Galton Range

Galton Range (82G)

The Galton Range forms the eastern edge of the Kootenay River Valley from the Elk River south to the US border. The Wigwam River lies to the east of the Galton Range.

In his report, Thomas Blakiston of the Palliser Expedition wrote, "On the morning of the 25th of August at starting we were obliged to climb the face of a steep hillside for the purpose of keeping on the left bank of the Kootanie Fork or Elk River, which here sweeps in close under an outer range of the mountains, having a north and south direction, and which I have called, 'Galton's Range.'"

Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) was an English scientist, explorer and anthropologist. A cousin of Charles Darwin, he was one of the first to recognize how Darwin's theory of evolution was going to clash with theology.

As a youth Galton developed a passion for travel. He was studying medicine but when his father died he was left with sufficient fortune that he was free to indulge in his craving for travel. He wrote nine books and over 200 papers. They deal with many diverse subjects, including the use of fingerprints for personal identification, and calculus -in both of which Galton was a pioneer - twins, blood transfusions, the art of travel in undeveloped countries, criminality and meteorology. He was also deeply concerned with improving standards of measurement. He was knighted in 1909 and died near London on January 17, 1911.