Mervin Vavasour (1821 – 27 March 1866) was a member of the Royal Engineers, one of the corps of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

Early life

He was probably born at

Fort George Fort George may refer to: Forts Bermuda * Fort George, Bermuda, built in the late 18th Century and successively developed through the 19th Century, on a site that had been in use as a watch and signal station since 1612 British Virgin Islands * ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of t ...

in 1821, to Captain Henry William Vavasour of the Royal Engineers and Louisa Dunbar, daughter of Sir George Dunbar. He enrolled in the Royal Military Academy in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thro ...

, England in February 1837, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 19 March 1839. He was eventually sent to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, arriving on 18 September 1841. In 1842, he was promoted to lieutenant.

Oregon mission

In 1845–46, during the

Oregon Boundary Dispute The Oregon boundary dispute or the Oregon Question was a 19th-century territorial dispute over the political division of the Pacific Northwest of North America between several nations that had competing territorial and commercial aspirations in ...

, Lieutenants Vavasour, and Henry Warre were dispatched on a mission to evaluate the logistics of a military campaign in the

Columbia District The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the disputed Oregon Country. It was explored by the North West Company betwee ...

(known then to

Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Amer ...

as the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, c ...

). This was done in response to a territorial dispute generally known as the

Oregon Question The Oregon boundary dispute or the Oregon Question was a 19th-century territorial dispute over the political division of the Pacific Northwest of North America between several nations that had competing territorial and commercial aspirations in ...

, and the stated policy of

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (18 ...

to expand into and control those territories along the west coast of North America, much of which the British contested as belonging to them. Vavasour and Warre travelled in the guise of civilians “for the pleasure of field sports and scientific pursuits,” through territory controlled by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trade, fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake b ...

(HBC), confidentially evaluating the strategic value of both the land and the HBC's facilities. This information made its way back to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1846. HBC officer

Peter Skene Ogden Peter Skene Ogden (alternately Skeene, Skein, or Skeen; baptised 12 February 1790 – 27 September 1854) was a British-Canadian fur trader and an early explorer of what is now British Columbia and the Western United States. During his many expedi ...

traveled with the British officers and held a low opinion of Vavasour. In a letter written in April 1846 to Governor George Simpson, Odgen complained that Vavasour was "to the last hour a disagreeable Puppy and at times most disgusting particularly when under the influence of Brandy and Opium."

Galbraith, John S. John Semple Galbraith (November 10, 1916 – June 10, 2003) was a British Empire historian concentrating on Canada (The Hudson's Bay Company) and South and East Africa. He served as chancellor of the University of California San Diego, from 1 ...

''The Hudson's Bay Company as an Imperial Factor, 1821–1869.'' Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 1957, p. 241. Despite the rhetoric neither Britain or USA wanted a third war in 70 years; and a war over the Oregon Country was averted by

diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

when Britain gave up all claims to lands in the lower Columbia Basin and

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

. Vavasour's report concluded that the British Army, if deployed in the region, would be faced with substantial obstacles. These included: their poor evaluation of the readiness of the HBC forts and other facilities for military uses, the significant number of American settlers crossing into the territory via the well established

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kans ...

, and the considerable obstacles posed by the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

to British supply lines.

Later career

Vavasour sailed to England in October 1846, and served in the British Isles, being promoted to 2nd captain in 1849. He was later posted to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

from 1851 to 1852. He went on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the En ...

in 1853.

Legacy

Vavasour published his notes and the images drawn by Warre in ''Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory'' (1849). From this comes some of the earliest European artistic renderings of the Rocky Mountains and also valuable records such as an 1846 plan diagram of

Fort Edmonton Fort Edmonton (also named Edmonton House) was the name of a series of trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) from 1795 to 1914, all of which were located on the north banks of the North Saskatchewan River in what is now central Alberta, ...

to scale. This plan influenced the reconstruction of the fort as

Fort Edmonton Park Fort Edmonton Park (sometimes referred to as "Fort Edmonton") is an attraction in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Named for the first enduring European post in the area of modern-day Edmonton, the park is the largest living history museum in Canada by ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada, in the 1960s. There is also Mount Vavasour in Alberta, Canada, named for Vavasour in 1918; it is south of Mount Warre, named for Warre. Vavasour Street, in Savona, B.C., is named after Mervin Vavasour as well.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vavasour, Mervin 1821 births 1866 deaths Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers officers History of the Pacific Northwest Oregon Country Explorers of Canada