Jared

One building, three stores: building recycling at Pakan

January 29, 2025January 29, 2025Jared

Written by: Suzanna Wagner, Program Coordinator, Victoria Settlement and Fort George & Buckingham House

The Hudson’s Bay Company kept a close eye out for anywhere their business might flourish. So, in 1864, when it came to their attention that large groups of people were gathering at the McDougall Methodist Mission on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River (south of the present-day town of Smoky Lake), setting up a fur trade fort next door was an enticing prospect. Rather than reprise the “Fort White Earth” name of the HBC fort that had operated in the vicinity at the turn of the century, they chose to call the place “Victoria Post.” Victoria was the same name as the mission, and it was a “post” because it wasn’t large enough to merit being called a fort. Despite the technicalities, most people call it Fort Victoria.

By 1874, the fort contained the Clerk’s Quarters (still at Victoria Settlement Provincial Historic Site today), a warehouse, a house for other fort employees, a blacksmith shop, a stable, a dairy, a palisade, and of particular interest, the trade store. The trade store was built by local men Sam Whitford and Joe Turner, likely between 1866 and 1867. The humble post-in-sill built trade store went through almost as many changes as did the community which surrounded it, and unique within the history of Victoria Settlement, a series of photographs have shed light on many of the changes this building underwent.

Artist’s conception of Fort Victoria, based on Richard Hardisty’s 1874 scale map. Source: Government of Alberta, 1971.

Sapaces Gambler Okayas Meskanas: The Jean Baptiste Gambler Historic Trail

January 22, 2025January 22, 2025Jared

Editor’s note: The banner image above, of Sapaces (seated fifth from left) and family at the Athabasca Bridge opening ceremonies in 1952, is courtesy of the Athabasca Archives.

Written by: Darren DeCoine, Bigstone Cree Nation and Laura Golebiowski, Indigenous Consultation Adviser

Historic trails crisscross much what is now known as Alberta. They serve as reminders of past occupation and travel and, in the case of Bigstone Cree Nation, continue to be used to access sites and landscapes significant to Indigenous Peoples. This is the story of one historic trail, known locally today as Sapaces Gambler Okayas Meskanas: the Jean Baptiste Gambler Historic Trail.

The Matchemuttaw and Gambler families signed Treaty as part of the Peeayseas First Nation near Lac La Biche. They travelled northwest and established themselves in the Kito Sakahikan (Calling Lake) area by 1875, and transferred to the Bigstone Band in 1911. By 1915, patriarch Sapaces (colonial name Jean Baptiste Gambler) had built a house, storehouse and stable along the north shoreline of Kito Sakahikan, and was advocating for reserve lands to government representatives.

In the early 1900s, a trail extended between Kito Sakahikan and Wapaskow (Wabasca), connecting the families and communities contemporarily comprising Bigstone Cree Nation. In 1914, the route was identified as a “pack trail” on the Pelican District sectional map; a parallel trail to the west was the, “sleigh road from Athabaska to Wabiskaw Settlement.” Sapaces and his descendants travelled the region on these trails for generations.

Alberta Section Map No. 454, Pelican Sheet. Second Edition 1^st May, 1914.

Happy holidays from RETROactive

December 20, 2024Jared

Wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday season! The images below, courtesy of the Provincial Archives of Alberta, were taken from the John Glascow Family Christmas, Edmonton, 1963.

Far away and close to home: An Alberta historian travels to Orkney

December 18, 2024December 18, 2024Jared

Editor’s note: All images in this post were taken by Suzanna Wagner. The image above is of a view across the Stromness Harbour, Orkney.

Written by: Suzanna Wagner, Program Coordinator, Victoria Settlement and Fort George & Buckingham House

Have you ever travelled vast distances only to find pieces of home?

Intent on exploring new vistas, seeing the ocean, and walking through Neolithic sites, this Canadian historian jetted off to Orkney, Scotland for a vacation. Orkney and Canada share a strong historic connection since the Hudson’s Bay Company hired a great many of their labourers from Orkney. Working with fur trade history made me aware of this, but the only concession my trip plan made to the Orkney-Canada connection was an as-of-yet unread copy of Patricia McCormack’s paper, “Lost Women: Native Wives in Orkney and Lewis” tucked into my suitcase.

After three flights, I arrived bleary-eyed on the largest island of this archipelago north of the Scottish mainland, feeling as though I had travelled to a rather remote part of the world. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Orkney may feel isolated today, but when the Atlantic was bridged with boats instead of planes flying out of densely populated southern urban centres, Orkney was much more central.

Maps of the world on display in Orkney did not have the equator as the centre of the image. Rather, they tilted the globe northward, bringing into focus areas of the northern Atlantic which usually shrink into obscurity- including Orkney itself. By changing the angle from which I considered the globe, I was able to see connections that had never before been made clear to me. One of those connections bridged the wide watery expanse between Orkney and western Canada.

