Adopted 31 March 1924, as labelled on Dawson's 1886 map of the Rocky Mountains, and on 1902 Lake Louise sheet, and on BC-Alberta boundary sheet #16, 1913.

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

Likely named in 1881 by CPR engineers. After Sir George Stephen, later Lord Mount Stephen (1829-1921), past president of the Bank of Montreal 1876-81, and first president of Canadian Padific Railway, 1881-88. Under Stephen's leadership, the Kicking Horse Pass route was chosen as the shortest alignment from the Canadian prairies to the Pacific Ocean.

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

"Starting life as a draper's apprentice in Aberdeen, Scotland, Stephen became a buyer for a kinsman operating a drapery business in Montreal. Taking over this firm in 1860, Stephen because of his very canny business sense prospered mightily. In 1876 he became president of the Bank of Montreal, and in 1881 president of the CPR. Becoming a peer in 1891, George Stephen took his title from this mountain which had been named after himself, and became Lord Mount Stephen."

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

Description of Mount Stephen rocks & fossils with photographs, in Canadian Alpine Journal, 1908, p.232. See also the Burgess Shale website: http://www.burgess-shale.bc.ca/

Source: included with note