The Human History of Jasper National Park, Alberta by Brenda Gainer

The Human History of . Jasper National Park, Alberta by Brenda Gainer 1981 The Manuscript Report Series is printed in a limited number of copies and is intended for internal use by Environment Canada. Copies of each issue are distributed to various public repositories in Canada for use by interested individuals. Many of these reports will be published in Canadian Historic Sites or History and Archaeology and may be altered during the publishing process by editing or by further research. iii The Human History of Jasper National Park, Alberta by Brenda Gainer l Abstract 2 Precis 5 Acknowledgements 6 Introduction 10 Native People 10 Pre-Contact 12 Proto-Contact 14 Nineteenth Century 28 The Fur Trade Era 28 Northwest Company 36 Hudson's Bay Company 44 Fur Trade Sites 45 Henry's House or Camp 46 Henry's Winter House 47 The First Jasper House 48 Larocque's House 49 Athabasca Depot 51 The Second Jasper House 55 Nineteenth Century Exploration 72 The Establishment of Jasper National Park 86 The Railway Era 102 The First Tourists 102 Wilderness Climbers and Explorers 112 Railway Tourist Development iv 116 Early Trail Development 121 Industry in Jasper National Park 122 Coal Mining 133 Quarrying 136 Lumbering 137 Park Policy 144 Depression and War~The Automobile Era 144 Early Roads in the Park 147 The Edmonton Highway 150 Depression 156 World War Two 167 The Town of Jasper 167 The Early Townsite 169 Business and Government Buildings 174 Schools 175 Church Buildings 175 Anglican 177 United 178 Roman Catholic 178 Hospital 179 Townspeople 182 Conclusion 185 Endnotes 208 Bibliography Illustrations 234 1 Regional map of Jasper area. 235 2 Topographical map of Jasper National Park (foldout). 237 3 Historic sites of Jasper National Park. 238 4 View of Jasper House, 1872, by Charles Horetzky. 239 5 Construction of Grand Trunk Pacific line in the Jasper area, 1911. 240 6 Railway construction camp at Fitzhugh, 1910. v 243 7 Lewis Swift's family and cabin in Jasper National Park, 1911. 245 8 Men and equipment, Jasper Park. Collieries, Pocahontas, 1912. 246 9 Mine at Pocahontas, 1920, 247 10 Fitzhugh Lime and Stone Company plant, 1913, 248 11 View of internment camp in Jasper National Park, c. 1915. 1 Abstract This report details the human history of the area which was eventually to become Jasper National Park in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. Although brief attention is given to pre-historic native visitors, the report really begins with the movement of Iroquois Indians into the area around the turn of the nineteenth century. The report then provides a roughly chronological discussion of Jasper's history during the last two centuries, starting with the "discovery" of the Athabasca Pass by David Thompson in 1810-11, and following through the use of the Athabasca and Yellowhead passes by both fur traders and other adventurers during the nineteenth century. By the end of the nineteenth century a few farmers, native-born for the most part, had settled on homesteads in the broad flats of the Athabasca Valley, eventually to be displaced by the establishment of Jasper National Park in 1907. As the move for conservation grew in Canada, the history of Jasper Park came to be dominated by the resolution of a general conflict over the purpose and nature of a national park. In addition, the construction of a national railway line through the new park ensured that Jasper would continue in its nineteenth century position as a major trans continental transportation route throughout the twentieth century. The construction of the Yellowhead highway reinforced this position, The report concludes that certain features of the history of Jasper Park are of national historical significance because of their connection to two major themes of Canadian development~the conservation movement and transcontinental transportation and communication. 2 Precis This report consists of nine major chapters in addition to introductory and concluding chapters. Although brief mention is made of pre-historic settlement, the report is mainly concerned with the period from about 1800 to the present day. Basically a chronological division of chapters is followed, except for the first in which the native people who have lived in Jasper through this entire period are discussed. After a brief attempt to place the various Alberta Indian tribes in 1792, the history of the Iroquois who moved into the area around the turn of the century is told, including their origins in Caughnawaga and their activity at Lac Ste. Anne and elsewhere in Alberta in later years. The twentieth century descendents of the Jasper House Iroquois who settled in the park and then moved to Edson or Grande Cache are included at the end of the chapter. Mention is also made of two other groups of Indians, the Stoneys and Shuswaps, who were occasionally at Jasper House during the