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Walter Moberly | |
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 Walter Moberly circa 1890, from the British Columbia Archives | |
| Born | (1832-08-15)August 15, 1832 |
| Died | May 14, 1915(1915-05-14) (aged 82) |
| Occupation | Civil Engineer |
Walter Moberly (August 15, 1832 – May 15, 1915) was acivil engineer andsurveyor who played a large role in the earlyexploration and development ofBritish Columbia, Canada, including discoveringEagle Pass, now used by theCanadian Pacific Railway and theTrans-Canada Highway.
He was born inSteeple Aston,Oxfordshire,England in 1832. In 1834, Walter moved with his family toPenetanguishene,Upper Canada (nowOntario), where his father,Capt. John Moberly, R. N. was appointed Post Commander. Walter received his primary education at the Base and later went to grammar school inBarrie.[1]
During the construction of the railway to Collingwood, Walter worked clearing bush and following that, chose a career of Lumberman, with timber holdings in Essa and Tossorontio, near Angus, and on the Severn River, in Muskoka. Most of his survey work was in British Columbia, andUtah.
It is thought that Walter was lured to the West, following a brief visit by Henry to the family home atBarrie,Ontario. From Ontario, Walter sailed via Cape Horn to reach British Columbia, a trip of over 16,000 miles as opposed to around 2,000 miles overland.
His first survey work was laying out the streets for the community ofNew Westminster, now a suburb ofVancouver. Between 1861 and 1864 he worked on severalgovernmentroad building contracts. WithEdgar Dewdney, Moberly helped construct theDewdney Trail across theCoast Range from the town ofHope into theOkanagan. Also under contract from the government, Moberly was involved in building a section of theCariboo Road north of Lytton in theFraser Rivercanyon. This road was built to provide access to thegold fields in theCariboo.
In 1865, he was appointed Assistant Surveyor General of theColony of British Columbia. His job was to explore new routes for travel and trade for the growing population of the territory. It was during this time that he discovered Eagle Pass through the Gold Range betweenShuswap Lake in the north Okanagan and theColumbia River at what is nowRevelstoke. The story is that he shot at aneagle's nest and watched the birds fly up a valley. Reasoning that the birds were unlikely to fly up a blocked valley, he followed them up and discovered the pass. In his recollections, he says he blazed a tree in the pass and inscribed the words, "This is the Pass of the Overland Railway." The Canadian Pacific Railway did go through his pass but not for another 20 years.
After 1865, he left the province and worked in themining fields ofUtah.
In 1871, when British Columbia was about to enterConfederation with Canada, one of the terms was a promise by Canada to build arailway across the continent. Moberly was sought out byJoseph Trutch, British Columbia's first provincialLieutenant-Governor, and invited back to organize surveys for the railway. His survey crews headed out into thewilderness on the day the province joined confederation. Moberly's survey crews were responsible for the territory around what is now Eagle Pass, Revelstoke, andGolden. From the time of his discovery of Eagle Pass, he formed the conviction that this was the best route for the railway. However,Sandford Fleming, Chief Engineer of the railway project, asked Moberly to relocate his crews north to theYellowhead Pass for the 1872 season. Moberly was very frustrated with these orders requiring him to abandon his preferred route.
After the 1873 survey season, Moberly left theCanadian Pacific Survey and moved to Manitoba. He continued to do private survey work there.
Moberly was very bitter towardsMajorA.B. Rogers, who was credited with discovering theRogers Pass through theSelkirk Mountains in 1881. Moberly argued that while discovering Eagle Pass, he had explored theIllecillewaet River and that his journals aided Rogers in his exploration of the pass.
In 1898, Moberly would return to British Columbia and stayed in Vancouver to retire.[2] He would die there in 1915.[3]
Because of his early explorations and visionary — some say wishful — ideas on the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway, he has a prominent spot in Canadian Pacific Railway lore. Placement of the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway took place in Eagle Pass atCraigellachie, British Columbia.
Moberly Lake in northern British Columbia is named for Walter's younger brotherHenry John Moberly, a fur trader who lived on that lake. The railway station bearing the name Moberly onCPKC Mountain subdivision at mile 40.3 is named after him.
He published several books including his autobiographic book,The Rocks and Rivers of British Columbia (H. Blacklock & Co, London, 1885).
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