Today we all know the beautiful mountain lake on the trail to Mount Robson as Kinney Lake. However, there was a time when another name for this lake “floated” around. In the early days of discovery, just after the turn of the 19th century, the name “Helena Lake” was also applied to this glacial body of water.
Where did the name “Helena” come from and why did the name “Kinney” prevail? Let’s take a look…
In Jane Lytton Gooch’s marvelous book, Mount Robson, Spiral Road of Art, we read:
“The next morning, September 11 (1907), with supplies for five days, the three climbers followed the river on foot through a British Columbia rainforest… After crossing a smaller branch of the Grand Forks (Robson River) that flowed from cliffs on Robson’s south side, they reached Kinney Lake, named by (A.P.) Coleman to honour his indefatigable comrade (George Kinney) who had seen the lake the previous day.” (Mount Robson, Spiral Road of Art p.31)
The name Kinney Lake appeared on a holograph map by Coleman in 1908 and another of Coleman’s maps in 1911. The name was officially adopted April 2nd, 1912.
However, the name “Helena" was still around. In the October 6th, 1910 issue of the Victoria Daily Times there is an article entitled "The Route of the GTP (Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad). It states that a "... large (lake), near Mount Robson, was named Helena."
This beautiful hand-tinted postcard from the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad cited the lake as “Lake Helna”. While the original photographer is undetermined the date is circa 1910. It seems “Helna” was either mistaken in name or spelling and should have read “Helena”.
Also, Blanche Hume, of the Alpine Club of Canada records in 1913:
“We had an amusing experience ourselves when a visit was made to the foot of Mount Robson,” wrote F. A. Talbot after his 1910 reconnaissance of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway construction. “In due course, after some eight hours’ work, the edge of a beautiful stretch of water, first discovered by Mr. Kinney, who named it Lake Helena, was reached. We hastily fashioned a raft. While moving slowly along, what looked uncommonly like a signboard was spied on the bank. Pulling rapidly towards it, to ascertain what it was, we saw, in scrawling print, ‘Site of Mackenzie’s Hotel.’” Hume, Blanche B. “The camp on Robson Pass.” Rod and Gun in Canada (1913).
We see the postcard photo again in the Windsor Star newspaper (September 12, 1913) and it also refers to the lake as "Helena":
If George Kinney named the lake “Helena” we’re not sure why. Helena does not seem to be a Kinney family name (His mother was Elizabeth, he had no sisters named Helena and he was yet to meet his wife Alice in 1920).
“A Grand Trunk Pacific railway official requested in 1914 that Kinney Lake be re-named "Helena", after his wife; proposal rejected (Ottawa file, 10 December 1914)”.
Perhaps this GTP man had been around for a while and wanted the lake to be known for his wife and not George Kinney – as the 1910 GTP article and postcard would suggest.
At any rate the name Kinney prevailed and, I believe, deservedly so. George Kinney was an integral part of the history of the Mount Robson area and his legacy should indeed be remembered this way.
Sources and Further Reading:
https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/4567.html
http://www.spiralroad.com/lake-helena/
https://www.spiralroad.com/george-kinney/
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