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 [...]
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 [...]
“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 [...]
Boosterism and Bow City
A key component in the growth of Western Canadian urban centres during the late 19th – early 20th centuries was the phenomenon known as “boosterism”. The boosting engaged in by promoters and communities during the two decades preceding the First World War has been well chronicled by Western Canadian historians, including Artibise (1981), Jones (1987), [...]
The Inaugural Forgotten Alberta Road Trip
Happy belated New Year to everyone! Owing to a career change and relocation over the Christmas break, I have been unable to post until today. My sincerest apologies. With 3-5 feet of snow piling up in my yard at the moment, now is a nice time to reflect on the first Forgotten Alberta road trip [...]
An artist’s mis-conception of Bow City, c. 1910
From the University of Oregon Digital Collections comes an artist’s, shall we say mis-conception of the townsite at Bow City, prepared by architects Edouard Frere Champney (architect, 1874-1929) and Augustus Warren Gould (architect, 1872-1922) in about 1910.
The Metropolis of Southern Alberta – Epilogue
While the ‘30s ushered in a decade of economic depression worldwide, the devastation and economic collapse wrought by drought was well into its second decade in southeastern Alberta. Ceaseless drought combined with infestations of grasshoppers, cutworms. wireworms, weeds, eroding soil and ominous “black blizzards” took their toll on farmers in the area.
The desperate ‘20s
The decade of the ‘20s was time of desolation and desperation for many residents of southern Alberta. For the settlers along the Bow, a half-decade of drought, windstorms, insects and weeds, crop failure had precipitated an economic and social catastrophe crisis in the region. In some areas up to three-in four-residents were receiving relief for [...]
The Bow City Bridge
Perhaps no development greater improved the lives of settlers along the Bow in the first half of the 20th century more than the construction of the bridge at Bow City. For over two decades, the need for commerce and provisions required the locals to ford the river on their way to centres along the C.P.R. [...]
For Vauxhall, like Retlaw before, disillusion could lead to dissolution
As some in the town of Vauxhall consider dissolving their municipality, it’s interesting to note that the town’s survival was due in part to the dissolution of the neighbouring village to the west. The former village of Retlaw, now a ghost town located six miles west of Vauxhall, was for a time considered the principle [...]
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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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