Calgary A Prairie Tale (full text)
Sixty million years ... Calgary lies on a bedrock of sandstone (and shale) about 600 meters thick, the Paskapoo Sandstone Formation. In 1886, a fire destroyed most of the town and, by decree, rebuilding began with brick and local sandstone. By the early 1900's, Calgary became known as 'Sandstone City' for its elegant architecture and unique stone.
It is heard as a songline. The city's land spreads over bedrock, sometimes serving it up for a glimpse. Even if it is quarried and cut into blocks, it always hums a glacial tune. Other river escarpments in southern Alberta can have the same strange effect as the Bow's. Some notable sandstone outcrops in Calgary are the ravine at Edworthy Park, the cliffs at North Glenmore Park, the crags on Nose Hill, and the bluffs by Shaganappi Golf Course.*
Photo: Old City Hall (built 1911). It was designated a National Historic Site in 1984.
A long human time ago (about 11,000 years) ... there likely was Glacial Lake Calgary, contained on both sides by ice dams. It extended about 50 kilometers west, up the Bow valley. As ice receded, aboriginal peoples followed the new land.
Hundreds of archeological sites in Calgary indicate camps, some at least 8000 years old. Artifacts have been found while excavating in Parkdale, Point MacKay, Bow Bottom, Hawkwood and in other areas. Over 80 prehistoric sites are recorded at Fish Creek Park and Nose Hill. The Paskapoo Slopes on the city's west end, along Hwy #1 by Canada Olympic Park, are as rich an archeological site as Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump,* but remain, as yet, unprotected - land development is again underway.
Photo: Scrap metal draft horse, Stephen Avenue (Artist: Dixie Hewett
About 6850 years ago ... a line of deposit, stratum, tells of a huge volcanic explosion in Oregon (Mount Mazama), a story kept alive in legends of the Klamath people in the Cascades.
Most of Calgary's main traffic thoroughfares ('trails') reflect early contact: Stoney, Blackfoot, Sarcee, Peigan, Crowchild, Deerfoot, Shaganappi.* The signing of Treaty 7 in 1877 was at Blackfoot Crossing, a National Historic Site (designated in 1925), east of Calgary. The construction of Canada's railroad could now proceed across the prairies. The few remaining plains bison migrated south.
First Nations near Calgary - Tsu T'ina [Sarcee] at SW city limits; Nakoda [Stoney] one of 4 reserves is about 70 km west of city limits; Siksika [Blackfoot] about 100 km east, around Gleichen; Piikani [Peigan, Blackfoot Confederacy] about 165-220 km south, between Head-Smashed-In- and Brocket (near Pincher Creek); Kanai [Blood, Blackfoot Confederacy] 200-300 km south in the Belly & St Mary River area (from Lethbridge to Cardston), around Standoff.
Photo: Skiers at Canada Olympic Park (C.O.P.), formerly Paskapoo Ski Hill. The adjacent slopes were once a buffalo jump.
Photo: Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts, Jack Singer Hall. (Calgary Public Building, built in 1930-33, now also the City of Calgary Parks & Recreation Dept. Its original cage elevator still is in use with a human operator.)
Calgary is often called Cowtown (among other names). Indeed, there are ranchers and cowboys, but not many. Besides, the real ones may be endangered. During Stampede week, however, rodeo events in the city draw thousands of North American cowboys.
Photo: Trolley interior, Heritage Park Historical Village
Many of Calgary's historical buildings were saved from demolition and moved to Heritage Park. Its site is the old Sam Livingstone Ranch, by what is now Glenmore Reservoir (the ranch was along the pre-dam Elbow River). The park preserves Calgary's pioneer settlement era, 1864-1914. In the downtown core, the National Historic District of Stephen Avenue is a brilliant stroll. Brochures are available for self-guided tours.
Photo: Riley Park, in Hillhurst district. Ezra Riley sold his homestead at this site to the city in 1904 and in 1910 donated another 20 acres.
Photo: Lemur, at Calgary Zoo, Botanical Garden & Prehistoric Park
The Calgary Zoo is committed to worldwide conservation. It is located on and around St. George's Island, in the Bow River basin. In the 1980s, in cooperation with the Canadian Wildlife Service and many other agencies, the Calgary Zoo successfully reintroduced the almost extinct swift fox species (Vulpes velox) to the prairie.
*shaganappi: raw (untanned, green) hide
**Interpretive Centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, 165 km south of Calgary near Fort Macleod.
Photo, front cover: Native prairie near Brisebois Drive in northwest Calgary. In 1875, NWMP Inspector Ephram Brisbois chose the Elbow/Bow river confluence for a new fort (Fort Brisebois) between Fort Saskatchewan and Fort Macleod. It was soon renamed Fort Calgary by Colonel Macleod. Calgary is most likely a Gaelic word for 'farm on the bay.'
Photo, back cover: RCMP Musical Ride at Spruce Meadows
Printed in 2005.
