Browse "Nature & Geography"

David Fife, farmer, wheat breeder (b at Kincardine, Scot 1805; d near Peterborough, Ont 9 Jan 1877). Fife immigrated to Otonabee, Upper Canada, with his parents in 1820. In 1842 he planted seeds of WHEAT obtained by a friend in Scotland from Danzig [Gdansk, Poland].

David Thompson, explorer, cartographer (born 30 April 1770 in London, England; died 10 February 1857 in Longueuil, Canada East). David Thomson was called “the greatest land geographer who ever lived.” He walked or paddled 80,000 km or more in his life, mapping most of western Canada, parts of the east and the northwestern United States. And like so many geniuses, his achievements were only recognized after his death.

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

Donald Fulton Putnam, geographer, educator (b at Lower Onslow, NS 15 Aug 1903; d at Toronto 23 Feb 1977). Although his early training was in agriculture and soils, he was invited by Griffith TAYLOR, founder of the Department of Geography at University of Toronto, to join the department in 1938.

Donald Strathearn Rawson, limnologist (b at Claremont, Ont 19 May 1905; d at Saskatoon 16 Feb 1961). His doctoral dissertation (U of T, 1929) on the bottom fauna of Lk Simcoe was a model for ecological limnology for 20 years.

Edgar Spinney Archibald, agriculturalist (b at Yarmouth, NS 12 May 1885; d at Ottawa 23 Jan 1968). Archibald's greatest contribution to Canadian agriculture was his dedicated and active support of scientists in the Experimental Farms Service, of which he was director 1919-51.

Édouard-André Barnard, agronomist and journalist (b at Trois-Rivières, Qué 30 Sept 1835; d at Varennes, Qué 19 Aug 1898). An important Québec agronomist in the second half of the 19th century, Barnard had abandoned his studies early to go into trade.

Édouard-Gaston Deville, surveyor (b at La Charité sur Noire, Nièvre, France 21 Feb 1849; d at Ottawa 21 Sept 1924). Educated at the naval school at Brest, Deville served in the French Navy and was in charge of its hydrographic surveys throughout the world.

Eenoolooapik, also known as Bobbie, Inuk traveller, guide (born circa 1820 in Qimisuk [or Qimmiqsut], Cumberland Sound, NT; died in 1847 in Cumberland Sound, NU). Eenoolooapik provided British whaling captain William Penny with a map of Cumberland Sound that led to the rediscovery of that area 255 years after English explorer John Davis first saw it. The geographic information Eenoolooapik provided to whalers led to years of permanent whaling camps in Cumberland Sound.

Baroness Elizabet von Rummel (anglicized as Elizabeth Rummel, also known as “Lizzie”), CM, mountain lodge proprietor, mountaineer (born 19 February 1897 in Munich, Germany; died 10 October 1980 in Canmore, AB.) After a privileged upbringing in Europe, Elizabeth Rummel and her family settled on a ranch in Alberta during the First World War. At age 41, Rummel struck out on her own, working at and managing lodges in the Rocky Mountains. In 1951, she opened her own mountain camp for tourists and climbers on Sunburst Lake, north of Mount Assiniboine. She was a renowned figure in the Rockies, known for sharing her love and knowledge of the area with guests from around the world. Rummel was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada for her work in the mountains.

On scaling a London landmark, protesting Arctic drilling, and getting arrested for your causeThis article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on July 22, 2013

Erik the Red (Eiríkr rauða in Old Norse and Eiríkur rauði in modern Icelandic, a.k.a. Erik Thorvaldsson), colonizer, explorer, chief (born in the Jæren district in Norway; died c. 1000 CE at Brattahlid, Greenland). An Icelandic settler of modest means who was exiled for his involvement in a violent dispute, Erik the Red rose in status as he explored Greenland and founded the first Norse settlement there. One of his sons, Leif Eriksson, led some of the first European explorations of the east coast of North America, including regions that are now part of Arctic and Atlantic Canada.

In 1906, Seton published Two Little Savages; Being the Adventures of Two Boys Who Lived as Indians and What They Learned. Based on his childhood experience of "playing Indian" in Ontario, it is now considered a classic of children's literature.

Ferdinand Alphonse Fortunat Larose, agronomist (born 1 April 1888 in Sarsfield, Ontario; died 29 January 1955 in Montreal, Quebec). Throughout his career, Ferdinand Larose focused on agriculture in the United Counties of Prescott and Russel in Eastern Ontario. He is best known for having created the vast Larose Forest in a part of the counties which had become arid after intensive deforestation in the 19th century. The agronomist was also a leader for Franco-Ontarian cultivators. He chaired several cultivator associations and promoted agricultural training for Franco-Ontarians.

Francis Bain, geologist, ornithologist, botanist, author, artist (b at Charlottetown 25 Feb 1842; d at York Point, PEI 23 Nov 1894). Bain, a self-educated farmer, was an authority on Prince Edward Island rocks, FOSSILS and natural history.