Ontario.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Ninemile Point 83 O/7 - Slave Lake
26-73-7-W5
55° 21' N 114° 58' W
Approximately 12 km west north-west of Slave Lake

On the shore of Lesser Slave Lake, Ninemile Point was a well-established stopping place for freighters when the Dominion Land Surveyors were working in the area in 1913. It was named for its distance from Sawridge (later the community of Slave Lake).
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Nisbet Lake 73 M/8 - Winefred Lake
34-73-2-W4
55° 22' N 110° 13' W
Approximately 95 km north of Cold Lake

The origin of the name of this lake is unknown. The name appears on the baseline surveys of 1912. It may have been named for a survey crew member.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Noire, Roche 83 D/16 - Jasper
26-44-3-W6
52° 49' N 118° 19' W
Approximately 22 km south-west of Jasper

The descriptive name for this 2,878 m mountain peak refers to its black summit. Noire is French for black. M.P. Bridgland applied the name to this peak in 1916.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

North Vermilion Settlement 84 K/8 - Fort Vermilion
25-108-13-W5
58° 24' N 116° 02' W
Approximately 65 km east south-east of High Level

It was originally surveyed in river lots in 1906 by J.B. St. Cyr, DLS. Locally, the settlement has the nickname of "Buttertown" after an incident during the late 19th century or early 1900s when some rancid butter was sold.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

North Wabasca Lake 83 P/13 - South Wabasca Lake
1-80-25-W4
55° 59' N 113° 55' W
Approximately 95 km north-east of Slave Lake

The name was recorded by th Dominion Land Survey in 1913. It is from the nearby Wabasca River.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

O'Beirne Mountain 83 D/15 - Rainbow
26-45-5-W6
52° 55' N 118° 37' W
Approximately 36 km west of Jasper

This 2,560 m mountain was named in 1918 by A.O. Wheeler. It is named after "O.B," (Eugene Francis O'Beirne) who travelled across Western Canada with the Overlanders and Reverend John McDougall and was left at Fort Edmonton.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Ochre Creek 84 C/9 - Golden Lake
29-87-15-W5
56° 33' N 116° 22' W
Flows south-west into Golden Lake approximately 67 km north-east of Peace River

The name likely indicates either the presence of ochre on the creek's banks or possibly ochre-coloured water. The name was recorded as early as 1912 by A.H. Hawkins, DLS.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Okotoks 82 I/12 - High River
28-20-29-W4
50° 44' N 113° 59' W
Approximately 90 km south of Calgary

This town began as a Canadian Pacific Railway station in 1894. At that time, it was called Dewdney, after Edgar Dewdney. The province of British Columbia was his destination in 1859, and he surveyed there for several years. The locality of Dewdney remained his namesake only until 1897 when it was changed to Okotoks.
Place Names of Alberta Volume 2: Southern Alberta by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Oldman Creek

Flowing north into the North Saskatchewan River, 21 km northeast of Edmonton city centre, north of 137 Avenue, west of 33 Street east

 

Oldman Creek, located within the City of Edmonton's limits, is said to have been named after the local Old Man's Knoll, over which a historic trail passed from Edmonton to Fort Garry. The name of Oldman Creek was noted as early as 1882 by the Dominion Land Survey.

Naming Edmonton by the City of Edmonton

Ole Buck Mountain 82 O/2 - Jumpingpound Creek
24-7-W5
51° 04' N 114° 51' W
Approximately 45 km west of Calgary

This 1,905 m mountain was officially named December 12, 1939. It appears on A.O. Wheeler's map but the origin is unknown.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Osborn River 84 D/13 - Betts Creek
16-90-13-W6
56° 48' N 112° 00' W
Flows west into British Columbia, approximately 130 km north-west of Peace River

It was named after G. Osborn, a chainman on the 1911 survey party of James R. Akins, DLS.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Palliser Range 82 O/5 - Castle Mountain
28-12-W5
51° 23' N 115° 34' W
Approximately 15 km north of Banff

This range is noted on the Palliser map of 1859. The range and nearby pass are named for Captain John Palliser (1817-1887) who commanded an expedition between 1857-1860 to explore and survey the country between the 49th parallel and the North Saskatchewan River.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Parker Lake 83 O/2 - Florida Lake
5-25-70-5-W5
55° 05' N 114° 37' W
Approximately 25 km south south-east of the Town of Slave Lake

After whom this was named is not known; it was named some time between 1914 and 1922, so this might mean it was named after a survey crew member.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Pasque Mountain 82 J/2 - Fording River
14-5-W5
50° 09' N 114° 36' W
Approximately 60 km south-west of Turner Valley

