William Ogilvie (surveyor)
Encyclopedia
William Ogilvie FRGS (April 7, 1846, Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

 – November 13, 1912, Winnipeg, Manitoba) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Dominion land surveyor
Dominion Land Survey
The Dominion Land Survey is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United States, but has several differences...

, explorer and Commissioner
Commissioners of Yukon
This is a list of Yukon Commissioners from 1897 to the present. The Commissioner is appointed by the Government of Canada, but they are not vice-regals and therefore not the Queen's Representative of the territory.CommissionerTermJames Morrow Walsh1897-1898...

 of the Yukon Territory.

He was born on a farm in Gloucester Township
Gloucester Township, Ontario
Gloucester Township is a historical township in Eastern Ontario, Canada.Originally known as Township B, it was established in 1792. In 1800, it was part of Russell County, but became part of Carleton County in 1838 and was incorporated as a township in 1850. The first settler in the township was...

, Canada West in an area now known as Glen Ogilvie to James Ogilvie of Belfast Ireland and Margaret Holliday Ogilvie of Peebles, Scotland. Ogilvie articled as a surveyor with Robert Sparks, qualifying to practice as a Provincial Land Surveyor in 1869. He married Sparks' daughter Mary, a school teacher, in 1872. He worked locally as a land surveyor, qualified as a Dominion Land Surveyor in 1872 and was first hired by the Dominion government in 1875.

He was responsible for numerous surveys from the 1870s to the 1890s, mainly in the Prairie Provinces. From 1887 to 1889, Ogilvie was involved in George Mercer Dawson
George Mercer Dawson
Dr. George Mercer Dawson F.R.S., C.M.G., was a Canadian scientist and surveyor. He was born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, the eldest son of Sir John William Dawson, Principal of McGill University and his wife, Lady Margaret Dawson...

's exploration and survey expedition in what later became the Yukon Territory. He surveyed the Chilkoot Pass
Chilkoot Pass
Chilkoot Pass is a high mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the U.S. state of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point along the Chilkoot Trail that leads from Dyea, Alaska to Bennett Lake, British Columbia...

, the Yukon
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...

 and Porcupine
Porcupine River
The Porcupine River is a river that runs through Alaska and the Yukon. Having its source in the Ogilvie Mountains north of Dawson City, Yukon, it flows north, veers to the southwest, goes through the community of Old Crow, Yukon, flowing into the Yukon River at Fort Yukon, Alaska...

 rivers. Ogilvie established the location of the boundary between the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

 and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 on the 141st meridian west
141st meridian west
The meridian 141° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....

.

During the Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...

, he surveyed the townsite of Dawson City
Dawson City, Yukon
The Town of the City of Dawson or Dawson City is a town in the Yukon, Canada.The population was 1,327 at the 2006 census. The area draws some 60,000 visitors each year...

 and was responsible for settling many disputes between miners. Ogilvie became the Yukon's second Commissioner in 1898 at the height of the gold rush, and resigned because of ill-health in 1901.

He was the author of Early Days on the Yukon (1913), which is still available in facsimile reprints. The Ogilvie Mountains
Ogilvie Mountains
The Ogilvie Mountains are a mountain range in the Yukon Territory that lie north of Dawson City and are crossed by the Dempster Highway. The best known mountains are part of the Tombstone Territorial Park ....

, Ogilvie River and Ogilvie Aerodrome in the Northern Yukon Territory along with Ogilvie Valley in the Southern Yukon Territory are named after him.

Ogilvie performed the following surveys for the Surveyor-General of Canada:

1875 - 76—Township outlines south of Dauphin.

1878 - 79—Surveys of Indian Reserves, Bow River.

1880—Township outlines West of York.

1881 -- Fourth meridian
110th meridian west
The meridian 110° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....

 to Township 40.

1882—Seventh base line West of Fourth meridian.

1883 -- Fifth meridian
114th meridian west
The meridian 114° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....

 from Edmonton to Athabasca River and Twenty-first base line Westerly.

1884—Micrometer survey of Peace River from Chipewyan to Dunvegan and Athabasca River from Slave River to Athabasca Landing.

1885—Traverse along C.P.R. in British Columbia.

1887—Exploration surveys—Yukon River and Mackenzie River.

1888 - 89—Surveys and explorations—Porcupine, Lewes, Bell, Trout and Peel River.

1890—Exploration survey between Lake Temiscamingue and Hudson Bay.

1891—Examination between Liard and Peace Rivers.

1892—Subdivision and re-surveys in Prince Albert District.

External links

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