One of nineteenth-century Canada's most distinguished scientists, George M. Dawson began exploring and studying the virtually uncharted territory of British Columbia when he joined the Geological Survey of Canada in 1875. Though he was not the first geologist to visit the new province, he was the first to make systematic investigations over large areas, and his published reports on B.C.'s geology and natural resources were important aids to the region's economic development. In addition, in daily journals and in letters home to family members, he recorded much of what he experienced on his travels in the province.

Douglas Cole (1938-1997) was professor of history at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and a leading scholar on the history and culture of the Native peoples of the northwest Pacific coast. He was known for his writings on the history of art, literature, and intellectual thought in early British Columbia society, and he also wrote seminal studies about the impact of European values and institutions on the region's Native cultures. His ground-breaking books, Captured Heritage: The Scramble for Northwest Coast Artifacts (1985) and An Iron Hand Upon the People: The Law Against the Potlatch on the Northwest Coast (1990; coauthored with Ira Chaikin) remain exemplary works for their painstaking research, provocative insights, and clarity of exposition.

Douglas Cole's profile page

Bradley Lockner is an historical editor and professional librarian with a special interest in British Columbia history. He has collaborated on two other volumes on George Dawson, and is currently working on another volume of Dawson's later journals. He has also been involved in several other historical editing projects, including the journal of the fur trader Alexander Walker, and the letters of Gilbert Malcolm Sproat, Indian Land commissioner in B.C. during the 1870s.

Bradley Lockner's profile page

Cole, Lockner, and UBC Press should be commended for locating and publishing these valuable accounts by British Columbia’s first notable Darwinian. This volume marks the beginning of the serious study of the history of science in British Columbia.

BC Studies

Dawson's journals will thus be of interest not only to historians of Canadian science, but also to anyone seeking information about conditions in British Columbia at this early state in its development. The editors are to be congratulated on producing a high-quality transcription of the text that will be of great value to historians.

British Journal of Canadian Studies

This work takes its place as one of the most remarkable journals of the Canadian experience ever to be published.  Long in the making, it is a great credit to editors and publisher.

The Canadian Historical Review