This 2,451 m mountain was named by M.P. Bridgland in 1914 due to the abundance of pasque flowers found near its summit.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Patricia Lake 83 D/16 - Jasper
29-45-1-W6
52° 54' N 118° 06' W
Approximately 6 km north-east of Jasper

This slim, narrow lake was named in honour of Her Royal Highness, Princess Patricia Connaught, daughter of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Connaught, Governor General of Canada, from 1914-1916. The name was applied in 1914 by H. Matheson of the Dominion Land Survey.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Paxton Lake 74 L/7 - Keave Creek
2-107-5-W4
58° 16' N 110° 42' W
Approximately 169 km north north-east of Fort McMurray

The lake was named in 1917 after F.R. Paxton, who likely worked on a survey crew.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Pearce 82 H/14 - Monarch
1-10-25-W4
49° 48' N 113° 16' W
Approximately 32 km west north-west of Lethbridge

Named in 1910 after William Pearce.
Place Names of Alberta Volume 2: Southern Alberta by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Pearson Crescent

West of 199 Street, south of Potter Greens Drive, Edmonton

 

Manitoba-born Hugh E. Pearson (1887-1979) was a WWI veteran and a broadcasting pioneer. He came to Alberta in 1906 where he worked as a Dominion Land Surveyor and Alberta Land Surveyor. Pearson retired in 1970 and was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1976.

Naming Edmonton by the City of Edmonton

Pearson Lake 74 E/14 - Pearson Lake
22-103-8-W4
57° 57' N 111° 14' W
Approximately 137 km north of Fort McMurray

Named in 1914 after H.E. Pearson, DLS, ALS. It is also known locally as Sandy Lake.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Peavine Creek 83 N/11 - Donnelly
16-76-22-W5
55° 36' N 117° 21' W
Flows south-west into Little Smoky River approximately 60 km west of High Prairie

The name was recorded by the Dominion Land Surveyors in 1905 and is descriptive of the prevalence of the plant in the area.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Pengelly, Mount 82 G/10 - Crowsnest
27-6-5-W5
49° 30' N 114° 36' W
Approximately 16 km south south-west of Coleman, on the Alberta-BC boundary

Pengelly was the family name of the wife of A.J. Campbell, who was an assistant to A.O. Wheeler on the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Survey. The name for this 2,560, mountain was officially approved in January 1917.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Peters Lake 74 M/8 - Wylie Lake
1-121-1-W4
59° 29' N 110° 02' W
Approximately 310 km north north-east of Fort McMurray on the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary

Two explanations have been given for the origin of the name. Since it was named in 1939 and since it lies just to the west of the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, the most likely explanation is that it was named after F.H. Peters, the chairman of the Sakatchewan-Alberta Boundary Commission.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Peters, Mount 82 O/13 - Scalp Creek
18-33-14-W5
51° 49' N 116° 00' W
Approximately 80 km north-west of Banff

This 2,850 m mountain was named in 1928 by R.W. Cautley after Frederick Hathaway Peters, OBE, DLS, ALS. Peters had a long and distinguished career. He was the Surveyor General of Canada from 1924-1948.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Pinto Creek 83 L/14 - Wapiti
8-16-69-10-W6
54° 58' 00” N 119° 28' 00” W
Flows north into Wapiti River, approximately 45 km west south-west of Grande Prairie

When Arthur St. Cyr, DLS, was surveying the 6th Meridian, he worked south from Grande Prairie and arrived in this area in the fall. Supplies were becoming low so he sent two men ahead with horses to pick up supplies at a cache on Prairie Creek. The men became lost and matters grew desperate. St. Cyr kept on and where the meridian crossed what is now Pinto Creek, he shot a horse (Holmgren, 1976). Pinto is the Spanish word for painted, referring to the colouration on the horses.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Place LaRue

100 Avenue north to Stony Plain Road, 170 Street west to Anthony Henday Drive

 

Stanislaus LaRue (born 1860) was a surveyor, scout, and pioneer businessman. Born in Canada East, LaRue came to Edmonton in 1883 where he worked as a surveyor and served as a scout during the North-West Rebellion (1885).

Naming Edmonton by the City of Edmonton

Plavius Lake 84 C/12 - Dixonville
28-87-23-W5
56° 34' N 117° 35' W
Approximately 41 km north north-west of Peace River

The precise origin of the name of this lake is unknown. It was first recorded in 1913 as Plevius by G.A. Tipper, DLS, ALS. By 1915, the spelling had changed to its current form. Pluvius is an ancient Roman epithet for Jupiter the rainmaker, so perhaps the survey crew encountered rainy weather when working in the area.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Ponita Lake 83 M/12 - Boone Lake
SE-19-75-12-W6
55° 31' N 119° 50' W
Approximately 72 km west north-west of Grande Prairie

