Rabbit drives were a part of pioneer life
My second column for the Prairie Post, a modified version of a blog post from late last year, talks about when Mother Nature goes sideways, and features a pretty morbid photo from Idaho. The past few months have been a “hare-raising” experience for the people of Canmore. The Rocky Mountain town made worldwide headlines last November after town [...]
Bow City – The village born unlucky
Many thanks to the Historical Society of Alberta, and the legendary Mr. Hugh Dempsey, CM, for the opportunity to share a decade’s worth of research on the former village of Bow City. Below is a brief excerpt from my article, followed by the piece in its entirety, which appears in the Winter 2012 edition of Alberta [...]
Who are the forgotten dead of Vulcan County?
Update: No leads yet, but thanks to Michele Jarvie at the Calgary Herald for running an ever-so-slightly modified version of this article here. During the decade after 1916, settlers fled the drought-ridden plains of southeastern Alberta en masse. As David C. Jones outlines in his book, We’ll all be buried down here- The Prairie Drybelt [...]
Coming soon to the Prairie Post – Forgotten Alberta
I am happy to report that starting in January 2012, select articles from the Forgotten Alberta website will begin appearing in print, on the pages of the Prairie Post newspaper. My column, to be called “Forgotten Alberta – Stories of the Southeast”, will run the third week of every month for readers in SW Saskatchewan [...]
Wedderburn’s War – The great rabbit drives of 1924-26
The people of Canmore are facing a “hare-raising” dilemma. Much has been written about the divergence of opinion arising from the decision of town council to cull the approximately 2000 feral rabbits currently hopping free in the mountain community. In all seriousness, the prospect of exterminating a few thousand rabbits is an unpleasant one to [...]
Handy historical and genealogical resources for Albertans
As Albertans we are truly fortunate to have a wealth of free digital resources with which to explore our community or family histories. A couple of exciting new initiatives have recently debuted which, had they existed in their current form five years ago, would have saved me a few trips up the QEII.
Sentinel Trees provide a glimpse into the past
Last summer, while researching the history of the village of Bow City, I came across an article referencing something called the “Sentinel Trees”. In a July 1984 Lethbridge Herald piece entitled “Cottonwoods among most favorite of trees”, the “Sentinel Trees” were described as a group of plains cottonwoods situated in the former Kinnondale district, north [...]
“Well that is that, and God bless them anyway”
The story of Francis Miller of Medicine Hat has captured the imagination of the many who are anxiously awaiting the upcoming Royal Visit by Prince William and his new bride, Kate. If you haven’t caught it, Ms. Miller has been afforded the opportunity to meet William and Kate (no word on whether they will henceforth [...]
The 2005 Forgotten Alberta Road Trip – Day One
Two years after our inaugural Forgotten Alberta road trip in August 2003, my wife and I set out again, this time adding one to our party (Greg) and a day to our trip. On day one we set out from Lethbridge, travelling to Medicine Hat via New Dayton, Warner, Foremost, Manyberries, Onefour and many points [...]
4gotten_Alberta is on Twitter
Hello everyone and anyone! While posts have been, well, non-existent as of late, I have entered the Twittersphere, and will be making a concerted effort to maintain a presence on the web (albeit a very limited one) until time permits me to post again on a more regular basis. I invite you to follow me [...]
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Drawing on over 100 years of family history in the southeast, this is my attempt to shine the spotlight on southeastern Alberta's forgotten history.
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