Orkney’s northerly latitude made it a geographically convenient place for the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). The oceanic entrance to the Hudson Bay is substantially further north than the mouth of the St. Lawrence seaway, which means that starting the journey from Orkney makes far more sense than leaving from a “more central” port in southern England. Hudson Bay-bound ships “called in” (made a stop at) at the Stromness harbour on the western edge of Orkney as their last landing place before braving the Atlantic crossing. Once in this harbour, they visited Login’s Well (pronounced “Logan’s”) to fill their all-important supplies of drinking water.

Login’s well today: an important part of a Stromness historic walking tour, but if you want to refill your water bottle, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

But it wasn’t just Orkney’s fresh water the HBC wanted. Orkney’s men were also in high demand.

The Canadian Architectural Archives: a treasure trove of architectural information

December 11, 2024December 11, 2024Jared

Editor’s note: The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. The banner image above is of the Carleton University School of Architecture, Ottawa, 1970. Source: University of Calgary, Canadian Architectural Archives, Carmen and Elin Corneil fonds, CA ACU CAA F0007.

Written by: Robb Gilbert, Archivist, Canadian Architectural Archives and Dorothy Field, Heritage Survey Program Coordinator

In my work with the Alberta Heritage Survey, I’m always on the lookout for sources of reliable information about Alberta’s architectural history. One such resource that people may not generally be aware of is the Canadian Architectural Archives (CAA), which is a veritable Aladdin’s Cave full of material donated by architects from Alberta and across Canada. But just what, exactly is the CAA? Recently, I had the opportunity to ask Robb Gilbert, Archivist at the Canadian Architectural Archives, about the history, holdings and services of the CAA.

(Dorothy) Hi Robb! Can you tell me about yourself and what you do at the CAA?

(Robb) I’ve been at the CAA for five years. My role is to manage the CAA’s extensive collection, improve access to the holdings, acquire new collections and additions to existing collections, teach students about the archives, assist visiting researchers, and generally raise awareness and engagement with the archives. I previously worked at the Kamloops Museum and Archives before joining Archives and Special Collections at the University of Calgary. My educational background before becoming an archivist was in religious studies and art history. Courses in art and architectural history at Carleton University in Ottawa fueled my ongoing passion for the history of Canadian architecture.

When was the CAA established, by whom, and what was its original mission?

The CAA was established at the University of Calgary 50 years ago in 1974. The idea to start an archive originated with the Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Design (now called School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape) William T. Perks (1934-2023) who proposed an archive to Ken Glazier (1912-1989), the Chief Librarian. The archive was established and developed by Perks, as well as the professors of architecture Michael McMordie and R.D. Gillmor (1930-2019), and the rare books librarian Ernie Ingles (1948-2020). McMordie built the holdings from his connections and through outreach to architects across Canada. And Ingles and the staff in the library provided the administration and operations for the archive. The original mission was to serve as a teaching and research resource for students and researchers, to collect and preserve historical records on Canadian architecture, and to promote public education and awareness about the built environment.

Canadian Architectural Archives, Archives Vault. Source: Photograph courtesy of the author.

A Lime Kiln on the Slave River

December 4, 2024December 3, 2024Jared

Written by: Patrick Carroll, Cultural Resource Management Advisor, Southwest NWT Field Unit, Parks Canada

About 50 km upriver on the Slave River from Fitzgerald, Alberta, among a small cluster of islands named Stony Islands, you will find the remains of a stone lime kiln. Archaeologist Marc Stevenson documented the kiln (IjOu-5) and a nearby quarry (IjOu-6) during a survey of the Slave River in 1980. He described the kiln as a, “large semicircular limestone feature 4m in height.” The quarry is an exposed face of limestone just upriver from the kiln. All that we know about the history of the kiln is based on notes from a conversation Stevenson had with a Brother Seaurault. According to Stevenson, “The feature, according to an elderly informant, is the limestone furnace used by residents of Fort Chipewyan in the 1910’s and 1920’s to make whitewash for their log homes in the latter settlement.” It appears, therefore, to have been here for at least a century and is now showing the degradations of time, seasonal flooding and ice scouring.

The kiln is built into a natural alcove in the limestone exposure, set on a rocky shelf at a height to protect it from the impacts of seasonal high water and ice scouring on the Slave River. It consists of a semi-circular convex stone wall extending from the bedrock which, together, create the chimney. The height of the wall extends to the height of the top of the bedrock. A stoke hole on the bottom of the wall faces toward the river. An interesting feature of this kiln is that one side of the wall of the kiln does not abut directly against the limestone outcrop. The collapsing wall on the down-river side appears to have been built mostly flush to the bedrock face. The wall on the up-river side, though, remains in its original condition showing it was built with a 30-60 cm gap between the edge of the stone wall and the bedrock face. It is not known what purpose this gap might have provided for the operation of the kiln, although, it is easily wide enough to allow for a person to enter the cavity of the chimney.

