Mount Garibaldi
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: E side of Cheakamus River between Squamish and Whistler, New Westminster Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 49°51'01"N, 123°00'17"W at the approximate centre of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 92G/14
Other Recorded Names:
Nch’ḵay̓
Origin Notes and History:

Adopted 2 September 1930, as labelled on British Admiralty Chart A579, 1865 et seq; on BC map 2B, 1914, and as first submitted to the Geographic Board by BC Geographic Division 9 November 1923.

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

Named in 1860 by Captain Richards, RN, and his officers, after Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807 - 1882), the great Italian patriot, who that year had succeeded in unifying Italy by patriating Sicily and Naples. See accompanying story by Akrigg and note that Garibaldi's birthday is July 4.

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

"After the Italian patriot and soldier (1807-1882). A colourful story has it that Mount Garibaldi was named by an Italian serving as a sailor on a survey ship, the mountain being in view on Garibaldi's birthday. All we can say with any certainty is that the name, whatever its origins, was officially conferred by Captain Richards of H.M. survey ship Plumper sometime around 1860."

Source: Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; British Columbia Place Names; Sono Nis Press, Victoria 1986 /or University of British Columbia Press 1997

First ascent 11 August 1907, credited to A.T. Dalton, W.T. Dalton, Atwell D. King, T.C. Pattison, J.J. Trorey and G.D. Warren, all of Vancouver. [see "The First Ascent of Mt. Garibaldi" by A.T. Dalton; Canadian Alpine Journal vol.1, no.2; 1908; pp205-210.]

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

Squamish name for this mountain was Nch’ḵay̓, pronounced in-ch-KAY, meaning "Dirty Place" or “Grimy one”....because the water in the stream [Cheekye River] at that place was muddy. Today we call this place Mount Garibaldi" (as told by Squamish Chief Louis Miranda and compiled in "Squamish Names...", published in The Province newspaper, 10 October 1978; copy on clippings file)

Source: included with note

Looking north from Squamish, an enormous sharp-peaked mountain dominates the landscape. The original name for this peak is Nch’ḵay̓. Thousands of years ago, after the Great Ice Age, the waters rose drastically causing the Great Flood. During this time the people tied their canoes to this peak with a rope made from woven cedar bark in order to prevent being swept away. As the waters receded the people adapted to the ever changing landscape. The Great Flood is a metaphor for catalysts of change which is a recurring theme in Squamish mythology. (December 2011 from: Cultural Journey Sea-to-Sky Corridor website, Squamish and Lil'wat First Nations)

Source: included with note