September 2017
Early Sunday morning and downtown Edmonton is deserted. We just took a quick ride in before getting on the highway.
CKUA is a Canadian public radio station. Originally located at the University of Alberta in Edmonton (hence the UA of the call letters), CKUA was the first public broadcaster in Canada.
CKUA was created in 1927 through a provincial grant which allowed the University of Alberta's Extension Department to purchase the licence of CFCK. CKUA and also the first radio station to offer educational radio programming, including music concerts, poetry readings, and university lectures. From 1930 to 1931 the station was an affiliate of the CNR Radio network. CKUA was operated from 1945 until 1974 by Alberta Government Telephones.The crown corporation, Alberta Educational Communications Corporation (later known as Access), assumed ownership of the station in 1974. In 1994, Access sold the CKUA network to the non-profit CKUA Radio Foundation for $10.
Later in the day we enjoyed a couple of hours listening to this station.
Fort Edmonton was founded by HBC’s William Tomison in the fall of 1795 at the junction of the North Saskatchewan and Sturgeon Rivers. It was built “virtually next door” to the North West Company (NWC) post, Fort Augustus, which had been established only a few months earlier. Tomison named the site Edmonton after an estate in England owned by HBC Deputy Governor Sir James Winter Lake.
The first HBC saleshop outside the fort opened in 1890, a year before the arrival of the railroad. The saleshop sold dry goods, men’s clothing and shoes, groceries, liquor, cookware, furniture, and dress-making supplies. In 1892, Edmonton was incorporated as a town with a population of 400. By 1894, the original store was rebuilt at Jasper Avenue and 103rd Street. The new building consisted of a single retail floor with living quarters upstairs for the manager, his family, and an assistant. In 1905 — the same year that the growing city of over 7,000 became the capital of the new province of Alberta — a brand new three-storey brick store opened at the Jasper Avenue location. The upper floor was used as offices and storage. In 1913, further construction added a fourth floor, as well as a five-storey warehouse attached to the northwest corner along 103rd Street.
In 1926, a single-storey extension was added to the store, which now spanned the entire frontage between 102nd Street and 103rd Street along Jasper Avenue. In 1939, the Company boldly invested $1 million in its future in Edmonton by building a second storey. The new two level plus basement store covered the block along Jasper Avenue, opening on November 14, 1939. In 1948, more office and merchandising space was required, and a third floor was added. In 1956, the building expanded its three floors northward onto property that was previously a livery stable. The final size was an impressive 470,000 square feet.
We've seen the Fairmont in Victoria and stayed at the one in Jasper. A few years ago we lunched at the Fairmont in Lake Louise. The Royal York in Toronto is also a Fairmont.
Fairmont Hotel Macdonald is an iconic property since July 5th, 1915. Standing high on the bank overlooking the largest urban parkway in North America, The North Saskatchewan River Valley.
The Walterdale Bridge is named after early settler John Walter, who operated a ferry at this crossing over the North Saskatchewan River. The new Walterdale Bridge replaces the old structure built in 1912-13.
We are going to Drumheller, and John is going to be blown away.
The town is named for Colonel Samuel Drumheller, who bought land in 1910 and started coal mining operations there in 1911. Drumheller became a railway station in 1912.
Badlands are particularly prevalent along the river valleys of southern Alberta, especially along the Red Deer River, where they flank the river for 300 km and culminate in their most impressive display in Dinosaur Provincial Park and are associated with the world-famous dinosaur fossils. The park was designated a United Nations World Heritage Site in 1979 partly on the basis of its spectacular badlands, the largest in Canada.
The museum is situated in the middle of the fossil-bearing strata of the Late Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation and holds numerous specimens from the Alberta badlands, Dinosaur Provincial Park and the Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Egg Site.
Located in downtown Drumheller, this Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex) statue stands over 86 ft (26 m) tall.
The Calgary-Drumheller railway was opened in 1913 bringing with it the many faces and families who would settle this new community with a profound sense of optimism and excitement.
The first load of coal shipped out of the valley was from a Newcastle mine in 1911 by Jesse Gouge and Garnet Coyle who originally opened the mine.
The Drumheller coal rush really heated up after Samuel Drumheller bought land in the valley from Thomas Greentree and sold it to the Canadian National Railway to develop a town site.
A famous coin toss was made between Samuel Drumheller and Thomas Greentree to decide who would name the town.
The coin fell in favor of Samuel Drumheller. Between 1911 and 1979, 139 mines were registered in the valley and over 56 million tons of coal was shipped across Canada.
Drumheller downtown has dinosaurs, of course.
Anxiously waiting with flowers in hand.
Waiting on the other corner.
Heading to Medicine Hat for the night. We'd been to Calgary in 2013.
The name "Medicine Hat" is the English translation of Saamis (SA-MUS) – the Blackfoot word for the eagle tail feather headdress worn by medicine men – or "Medicine Hat". Several legends are associated with the name from a mythical mer-man river serpent named Soy-yee-daa-bee – the Creator – who appeared to a hunter and instructed him to sacrifice his wife to get mystical powers which were manifest in a special hat. Another legend tells of a battle long ago between the Blackfoot and the Cree in which a retreating Cree "Medicine Man" lost his headdress in the South Saskatchewan River.