Source: Stoney Middleton Heritage Centre Community Group.

Not Forgotten: Cousins in Arms

November 11, 2024November 11, 2024Jared

Written by: Ronald Kelland, Historic Places Research and Designation Program

Remembrance Day, November 11, is the day Canadians honour our military personnel and memorialize those who gave their lives while in military service. While honouring all Canadian service personnel this Remembrance Day, RETROactive is drawing particular attention to a geographical feature named to commemorate two cousins who were casualties of the First World War.

Near the Alberta/British Columbia boundary, 55 kilometres ENE of Grande Cache is a mountain known as Mount May; its two peaks are named George Peak and Francis Peak. The mountain and its peaks are named for two cousins, George and Francis May of Ottawa, both of whom were casualties of the First World War.

Francis May

Francis Loren May (frequently misspelled Francis Lorne May) was born on August 14, 1894, at Ottawa to William Chaney May and Susan Margaret May (née Story). William May was a partner in the family firm George May and Sons, a leather goods and saddlery store on Rideau Street. In 1915, Francis was living with his parents at 155 Gilmour Street in Ottawa. Described as being nearly six feet in height and with hazel eyes, a ruddy complexion and light brown hair, he was a member of the Ottawa Ski Club and the Ottawa Canoe Club and, during his school years, he spent two years with the Ottawa Collegiate Institute Cadets. He tried to enlist for service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1914 but was not accepted due to an attack of appendicitis. He did enlist for service at Ottawa on February 22, 1915. His attestation papers list his employment as clerk, and he may have been employed in the family firm or with the Dominion Government. Francis had worked with the Dominion Land Survey, notably in northeastern Alberta in 1912 as an axeman in the surveying party of George McMillan, DLS. It is possible that the May River, which was partially surveyed and named by McMillan in that year, may have been named for Francis.

Halloween in Smoky Lake

October 31, 2024Jared

Written by: Sara King, Government Records Archivist, Provincial Archives of Alberta

With Halloween once again upon us it’s time for some spooky fun from the Provincial Archives of Alberta. Nicholas Gavinchuk operated a photography studio in Smoky Lake from the early 1920s into the 1960s documenting all manner of aspects of community life there, including Halloween. One of the more interesting aspects of doing archival research is seeing a brief description of a file or photograph and finding out it’s not quite what you expected. This is often the case in archives as archivists try and use the titles given to photographs and files by the creator of the records as opposed to assigning their own.

For example, the image below was labelled as “Halloween Hags”. But as you can see, they’re clearly Halloween hogs! In the Archives’ defense, an “a” and an “o” are awfully similar in cursive.

G1810 “Halloween Hags” (Smoky Lake), 1953. Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta.

Who and where was John Ware?

October 9, 2024October 9, 2024Jared

Written by: Sam Judson and Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary.

Alberta’s cowboy culture is embraced by many and celebrated through events and conventions like the Calgary Stampede, K-Days or Calgary’s ‘White Hat’ tradition. This culture is largely represented in the history books by white, European settlers, although Alberta’s past is much more multiethnic and multicultural than many realize.

John Ware was one of Alberta’s early Black setters. Ware’s name is recognizable today to many Albertans, who refer to him as Alberta’s first Black cowboy, and the longevity of his legend is fascinating. Despite this, few know his story and very little is known about the true nature of his life.

John Ware, rancher, with wife Mildred and children Robert and Nettie in southern Alberta, [ca. 1896], (CU1107289) by Unknown. Source: Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.

So Far from Home: Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and Red Deer Industrial School

September 30, 2024September 30, 2024Jared

Editor’s note: September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. Reading residential school histories can be a painful process. If reading this is causing pain or bringing back distressing memories, please call the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. The Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day and can also provide information on other health supports provided by the Health Canada Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program.

An earlier version of this article appeared in the December/January 2024 issue of Nisichawayasi Achimowina.

Written by: Laura Golebiowski (Indigenous Consultation Adviser), in collaboration with Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.

“Eight children, an equal number of boys and girls, were going with us to enter a Residential School… I applied, but without success, to the Principal of the Brandon Residential School, for the admittance of the Indian children. That they were “non-treaty” was the alleged objection. As, however, the Red Deer school was willing to receive them, we decided to take them there…In the course of two or three years, five of those apparently healthy children had died from Tuberculosis.”

– Samuel Gaudin, in Forty-Four Years with the Northern Crees

Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation are the Nisichawayasi Nehethowuk: the people whose ancestors lived near where the three rivers meet and who speak Nehetho, the language of the four winds. Their territory includes the rich lands of the Canadian Shield and boreal forest in what is now northern Manitoba. Their central community hub is located at Nelson House, a long-time place of Indigenous occupation where the Hudson’s Bay Company established a trading post in the late 1700s.

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