By Kate Riordon, Reference Archivist
The Vaux family (pronounced “vox”) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were photographers, mountaineers, and scientists. Plotting the route for modern glaciology and exploring the malleable boundary between photography as a tool for art or a tool for science, three siblings left an indelible mark on the Canadian Rockies that continues to influence modern audiences.
The earliest Vauxes to arrive in North America left their native England due to increasing religious persecution in the early-mid 1700s. Devout Quakers, they, like many others, sought the freedoms more readily available in the colonies and as a result, thrived. Three generations later, George Vaux Sr. (also referred to as George VIII) planned a trip for himself, his brother, and his three children on the brand new Canadian Pacific Railway and the rest, as they say, was history.
A quick word about Quakers, as it is essential to understanding where the Vaux family is coming from: Quakers formed as an offshoot of the Puritan movement, prioritizing personal relationships with God, strong community ties, and an emphasis on “practical” pursuits like maths, sciences, law, and business. Pastimes that could be considered of a more artistic bent like dancing, music, or even decorative embroidery (remember, this is the mid-1800s, there’s no television or Instagram to pass the time with) were seen as frivolous and “airy notions” not worthy of pursuit. It’s safe to say their bookshelves were full of histories and biographies and that they were pretty handy at sums. They also deeply valued human life as it was the living person, not the eternal soul, that had a relationship with God. As a result, they were huge advocates for humanitarian activities that would improve the rights and lives of all, not just those of their shared faith. The rising tide lifts all boats, as the saying goes. The Vaux family took to these tenements with determination and dedication and they thrived in Philadelphia.
By the Industrial Revolution, Philadelphia was the second largest city in the United States and greatly benefited from new technologies like the telephone, electric light, and the internal combustion engine – especially its use in trains. The Vauxes, one of the oldest Quaker families in the city, existed in a social stratum that allowed them to take full advantage of the latter technological marvel and travel extensively via an ever-expanding network of railway lines.
Which is how they got here.
In 1887, the Canadian Pacific Railway was newly completed and George Sr., his brother William Sr., and George’s children Mary M., George Jr., and William Jr. made their first trip to Glacier House, British Columbia – a hotel built a scant mile from the toe of the “Great Glacier” Illecillewaet (ill-a-sill-eh-wat). William Sr. was a dedicated mineralogist and an avid supporter of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia; his influence on his niece and nephews can’t be overstated.
Photos 4 - 6 (L to R)
The family, sometimes both generations, sometimes just the younger, began making annual pilgrimages to the Selkirk and Rocky Mountains – what they called the “Canadian Alps” – with a particular interest in exploring their glaciers.
While Mary, George Jr., and William Jr. were all involved in this study, it was William Jr. who took to it fiercely. His notebooks from the late 1800s and early 1900s are full of sketches, measurements, and notes on the behaviour of glaciers they visited year after year – the Vaux family fonds is full of publications penned by William Jr. and his brother for various natural science organizations.
The fonds is also full to bursting of photographs. While William Jr. was often content at lower altitudes, Mary M. and George Jr. sought out towering peaks and wide vistas, capturing it all with their cameras. While their family’s religion may not have looked favourably upon the arts, photography existed in a grey area where one could argue for its scientific merit as strongly as for its artistic. And that is where the siblings thrived.
Towering walls of ice, mountain peak panoramas, camp scenes, waterfalls, lakes, pack trains, actual trains, their guides, each other, glaciers, glaciers, and more glaciers – Mary M., George Jr., and William Jr. took thousands of pictures and now they can all be found in the Archives.
Photos 11 - 16
Often going back to the same sites year after year, they began to notice how the glaciers changed, particularly the Illecillewaet and the Yoho Glaciers. And just like that they started in on the practice of repeat photography (or rephotography), something that their descendant Henry Vaux Jr. continued in the 21st century.
