In the early part of 1963, discussions commenced to name a mountain range or mountain after Hamilton Gault, founder of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Armoured (PPCLI) Regiment, in commemoration of the regiment's Jubilee. The first expedition, led by Captain F.L. Berry, consisted of five men who set out from Fort Nelson on 30 August 1963 and returned approximately on 26 September.
The second expedition, Nahanni II, set out from Fort Nelson, on 3 August 1964. Commanded by Captain P.A. Maione, the party consisted of Corporal R.R. Lewis, Lance Corporal’s J. Dalton, F.J. Huard, R.A.J. Peskett and Private W.E. Brown, with Sigfried Bucher as the cameraman. On 20 August 1964, the summit of the mountain was reached, a cairn erected, and a capsule containing a scroll was deposited. This mountain was officially named Mount Hamilton Gault.
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry was founded for service in the First World War on August 10, 1914, and paraded for the first time at Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, Ontario, on August 23, 1914. Hamilton Gault, a prominent Montreal businessman, raised the regiment out of his own funds, making the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry the last privately raised regiment in Canada.