It is apparently a Cree word, the root of which means terminate or end. In 1916, J.N. Wallace, DLS, ALS, said the lake represented the finish of the survey session when the Dominion Lands Survey first came through the area in 1909.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Ponton River 84 K/8 - Fort Vermilion
12-109-14-W5
58° 27' N 116° 11' W
Flows south-east into Boyer River, approximately 56 km east south-east of High Level

This river was named after A.W. Ponton, DLS, ALS. The Beaver name for this stream is Kaska Sake or Kaska Woti Sake.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Poplar Creek 74 D/14 - Wood Creek
30-91-9-W4
56° 55' N 111° 27' W
Flows north-east into Athabasca River, approximately 22 km north of Fort McMurray

The precise origin of the name of this creek is unknown; it is probably descriptive. It was noted as early as 1914 in the field notes of A.D. Griffin, DLS.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Powder Creek 74 M/3 - Ryan Lake
12-35-116-9-W4
59° 07' N 111° 25' W
Flows north-west into Slave River approximately 257 km north of Fort McMurray

The name was noted in 1916 by J.A. Fletcher, DLS. Its origin is not known. It may refer to actual powder or it may refer to the Powder family.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Prairie Creek 74 D/11 - Fort McMurray
27-88-9-W4
56° 39' N 111° 21' W
Flows north north-west into Hangingstone River approximately 8 km south of Fort McMurray

The creek was probably named at a time when it ran through a prairie area, an uncommon topographical feature in the vicinity of Fort McMurray. The name was recorded in 1912 by A.J. Tremblay, DLS, ALS.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Prest Creek 83 F/7 - Erith
17-50-20-W5
53° 18' N 116° 53' W
Flows east into Embaras River approximately 44 km south-west of Edson

The name for this creek was suggested by Dr. Rutherford of the Alberta Research Council during the course of the railway survey of 1910-1911. It commemorates Benjamin J. Prest, born in England in 1884, who came to Canada in 1904. He was a member of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway survey party of 1910 and, in later years, joined the staff of the Department of Lands and Mines.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Priddis 82 J/16 - Priddis
22-23-3-W5
50° 53' N 114° 20' W
Approximately 28 km south-west of Calgary

Charles Priddis hailed from Paris, Ontario and came west with a survey crew, looking after their horses. In 1884, his party had a winter camp south of Calgary at the confluence of the two branches of Fish Creek, a point later to be known as "Forks." In 1886, Charles Priddis returned here to homestead and with the passage of time, others came to settle in the district. When a meeting was held to decide a name, the unanimous choice was Priddis.
Place Names of Alberta Volume 2: Southern Alberta by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Ptolemy, Mount 82 G/10 - Crowsnest
9-7-5-W5
49° 33' N 114° 37' W
Approximately 13 km south-west of Coleman

Mount Ptolemy was named by A.O. Wheeler owing to its resemblance in shape to a man sitting with his arms folded. The name was offically approved November 2, 1915. It has also been suggested that this 2,815 m mountaint may have been named for the celebrated astronomer by the name of Ptolemy who lived in ancient times.
Place Names of Alberta Volume I Mountains, Mountain Parks and Foothills by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Purdy Lake 74 L/8 - Brander Lake
4-109-3-W4
58° 26' N 110° 26' W
Approximately 191 km north of Fort McMurray

It was named after E.B. Purdy, a leveller of D.F. McEwen's survey crew working in the area in 1916.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Puskwaskau Lake 83 N/5 - Sturgeon Heights
20-72-24-W5
55° 15' N 117° 39' W
Approximately 30 km north-west of Valleyview

Puskwaskau is a Cree word roughly translated as "short grass." This describes some of the land surrounding the lake and how the lake and river were named. Documentation shows the name has been in use since at least 1914 when it is referred to in the field notebooks of the Dominion Land Surveyor who went through the area during that season.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey

Queenstown 82 I/10 - Queenstown
26-19-22-W4
50° 38' N 112° 56' W
Approximately 85 km south-east of Calgary

Named in 1888 by Captain Dawson, who was surveying for the Canadian Government. The following year, he formed the Canadian Pacific Colonization Company with English capital. Advertisements for the colonists to take up land in Queenstown was effective. The settlement was named after Queenstown (now Cobb), Ireland, Dawson's native city.
Place Names of Alberta Volume 2: Southern Alberta by Aphrodite Karamitsanis

Quitting Lake 84 B/9 - Quitting Lake
35-88-3-W5
56° 40' N 114° 20' W
Approximately 155 km north north-east of Slave Lake

The precise origin of the name of this lake is unknown; the name of the lake was noted as early as 1912 in the survey notes of A.H. Hawkins. It may refer to the point at which a survey season ended, or the point at where someone gave up on whatever project they were working at the time.
Place Names of Alberta Volume IV Northern Alberta by Merrily K. Aubrey