John Burton Denison (June 30, 1916 – January 6, 2001) was a Canadian

ice road An ice road or ice bridge is a human-made structure that runs on a frozen water surface (a river, a lake or a sea water expanse).Masterson, D. and Løset, S., 2011, ISO 19906: Bearing capacity of ice and ice roads, Proceedings of the 21st Int ...

engineer who operated in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

in the 1950s to 1970s.

Biography

Denison was born in

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 1916. His father Norman Lippincott Denison was descended from the affluent Denison family of Toronto. After training in mechanics, Denison joined the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, Denison joined the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

, and was then attached from 1946 to the RCMP as a constable in

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...

. A year later, he was involved in a search for a missing fur trapper on the

Barren Lands First Nation Barren Lands First Nation () is a First Nation located on the north shore of Reindeer Lake in northern Manitoba close to the Saskatchewan border. It has one reserve land called Brochet 197, which is in size and adjoins the village of Brochet, ...

, and after freezing his fingers, feet, and face, decided the RCMP was not the career for him. A year later, he resigned from the RCMP, and his fiancée Hannah and he left Yellowknife for

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, where they married. In search of work, Denison returned to the north in 1947 and worked on the

cat train A Cat train is a train of one or more supply sleds/sleighs hauled by a continuous track vehicle, and is typically used in roadless areas. They are so named for the caterpillar tracks of the hauling vehicle. In northern climates, they were used t ...

s supplying the mining camps with equipment. He eventually became associated with Byers Transport Limited, with whom he engineered a network of winter

s throughout the Northwest Territories to service various mines (including

Port Radium Port Radium is a mining area on the eastern shore of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. It included the settlement of Cameron Bay as well as the Eldorado (also called Port Radium) and Echo Bay mines. The name Port Radium did no ...

, Discovery Mine, and Tundra Mine). While Denison was not the first to attempt truck freighting on winter roads into Yellowknife (that honour goes to Al Hamilton of Grimshaw Trucking in the mid-1950s), he perfected the art of constructing ice roads and built them into some of the most isolated parts of the subarctic. His major interest was hauling around large buildings on ice roads between mining camps. Denison's exploits were the topic of Edith Iglauer's nonfiction book, ''Denison's Ice Road'' (1974). On May 6, 1998, John Denison was awarded the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

for his work on the ice roads in the 1950s-1970s.

Death

Denison died at his home in

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley in the British Columbia Interior, southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna ...

on January 6, 2001, aged 84, survived by his widow Hannah and four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denison, John John Denison Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers 20th-century Canadian engineers 1916 births 2001 deaths Canadian military personnel from British Columbia Canadian Army personnel Members of the Order of Canada Canadian Army personnel of World War II