Yoho National Park was established In 1886, as Canada’s second national park. This occurred only twenty eight years after the first European, James Hector, laid eyes on the area. The tiny Yoho National Park encompassed only 26 square kilometres at the base of Mount Stephen. The park was subsequently expanded four more times before the current-day boundaries were established.
In 1884, the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the Kicking Horse Valley where it established the town of Field. The railway opened the valley to tourists, adventurers, and scientists, including R.G. McConnell, a geologist with the Geological Survey of Canada. In early September 1886, McConnell climbed the flank of Mt. Stephen where he discovered a rich fossil bed 520 metres (1,700 feet) above Field.
Many scientific discoveries are contentious, and McConell’s discovery of the fossil bed was no exception. Otto Klotz, also claimed to be the first to discover the Mount Stephen Trilobite fossil beds. For many years, fossils had been found at the valley bottom by First Nations peoples, railroad workers, and prospectors. Klotz correctly assumed that the source of the fossils was from higher up the mountain. Due to physical limitations he decided not to make the arduous trek up the mountain, and sent his cook instead. It was his cook – who’s name is lost to history – that discovered the fossil site. Whether the cook or McConnell was first to discover the site, we will likely never know.