Frank Crean (civil engineer)
irish-born Canadian civil engineer
Frank Crean (1875–1932) was an Irish-born Canadian civil engineer. In 1908 and 1909, he led successive expeditions in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta to report on the region's agricultural potential. Crean lake, the largest in Prince Albert National Park is named in recognition of his contribution to Canadian exploration.
Biography
Francis Joseph Crean was born to Catholic parents in Dublin. After serving in the Second Boer War with his well known brother Thomas Joseph Crean, he emigrated to Canada and worked as a timber-cruiser for Bell Brothers Lumber Company. From February 1908, he was working in Ottawa as a clerk with the Department of the Interior. Concern was mounting during this time that inefficient land use would result in the necessity to expand agricultural lands beyond the North Saskatchewan River and this region of potential cultivation was promoted to the public as the New Northwest. Crean was assigned to report on some thirty-four million acres of land and his small expedition team was mobilized by the use of some canoes and horses. Crean's findings in north central Saskatchewan extending to the Churchill River, appeared promising, with detail of his report including extensive mapping and photographic imagery. He also recorded the soil types, present conditions of local crops grown by natives and fur traders as well as the general topography.
The public source identifies “Frank Crean (civil engineer)” as irish-born Canadian civil engineer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Frank, Crean and civil.
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This entry incorporates text from “Frank Crean (civil engineer)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.