Article

Richard George McConnell

Published Online January 10, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Richard George McConnell, geologist, explorer (b at Chatham, Canada E 26 Mar 1857; d at Ottawa 1 Apr 1942). In 1879 he graduated from McGill and began working for the GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA in Québec.

McConnell, Richard George

Richard George McConnell, geologist, explorer (b at Chatham, Canada E 26 Mar 1857; d at Ottawa 1 Apr 1942). In 1879 he graduated from McGill and began working for the GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA in Québec. For some 30 years he studied geological phenomena in Canada, particularly in the west and northwest. In 1882 he assisted G.M. DAWSON in exploring the southern Alberta Rockies as well as the Waterton Lakes region, St Mary River and Cypress Hills. Five years later, he explored a large portion of northern BC, the Mackenzie Valley and the Yukon Territory. In 1889-90 he conducted an extensive study of the Athabasca tar sands of northeastern Alberta and explored the Peace-Athabasca region. In 1914 he became federal deputy minister of mines, retiring in 1921. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1913.