Premier Range

The Premier Range is a group of mountains within the Cariboo Mountains of east-central British Columbia, Canada. The range (also known as the Premier Group) is bounded by the Raush River and the North Thompson River on the south and west and the Fraser River and its tributaries to the east and north.

In 1927, the year of Canada's Diamond Jubilee, it was decided that the names of the higher peaks in this range would be reserved to pay tribute to prime ministers of Canada, prime ministers of the United Kingdom, and premiers of the province of British Columbia. In practice, however, only one British prime minister and one British Columbia premier have been so honoured, and recent changes to Canadian geographic naming regulations make it unlikely that any British prime minister or other non-Canadian will receive such an honour in the future.

The named summits of the Premier Range are, in order of elevation:

• Mount Sir Wilfrid Laurier 3516 m (11535 ft)
• Mount Sir John Abbott 3398 m (11148 ft)
• Mount Sir John Thompson 3349 m (10988 ft)
• Mount Stanley Baldwin 3256 m (10682 ft) (named for a British Prime Minister)
• Mount Sir Mackenzie Bowell 3301 m (10830 ft)
• Mount Mackenzie King 3234 m (10610 ft)
• Mount Arthur Meighen 3205 m (10515 ft)
• Mount Richard Bennett 3190 m (10466 ft)
• Mount John Oliver 3123 m (10246 ft) (named for a British Columbia premier)
• Mount Lester Pearson 3086 m (10125 ft)
• Mount Louis Saint Laurent 3045 m (9990 ft)
• Mount Pierre Elliott Trudeau 2640 m (8661 ft)
• Mount Sir Allan MacNab 2297 m (7536 ft)

Before the Premier Range was selected, many mountains outside this area were named after Canadian prime ministers. Mount Mackenzie, Mount Tupper, Mount Macdonald and Mount Laurier rise over the Canadian Pacific Railroad tracks that travel through the Rogers Pass near Golden, British Columbia. Mount Robert in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia honours Sir Robert Borden. Other than Laurier (who was also honoured with the name of a mountain in Yukon), none of these prime ministers have received the honour of also having a mountain named for them in the Premier Range.

External References

• Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia on the Premier Range
• Place Names in the Canadian Rockies
• Government of British Columbia Information Services data sheet on Premier Range
• Mountains of Canada from Canadian Geographic