Sixty million years ... Calgary lies on a bedrock of sandstone (and shale) about 600 meters thick, the Paskapoo Sandstone Formation. In 1886, a fire destroyed most of the town and, by decree, rebuilding began with brick and local sandstone. By the early 1900's, Calgary became known as 'Sandstone City' for its elegant architecture and unique stone.
It is heard as a songline. The city's land spreads over bedrock, sometimes serving it up for a glimpse. Even if it is quarried and cut into blocks, it always hums a glacial tune. Other river escarpments in southern Alberta can have the same strange effect as the Bow's. Some notable sandstone outcrops in Calgary are the ravine at Edworthy Park, the cliffs at North Glenmore Park, the crags on Nose Hill, and the bluffs by Shaganappi Golf Course.*
Photo: Old City Hall (built 1911). It was designated a National Historic Site in 1984.
A long human time ago (about 11,000 years) ... there likely was Glacial Lake Calgary, contained on both sides by ice dams. It extended about 50 kilometers west, up the Bow valley. As ice receded, aboriginal peoples followed the new land.
Hundreds of archeological sites in Calgary indicate camps, some at least 8000 years old. Artifacts have been found while excavating in Parkdale, Point MacKay, Bow Bottom, Hawkwood and in other areas. Over 80 prehistoric sites are recorded at Fish Creek Park and Nose Hill. The Paskapoo Slopes on the city's west end, along Hwy #1 by Canada Olympic Park, are as rich an archeological site as Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump,* but remain, as yet, unprotected - land development is again underway.
Photo: Scrap metal draft horse, Stephen Avenue (Artist: Dixie Hewett
About 6850 years ago ... a line of deposit, stratum, tells of a huge volcanic explosion in Oregon (Mount Mazama), a story kept alive in legends of the Klamath people in the Cascades.
Most of Calgary's main traffic thoroughfares ('trails') reflect early contact: Stoney, Blackfoot, Sarcee, Peigan, Crowchild, Deerfoot, Shaganappi.* The signing of Treaty 7 in 1877 was at Blackfoot Crossing, a National Historic Site (designated in 1925), east of Calgary. The construction of Canada's railroad could now proceed across the prairies. The few remaining plains bison migrated south.
First Nations near Calgary - Tsu T'ina [Sarcee] at SW city limits; Nakoda [Stoney] one of 4 reserves is about 70 km west of city limits; Siksika [Blackfoot] about 100 km east, around Gleichen; Piikani [Peigan, Blackfoot Confederacy] about 165-220 km south, between Head-Smashed-In- and Brocket (near Pincher Creek); Kanai [Blood, Blackfoot Confederacy] 200-300 km south in the Belly & St Mary River area (from Lethbridge to Cardston), around Standoff.
Photo: Skiers at Canada Olympic Park (C.O.P.), formerly Paskapoo Ski Hill. The adjacent slopes were once a buffalo jump.
Photo: Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts, Jack Singer Hall. (Calgary Public Building, built in 1930-33, now also the City of Calgary Parks & Recreation Dept. Its original cage elevator still is in use with a human operator.)
Calgary is often called Cowtown (among other names). Indeed, there are ranchers and cowboys, but not many. Besides, the real ones may be endangered. During Stampede week, however, rodeo events in the city draw thousands of North American cowboys.
Photo: Trolley interior, Heritage Park Historical Village
Many of Calgary's historical buildings were saved from demolition and moved to Heritage Park. Its site is the old Sam Livingstone Ranch, by what is now Glenmore Reservoir (the ranch was along the pre-dam Elbow River). The park preserves Calgary's pioneer settlement era, 1864-1914. In the downtown core, the National Historic District of Stephen Avenue is a brilliant stroll. Brochures are available for self-guided tours.
Photo: Riley Park, in Hillhurst district. Ezra Riley sold his homestead at this site to the city in 1904 and in 1910 donated another 20 acres.
Photo: Lemur, at Calgary Zoo, Botanical Garden & Prehistoric Park
The Calgary Zoo is committed to worldwide conservation. It is located on and around St. George's Island, in the Bow River basin. In the 1980s, in cooperation with the Canadian Wildlife Service and many other agencies, the Calgary Zoo successfully reintroduced the almost extinct swift fox species (Vulpes velox) to the prairie.
*shaganappi: raw (untanned, green) hide
**Interpretive Centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, 165 km south of Calgary near Fort Macleod.
Photo, front cover: Native prairie near Brisebois Drive in northwest Calgary. In 1875, NWMP Inspector Ephram Brisbois chose the Elbow/Bow river confluence for a new fort (Fort Brisebois) between Fort Saskatchewan and Fort Macleod. It was soon renamed Fort Calgary by Colonel Macleod. Calgary is most likely a Gaelic word for 'farm on the bay.'
Photo, back cover: RCMP Musical Ride at Spruce Meadows
Printed in 2005.
