Mount Helmer
Feature Type:Mount - Variation of Mountain: Mass of land prominently elevated above the surrounding terrain, bounded by steep slopes and rising to a summit and/or peaks. ["Mount" preceding the name usually indicates that the feature is named after a person.]
Status: Official
Name Authority: BC Geographical Names Office
Relative Location: On BC-Alberta boundary, E of Waitabit Creek, N of Golden, Kootenay Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 51°42'19"N, 116°50'24"W at the approximate centre of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 82N/10
Origin Notes and History:

Adopted in 1919 by the Geographic Board of Canada, as submitted by Department of Militia and Defence, Ottawa.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

Named to remember Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer, who was serving with the 1st Field Artillery, Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Forces, when he was killed in action 2 May 1915 at the 2nd Battle of Ypres. In 1920 the commemoration was extended to include Lieut. Helmer's father, the late Brigadier General Richard Alexis Helmer, who had been commandant of the Canadian School of Musketry, Ottawa, at the time of his death 1 February 1920. Helmer family historians recount that Lieut. Alexis Helmer's battlefield funeral had been conducted by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea and provided the impetus for McCrae to write his poem "In Flanders Fields" during a lull in the fighting the following day.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office