James Hector
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Sir James Hector (March 16, 1834–November 06, 1907) was a Scottish geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist.
He attended the Edinburgh Academy. At 14, he began articling as an actuary at his father's office. He joined University of Edinburgh as a medical student and received his medical degree in 1856. Shortly after receiving his medical degree, John Palliser invited Hector to be the surgeon and geologist for the Palliser expedition. The goal of the Palliser expedition was to explore new train routes for the Canadian Pacific Railway and to explore new species of plants.
In 1858, when Palliser's expedition was exploring a mountain pass near the continental divide of the Canadian Rockies, Hector was kicked and seriously wounded by a packhorse. While Hector recovered, the pass and nearby river have been known since as the Kicking Horse Pass and Kicking Horse River respectively. The reason why Hector was kicked was because his horse fell in the river and while Hector and his companions were helping him, the packhorse kicked Hector in the chest. After 4 hours of Hector being unconscious, his companions declared James Hector dead. They started to dig his grave when all of a sudden, Hector woke up and regained consciousness. James wrote about the expedition in his diary and here is a passage from it: "In attempting to recatch my own horse, which had strayed off while we were engaged with the one in the water, he kicked me in the chest".
When James came back from his voyage, he received several awards and promotions including his knighting by Queen Victoria. A few years later after his knighting, Hector brought his son Douglas to show him his voyage in Western Canada. But during the trip, Douglas had suffered appendicitis and died before Hector could show him everything. Douglas was brought to Revelstoke hospital and later died during treatment. Sir James Hector later died in New Zealand. One of the sad things about the deaths of James and Douglas Hector is the fact that they are buried 8000 miles (12,800 km) apart from each other.
The endangered Hector's Dolphin, endemic to New Zealand, was named after Sir James Hector. In 1884, Mount Hector in the Canadian Rockies was named in his honor.
Hector was awarded the Clarke Medal by the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1887.
