James William Tyrrell
James William Tyrrell was a Canadian topologist and author. Like his older brother, Joseph Burr Tyrrell, Tyrrell went on physically demanding expeditions to Canada's sparsely settled, rugged North.
James William Tyrrell | |
|---|---|
James Tyrrell in Fort Reliance | |
| Born | May 10, 1863 Weston, Ontario |
| Died | 1945 (aged 81–82) |
| Nationality | Canada |
| Known for | exploring Canada's largely undocumented Barrenlands |
In 1898 he wrote "Central Canadian Waterways Transit System : Proposed Utilization of the Main Waterways of the Four Great Interior Basins of Canada by Adding Requisite 'divide' Railway Facilities for Improved Transit Thereon", a 14-page pamphlet.
In 1902 he wrote "Across the Sub-Arctics of Canada: A Journey of 3,200 Miles by Canoe and Snow-shoe Through the Barren Lands", based on his expedition to map the land between Great Slave Lake and Hudson's Bay. He led a team of just 9 men.
In 1905 Tyrrell conducted the first survey of the mouth of the Churchill River. Fifteen years later Churchill would become North America's only rail link to the Arctic Ocean.