George Mercer Dawson

George Mercer Dawson, son of Sir John William Dawson, contracted spinal tuberculosis (Pott's disease) as a child, which left him with a severe hunchback and stunted his growth to four-foot-six. Demonstrating astonishing physical stamina and intellect, Dawson studied at London's Royal School of Mines before joining the British North American Boundary Commission in 1873.

Dawson conducted epic geological surveys on horseback and canoe across British Columbia, the Canadian Rockies, and the Yukon territory, meticulously mapping coal deposits, gold fields, and Haida ethnography. Appointed Director of the Geological Survey of Canada in 1895, Dawson City—epicenter of the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush—was named in his honor.