Made to Measure: A History of Land Surveying in British Columbia

by Katherine Gordon

Land surveyors have played a fundamental role in the unique settlement history of British Columbia. The story of their work is awe-inspiring. Less than 150 years ago, the province—a rough and beautiful child of imperial ambition—was largely a vast wilderness, occupied by societies without written maps. Within a few years, that would change forever. Men from London and Victoria made their way along trails and up waterways, observing the stars, setting their compasses, and drawing the lines that would become roads and railways, international and provincial boundaries, towns and cities, farms and homes. Those invisible lines continue to form the backbone of British Columbia’s economic and settlement structure. This popular history tells the remarkable story of the men and women who surveyed the province. Using basic equipment, surveyors endured arduous work conditions. They witnessed the tragedy of colonial impact on aboriginal peoples, protected the interests of prospectors, settlers, and entrepreneurs, pioneered aerial technologies in the mountains, and left their names on landmarks all over British Columbia. Made to Measure paints an engaging, vivid portrait of land surveyors and their influence on British Columbia, linked inextricably to both the past and future settlement.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

373 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2006