December's Unusual Canadian Rockies Name

NARAO PEAK

A Stoney Indian word, "Narao" is said to mean "hit in the stomach." It likely refers to James Hector being kicked by a horse while travelling up the Kicking Horse River in 1858. His party rested below Narao Peak following their struggle to reach Kicking Horse Pass from the west. Learn more about this incident by reading Hector's biography in the "Finding People" section or selecting "Kicking Horse Pass" in the "Finding Passes" section.

Enter "Narao Peak" in the Finding Peaks search box to learn more about this mountain. 

PIERRE-JEANNE DE SMET

Father de Smet was a Catholic missionary who travelled through much of the Canadian Rockies in 1845 and 1846. He regularly wrote long and interesting letters to his "Superior" which are delightful descriptions of the landscape and the natives which he was working with. His writings, entitled "Oregon Missions and Travels over the Rocky Mountains" were published in book form in 1847.

Much of the book is concerned with his work as a priest but it also contains some interesting references to the mountains. The map which accompanied the book covers a vast area from 44 degrees to 54 degrees latitude and from the Pacific Ocean to well east of the front ranges of the mountains. Although it is primarily concerned with rivers, it does note the locations of several mountains which must have been considered to be particularly noteworthy at that time. One of these is the legendary Mount Brown with its elevation of 16 000 feet. Another is "Devil's Nose" which probably was the peak we now know as Devil's Head. Also noted on the map is "The Pyramid" which was almost certainly the peak now known as Mount Assiniboine.

The book also contains many amusing anecdotes, many of which describe incidents involving his size and his somewhat limited skills in horsemanship and wilderness travel.

He was said to have been a popular, jovial man but considerably overweight and negotiating between the trees on horseback was difficult for him at times. He wrote, "I have a little word of advice to give all who wish to visit these latitudes. At the entrance of each thick forest, one should render himself as slender, as short, and as contracted as possible...Not withstanding these precautions, it is rare to escape without paying tribute in some manner to the ungracious forest. I one day found myself in a singular and critical position: in attempting to pass under a tree that inclined across the path, I perceived a small branch in form of a hook, which threatened me. The first impulse was to extend myself upon the neck of my horse. Unavailing precaution! It caught me by the collar of my surtout, the horse still continuing his pace. Behold me suspended in the air, struggling like a fish at the end of a hook. Several respectable pieces of my coat floated, in all probability, a long time in the forest, as an undeniable proof of my having paid toll in passing through it. A crushed and torn hat, an eye black and blue, two deep scratches on the cheek, would, in a civilized country, have given me the appearance rather of a bully issuing from the Black Forest, than a missionary."

Roche De Smet in the Athabasca Valley east of Jasper and Mount De Smet near Canal Flats are named in his honour

For information about Roche De Smet and Mount De Smet enter the names in the "Finding Peaks" search box on the main page.

MOUNTAINS NAMED AFTER ALPINE MOUNTAIN GUIDES

Christian Peak, Edward Peak, Ernest Peak, Mount Fuhrer, Jones Peak, Mount Kahl, Mount Kain, Kaufmann Peaks, Mount Lawrence Grassi, Mount Perren (Ten Peaks), Mount Perren (Siffleur), Mount Pollinger, Rudolph Peak, Mount Sarbach, Walter Peak

For information regarding any of these mountains enter the name in the "Finding Peaks" section on the front page. Biographies of most of these guides are available in the "Finding People" section.