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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
Sights of the Southeast – 24/10/10
Calgary Sun photojournalist Mike Drew takes a swing through the Lomond area searching for Bones in Black and White. There is something about skulls that just fascinates me. I like the way they look, all those interesting bones bent in such amazing shapes, the way those eye sockets seem to always be looking even well [...]
Exodus
The exodus from the Village was swift and unrelenting. By 1916 only the Bow City Trading Company, Campbell Bros. Hardware, Brewer’s Livery Stable, the post office and seven houses remained in the village. Even the newly–elected secretary-treasurer of the village, former lumber merchant “Colonel Sam” S.E. Armstrong, plied his trade down the trail in Retlaw. [...]
Forgotten Alberta Road trip 2010
After a two year hiatus, our fourth Forgotten Alberta road trip was underway. Following an evening of revelry with hosts Mike & Karin (and cousin Steve), myself and my wheel-man Greg headed out from Brooks on the morning of August 17th to see what we could see. Running from Alderson to Armada in one day, [...]
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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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