Letters Home from an Alberta Surveyor‪.‬

Note: The following letters were written by 21-year-old Robert Murray "Bertie" Gourlay while on a survey crew near Jasper in 1908. Gourlay was born in St. Andrews, Scotland, and emigrated to Canada in 1906 to join his parents who had already established themselves in Toronto. Although originally educated as a marine engineer, upon his arrival in Canada he studied to become a Dominion Land Surveyor. He then accepted a position of a chainman on a crew that was surveying the 6th Meridian along the Rocky Mountains. The party was led by J.B. St. Cyr. They set out from Edmonton in April 1908 and returned to the city in November. The attached letters were written to his mother, father and brother (Willie) while with the survey team in Alberta. They are still in the possession of the family.