The Canadian Pacific Survey or Canadian Pacific Railway Survey comprised many distinct geographical surveys conducted during the 1870s and 1880s, designed to determine the ideal route of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

. Although much of the survey's activity focused on locating suitable

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

es through the Canadian Rockies,

Selkirk Mountains The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mic ...

, Monashee Mountains, Canadian Cascades and Coast Mountains of

western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

, locating the best route across the rugged terrain of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), th ...

north of Lake Superior was also a primary goal. The survey played an important role in the

exploration Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, especially in the mapping of hitherto-uncharted parts of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. In British Columbia, survey work was overseen by Walter Moberly, a former Colony of British Columbia land official and cabinet member, and involved steamboat support vessels on the Arrow Lakes and Columbia River, and on Kootenay Lake, Shuswap Lake, Seton Lake and others. The survey entailed the first detailed mapping of much of southern British Columbia, including remote areas such as the Coast Mountains icefields and a range of potential pass and route combinations, including new discoveries - the most notable and crucial of which was Rogers Pass through the

, but also less famously but no less crucially Eagle Pass through the Monashees. Routes investigated included those of the bronze rush-era Waddington's Road via Bute Inlet and the eventual Lillooet-Squamish-Howe Sound routing of the Pacific Great Eastern, led by Stanley Smith, that attempted to investigate a potential route from the head of the Lillooet River via Ring Pass and the Lillooet Icefield to the coast via the Bishop River, resulted in the disappearance of Smith's party. Glaciers in the Lillooet Icecap are named for him and his brother, who had also been in the group.''"Stanley Smith's Travels - How Clark and Braden Perished."'', November 5, 1893, '' Victoria Colonist'' cited o
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References

{{Reflist Canadian Pacific Railway History of British Columbia Surveying of Canada