fur trade era. The following chapter on the fur trade first tells the story of the Northwest Company employees who passed through the valley, begin ning with David Thompson's discovery of the Athabasca Pass in 1810-11, and including mention of Gabriel Franchere and Ross Cox. Then the Hudson's Bay Company period is outlined. In this section the first use of the Yellowhead Pass is mentioned and the position of Jasper House in the western fur trade is discussed, The final section of the chapter deals with the problem of fur trade sites in the park and attempts to alleviate some of the confusion over the several Henry Houses, The next chapter deals with the subject of visitors to the posts and the area generally during the fur trade era who were there for other than collllllercial reasons. Paul Kane the artist and Pierre Jean de Smet the Jesuit missionary were among the most famous of these early visitors, and later in the century the "Overlanders of '62" and Viscount Milton and Dr. Cheadle passed through the area. At the end of this period a 3 survey was done for the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Yellowhead Pass, but ultimately a route was chosen further south, By the end of the nineteenth century, the railway had been built elsewhere, the fur trade had disappeared, and the upper Athabasca Valley was only inhabited by several Metis settlers and one white homesteader from the United States. Shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, however, plans were developed to build two new transcontinental rail lines through the Yellowhead Pass and the Canadian government decided to establish a national park along the route of the first of these, the Grand Trunk Pacific, Consequently Jasper Park was established in 1907. The fourth chapter tells the story of the settlers in the valley and the establishment of the national park. The next chapter gives an account of the history of the railways in the park, including details of the construction of two separate lines, the Grand Trunk Pacific and the Canadian Northern, and their eventual amalgamation. Once the park was established and the railways made it accessible, tourists began to visit the area in ever-increasing numbers. The sixth chapter describes the earliest of these; the mountaineers and explorers who came north from the Banff area or west from Edmonton, and who, in the company of local guides and outfitters, mapped much of the new park. This chapter includes a discussion of early tourist accommodation, notably Jasper Park Lodge, and the development of trails in the park. The railways opened the area to industry as well as tourists, and several resource extraction ventures operated in Jasper Park in the years immediately following its establishment. Coal mining, quarrying and lumbering are all described in the chapter on industry in the park, and finally a discussion of the growth of a conservation ethic in Canada and the development of a national parks policy to respond to this phenomenon is provided. While the first part of the report centres around the theme of the development of transcontinental trans portation, the chapter on industry introduces a second major theme of Jasper's past, which is the growth of a conservation movement in Canada and concerns about the nature and purpose of our national parks, 4 The eighth chapter returns to the theme of national transportation, this time in the twentieth century, and describes the history of the major highways in the park. These roads were largely built during the Depression and World War Two, first by relief workers and then by Japanese prisoners. During the war Jasper Park was also used for several military projects; the development of the ice-ship "Habbakuk" and the training of an Arctic regiment, the Lovat Scouts. While all the preceding chapters dealt with national or regional developments in which Jasper played a part, the final chapter is of a more local nature and describes the growth of the town of Jasper from its early days as the tiny divisional point of "Fitzhugh'' on the Grand Trunk Pacific line to its present status as one of the most popular of Canadian tourist centres. Local buildings and institutions, as well as a few local businessmen and the role they played in Jasper's development, are included. The report concludes that the seemingly diverse topics listed above form a historical continuity when viewed from the perspective of two major themes in Canadian development; national transportation history and. the growth of a Canadian conservation movement. It is suggested that certain features of the park's history therefore have a heritage value for Canadians. An accompanying report, "The Historic Sites of Jasper National Park," describes historic sites in the park and evaluates their significance in terms of communicating the value of Jasper's past to present-day Canadians.

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