Photos 17 - 20
Henry Jr. is actually the third generation of his family to make the pilgrimage to these mountains – his father Henry Sr. and uncle George X visited extensively in the inter-war years, but any rephotography they participated in was casual at best. However, their photographic efforts resulted in informative snapshots of mid-century glaciers that Henry Jr. was able to further expand upon in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Photos 21 - 24
In 2013 he published a book titled Legacy in Time that documented his modern photographs of glaciers alongside those taken by the previous generations. Sometimes exactly 100 years apart, including those mid-century photos where he can, Henry Jr. spent many trips over many years finding the exact spots where Mary M., George Jr., William Jr., George X, and Henry Sr. took their photos from and the result is haunting.
Photos 25 - 32
What were vast lakes and mighty rivers of ice are now puddles and streams clinging to otherwise bare rock. Perched precariously on their mountain peaks and passes, the glaciers captured by Henry Jr.’s camera 20 years ago show just how much our natural world has changed. Just imagine what they must look like now.
Read more about ongoing glacier studies here:
Living in an Era of Adaptation: A Study on the “Riskscape” of Abbot Pass by Kate Hanly, Lillian Agnes Jones Fellowship Recipient 2022/23
The United Nations declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation
You can view the Vaux fonds in person at the archives and special collections by making an appointment. To search the records before your visit, search online at archives.whyte.org.
Archives and Special Collections appointments are available Tuesday – Friday, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
To make an appointment or for inquiries email: archives@whyte.org
For more information on visiting the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies visit us online at www.whyte.org/visit
Photos:
1. Mary M. Vaux, George Vaux Jr., William S. Vaux Jr., [ca. 189], Vaux family fonds (V653 / I / U / 2 / PA – 1)
2. Glacier House, B.C. (No. 60), 1989, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NG – 481)
3. 95 ton locomotive at Field, used to haul trains up upper Kicking Horse Pass (No.63), 1894, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 78)
4. Mount Stephen, [1900], Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 235)
5. [Glacier House], 1910-1911, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 725)
6. [Photographer’s Rock, Illecillewaet Glacier], 1910-1911, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 723)
7. Victoria Glacier, 1900, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 328)
8. East of Glacier, 1900, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 159)
9. Asulkan, Burgess Pass #10, to Asulkan, 1906, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 487)
10. [Mary M. Vaux and George Vaux Jr.], 1907, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 546)
11. Yoho [Glacier], 1907, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 516)
12. Mount Stephen, 1900, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 240)
13. Panorama from Mt. Fairview 8/24/04, 1904, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 1283)
14. Camp at Lake O’Hara (No.32), 1907, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 1519)
15. Ice panorama, Illecillewaet Glacier, 1909, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 1586)
16. [Mary M. Vaux and Swiss Guide], [ca. 1900], Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 182)
17. Illecillewaet Glacier 8/18/10, 1910, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 651)
18. [Mount Robson], 1913, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 878)
19. Moraine Lake, 1910, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 696)
20. Moraine Lake, 2002, Henry Vaux Jr. fonds (V794 / I / D / NA – 48)
21. Mt. Biddle & McArthur Lake (No.66), 1902, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 1043)
22. Biddle Glacier, 2006, Henry Vaux Jr. fonds (V794 / I / A / NA – 79)
23. Lake Louise (No.18), 1902, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 996)
24. Lake Louise, 2010, Henry Vaux Jr. fonds, (V794 / I / D / NA – 55)
25. Foot of Great Glacier (No.118), 1894, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 83)
26. Illecillewaet Glacier from Photographer’s Rock, 2002, Henry Vaux Jr. fonds (V794 / I / A / NA – 03)
27. Yoho Glacier (No.28), 1906, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 1414)
28. Yoho Glacier, 2006, Henry Vaux Jr. fonds (V794 / I / A / NA – 34)
29. Bow Peak to Crowfoot Glacier 6/8/10, 1910, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 627)
30. Crowfoot Glacier, 2002, Henry Vaux Jr. fonds, (V794 / I / E / NA – 19)
31. [Peyto Glacier], 1902, Vaux family fonds (V653 / NA – 1127)
32. Peyto Glacier, 2002, Henry Vaux Jr. fonds (V794 / I / A / NA – 55)
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