James Joseph McArthur (1856-1925)
James McArthur was born in Aylmer, Quebec. He became a surveyor for the Dominion Land Survey and did extensive work defining the borders between Canada and the United States. Under the direction of the Surveyor General he was a pioneer in the use of photography in surveying, working from triangulation stations on the peaks of mountains. McArthur did extensive survey work in the Yukon, and the McArthur Peak is named for him.1)
Seven Canadian survey parties were sent to the Alaska panhandle area in the 1893 season. J.J. McArthur worked north toward Juneau. The weather was poor, and the crews spent time waiting for the skies to clear and then rushing to their camera stations. In the 1894 season, McArthur was at the north end of the Lynn Canal and later he went to the outer coast at Lituya Bay. In 1895, the Canadians and the American crews cleaned up the fieldwork and exchanged their technical information to produce a set of maps.2)
In 1897, McArthur made a topographical map of the Dalton Trail to Selkirk. The next year he extended his survey across the Yukon River to the Stewart River.3) In 1900, McArthur named Mt. Wood for the North-West Mounted Police inspector Zachary Taylor Wood.4)
In 1917, McArthur was named the Canadian Commissioner to the border survey between Yukon and Alaska. McArthur died in Ottawa and is buried at Gatineau, Quebec. His home in the Aylmer sector of Gatineau is a protected heritage building.5)