GEORGE MERCER DAWSON: THE LITTLE GIANT OF CANADIAN GEOLOGY

George Mercer Dawson (b. 1849, d. 1901) was an influential Canadian Geologist well known for a variety of accomplishments. However, it is less known that he suffered from a variety of physical limitations. Tuberculosis of the spine (Pott’s Disease) halted Dawson’s growth at age 11, and left him with a severely twisted spinal cord and recurring headaches.

Rare for the time, he went on to build a prolific and highly influential career as a field geologist with the Geologic Survey of Canada (GSC).

Born in Nova Scotia, he moved to Montreal at a young age when his father became principal of McGill College (later McGill University). Dawson was schooled by private tutors in his youth (while recovering from his illness), then studied at the newly formed Royal Academy of Mines in London. When he returned to Canada he began to work for the GSC. Between 1870 and 1900 Dawson mapped significant parts of Western Canada, discovered and reported a variety economic resources from gold to coal to oil, investigated plant and animal life, surveyed and advocated for local native populations, and cemented his place at the forefront of Canadian Geology.

Dawson made major impacts in the fields of Geology, Geography, and Anthropology, and went on to become the director of the Geologic Survey of Canada in 1895 and the president of the Geologic Society of America in 1900. Dawson left a variety of autobiographical materials, which we will use to discuss his experiences as a field geologist and his perspective on his disabilities.