We're booked into a Ramada, on points, and it was not impressive, but it was free.
The first HBC saleshop outside the fort opened in 1890, a year before the arrival of the railroad. The saleshop sold dry goods, men’s clothing and shoes, groceries, liquor, cookware, furniture, and dress-making supplies. In 1892, Edmonton was incorporated as a town with a population of 400. By 1894, the original store was rebuilt at Jasper Avenue and 103rd Street. The new building consisted of a single retail floor with living quarters upstairs for the manager, his family, and an assistant. In 1905 — the same year that the growing city of over 7,000 became the capital of the new province of Alberta — a brand new three-storey brick store opened at the Jasper Avenue location. The upper floor was used as offices and storage. In 1913, further construction added a fourth floor, as well as a five-storey warehouse attached to the northwest corner along 103rd Street.
In 1926, a single-storey extension was added to the store, which now spanned the entire frontage between 102nd Street and 103rd Street along Jasper Avenue. In 1939, the Company boldly invested $1 million in its future in Edmonton by building a second storey. The new two level plus basement store covered the block along Jasper Avenue, opening on November 14, 1939. In 1948, more office and merchandising space was required, and a third floor was added. In 1956, the building expanded its three floors northward onto property that was previously a livery stable. The final size was an impressive 470,000 square feet.
We've seen the Fairmont in Victoria and stayed at the one in Jasper. A few years ago we lunched at the Fairmont in Lake Louise. The Royal York in Toronto is also a Fairmont.
Fairmont Hotel Macdonald is an iconic property since July 5th, 1915. Standing high on the bank overlooking the largest urban parkway in North America, The North Saskatchewan River Valley.
The Walterdale Bridge is named after early settler John Walter, who operated a ferry at this crossing over the North Saskatchewan River. The new Walterdale Bridge replaces the old structure built in 1912-13.
We are going to Drumheller, and John is going to be blown away.
The town is named for Colonel Samuel Drumheller, who bought land in 1910 and started coal mining operations there in 1911. Drumheller became a railway station in 1912.
Badlands are particularly prevalent along the river valleys of southern Alberta, especially along the Red Deer River, where they flank the river for 300 km and culminate in their most impressive display in Dinosaur Provincial Park and are associated with the world-famous dinosaur fossils. The park was designated a United Nations World Heritage Site in 1979 partly on the basis of its spectacular badlands, the largest in Canada.
The museum is situated in the middle of the fossil-bearing strata of the Late Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation and holds numerous specimens from the Alberta badlands, Dinosaur Provincial Park and the Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Egg Site.
Located in downtown Drumheller, this Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex) statue stands over 86 ft (26 m) tall.
The Calgary-Drumheller railway was opened in 1913 bringing with it the many faces and families who would settle this new community with a profound sense of optimism and excitement.
The first load of coal shipped out of the valley was from a Newcastle mine in 1911 by Jesse Gouge and Garnet Coyle who originally opened the mine.
The Drumheller coal rush really heated up after Samuel Drumheller bought land in the valley from Thomas Greentree and sold it to the Canadian National Railway to develop a town site.
A famous coin toss was made between Samuel Drumheller and Thomas Greentree to decide who would name the town.
The coin fell in favor of Samuel Drumheller. Between 1911 and 1979, 139 mines were registered in the valley and over 56 million tons of coal was shipped across Canada.
Drumheller downtown has dinosaurs, of course.
Anxiously waiting with flowers in hand.
Waiting on the other corner.
Heading to Medicine Hat for the night. We'd been to Calgary in 2013.
The name "Medicine Hat" is the English translation of Saamis (SA-MUS) – the Blackfoot word for the eagle tail feather headdress worn by medicine men – or "Medicine Hat". Several legends are associated with the name from a mythical mer-man river serpent named Soy-yee-daa-bee – the Creator – who appeared to a hunter and instructed him to sacrifice his wife to get mystical powers which were manifest in a special hat. Another legend tells of a battle long ago between the Blackfoot and the Cree in which a retreating Cree "Medicine Man" lost his headdress in the South Saskatchewan River.
We're booked into a Ramada, on points, and it was not impressive, but it was free.
Weekly recap with more photos
Day 5 - Denver CO to Rapid City SD
The Curtis Hotel Denver CO funky themed floors
Day 6 - Rapid City SD Mount Rushmore City of Presidents
Day 7 - Rapid City SD to Billings MT Crazy Horse and Little Big Horn
Day 8 - Billings MT to Driggs ID
Day 9 - Jackson Hole WY and Grand Teton NP
Day 12 - Spokane WA to Port Angeles WADay 5 - Denver CO to Rapid City SD
The Curtis Hotel Denver CO funky themed floors
Day 6 - Rapid City SD Mount Rushmore City of Presidents
Day 7 - Rapid City SD to Billings MT Crazy Horse and Little Big Horn
Day 8 - Billings MT to Driggs ID
Day 9 - Jackson Hole WY and Grand Teton NP
Wonderful shots, especially Drumheller. I've been there at the museum a couple of times, and it is a sight to see!
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