Making Their Mark

Alberta is a land of prairies...

...and forests...

...and mountains.

Surveyors began subdividing Alberta in the early 1880s.

With this result...

And this result.

Meet a typical old-time surveyor. He was one of those responsible for all this change.

How did the surveyors get there?

1908, sometimes they got there by canoe.

1909, Sometimes they used horses.

1911, dog teams were used in winter time. This picture was taken on the Peace River.

1910, where possible boats were used to get there. Note the horse on board.

1912, Crossing the Loon River.

1915, Getting there via the Athabasca River.

1911, Some surveyors were more fortunate than others. These fellows were going home.

1912, Getting there via the Athabasca River.

Sometimes moving camp was done the hard way.

1915, On the prairies, getting there was easier...except for the bugs.

1911, as you can see, sometimes they got a little damp.

1913, Cable car. Another way to cross rivers.

1914, They called this the submarine ferry.

1920, An easier way to cross a river.

1920, Getting there by aircraft was a lot easier.

1928, Getting there, was now a lot easier by automobile.

1928, ready to survey.

1934, Still using pack horses in the foothills and mountains.

1952, Canoes were still used to get there.

1954, Sometimes they got stuck.

Getting there 1950 style. A cat (bulldozer) is pulling a cook shack and bunk house.

Not everything goes well; a dozer stuck in muskeg.

1954, Now helicopters are used to get there. Sometimes!

1960, Still rafting when they have to.

1972, track vehicles were now used. Trying to cross Zama Creek.

1993, Quads, four-wheel trucks and snow-machines were now the norm for getting there.

Getting there with snowmobile and GPS.

They still get stuck.

And stuck some more.

A helicopter comes to the rescue.

A Nodwell (track machine), tows these quads into the project.

There are still times when by foot is the only way.

Modern survey vehicle, four wheel drive truck with quads on back.

Camp life wasn't that bad!

The camped because they were usually far from settlements.

1911 Camp

1912, A.H. Hawkins, DLS, 23rd Baseline, W. 5th Meridian

Local cabin used for accommodation.

1911, Mostly life was pretty good.

Yep, real good.

1930, Pincher Creek Survey Camp.

1934, Bush camps have not changed much.

1955, Camp.

2003, Camp. It looks like the old-timers had it better.

What was life like living in these camps?

1908, Camp life. First shave.

1909, Camp life. A close shave.

They always had time for a bit of culture.

Camp life.

1928, Camp life.

1929, camp life at lunch hour.

There was a lot of walking on this job.

But there was time for fishing.

1950, Time for relaxing...

1955, Time for hunting...

...and time for communing with nature.

Building a food cache up high for a good reason.

And this is the good reason.

what were the working conditions like?

1908, Surveyor doing notes.

1908, Triangulation survey crew.

Daylight star observation.

1911, Building a survey monument with a mound and four pits.

1915, Establishing a property corner in the stream.

1920, Establishing a survey monument and stone mound. Note the survey cut line to the left.

1911, Weather could be miserable.

1959, Building a mound and pits on the prairie.

1959, Prairie survey; a crew is measuring up to the transit.

1959, Southern Alberta; building a stone mound.

1959, Southern Alberta; a crew is digging pits at the property corner.

1959, Southern Alberta; crew is establishing a property corner. Note the stone mound.

1959, as you can see they could get wet sometimes.

1959, southern Alberta; chaining (measuring) up.

1960, No walkie-talkies.

1962, Solving a problem.

1970, Testing new equipment.

Typical survey cut line in Aspen country.

GPS survey point.

Not all surveys are done above ground.

Digging for a survey monument. Note GPS in right hand and metal detector in the left.

Locating the pipeline within its right-of-way with GPS (Global Positioning System).

Lonesome Prairie!

In the field.

Oil field surveying.

Right-of-way surveying in the mountains.

Surveyors continue to work in all conditions!

Survey at Old Man River dam.

New survey helper.

Survey instruments have changed over time.

1945, Until this time, most instruments used to measure angles looked similar to this one.

Using a plane table on an irrigation survey.

Transit and plane table survey on the Hobbema Reserve.

Special theodolite used for astronomical observations in a tent shelter.

1950, Surveyor and transit.

Early electronic total station instrument with data collector.

A later electronic total station with data collector.

Surveyors and GPS.

GPS in operation.

Instrument operator and transit.

Operator and total station.

GPS and operator on cut line.

Transit in a scenic moment.

GPS in a scenic moment.

Calculations, notes and plans.

1959, Typical field office where notes and field calculations were checked.

Final calculations and plans are usually done in the home office.

A modern-day surveyor does not spend all his time in the field.

Some calculations must still be done in the field.