Other than Nestor Peak, Simpson Peak is the highest point on Simpson Ridge. The ridge is bounded to the NNW by the Simpson River, to the WSW by Surprise Creek, to the ENE by the head of Surprise Creek and to the ESE by Nestor Creek. George Simpson was, the first European to visit the site of present day Banff Townsite. As governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, Sir George Simpson was probably the most powerful man in British North America at the time. He was combining business with adventure when he passed this way in August, 1841 with twenty-two men and forty-five horses, for although Simpson was interested in expanding the HBC's fur empire, he was also on a trip around the world. The party was guided by a Metis named Peechee who is commemorated by the peak that lies to the south of Lake Minnewanka's midpoint. Simpson wrote that, "The Indians and Peechee were the only persons that had ever pursued this route; and we were the first whites that had attempted this pass in the mountains. The pass is now known as Devil's Gap. Simpson referred to the mountains on either side as, "very grand, of every varied form... their craggy summits resembling battlements among which dizzy heights the goat and sheep delight to bound." Simpson's party continued on to what has become Banff townsite, built a raft to carry the horses and baggage across the Bow River, and then travelled through the Continental Divide by way of what is now known as Simpson Pass. The party then followed the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. Reaching Asia, he crossed Siberia, Russia, and Europe to complete his trip around the world.