| Feature Type: | Falls - Perpendicular or steep descent of water. Variation of Waterfall. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | On Murtle River, NE of Mahood Lake in Wells Gray Provincial Park, Kamloops Division Yale Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 51°57'54"N, 120°07'15"W at the approximate centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 92P/16 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Adopted 3 March 1955 on 92 P, as labelled on BC map 1EM, 1915, and as identified in the 1930 & 1953 BC Gazetteers. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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Named in 1914 by Robert Henry Lee, LS, after George Herbert Dawson (1866-1940), Surveyor-General of British Columbia, 1912-17: "...Along the north boundary of Lot 3208 are four falls connected by rapids which I have named Dawson Falls. The first or upper falls have a perpendicular height of about 50 feet and a breadth of 300 feet at the crest. The other three falls vary from 10 to 30 feet in height. The highest fall found in the river [since named Helmken Falls] is at the northwest corner of Lot 3210 and has a sheer drop of 450 feet into a canyon extending down to the main Clearwater River with perpendicular rock walls 300 to 500 feet high." (1914 letter from Lee, letter #13503, file 6974S) Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |