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Banff National Park

Why did Banff National Park become an important place and part in Canadian History?

There are 46 national parks within the Canadian borders. All of which are breathtaking places that are all a part of what makes Canada a beautiful country. Which park was the first? Banff National Park was the first national park and the start of the National Park system in Canada. Banff has become an important part of Canadian history because of its beautiful and unique environment, its role in World War I, the history of the park’s relationship with the construction of the Canadian Pacifc Railway and current challenges of climate change that currently impact the park. Banff was the first National Park ever established in Canada and it was the third National Park in the world. It was established in 1885. Banff is located within the province of Alberta. The park covers 6,641km of government protected land along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. The closest major city to the park is Calgary, about an hour and a half drive. From Alberta’s capital city Edmonton, it is about a four hour drive to Banff National Park. The town site of Banff is located at an elevation of 4,537 feet or 1,383 meters, making the town of Banff the highest town in Canada. Banff is Canada’s most visited national park with about 4.2 million tourists each year. That's more people visiting Banff in a year than people that live in Saskatchewan.

Popularity Number National Park

1 Banff National Park (Alberta)

2 Jasper National Park (Alberta)

3 Saguenay St-Lawrence National Park (Quebec)

4 Pacific Rim National Park (British Columbia)

5 Mount Revelstoke National Park (British Columbia)

Banff National Park is famous for its many beautiful landscapes including the mountains such as Castle Mountain, and the incredible crystal, clear blue lakes such as Moraine Lake at the village of Lake Louise. These attributes of the park are part of what makes it an amazing and beautiful place to visit. Lake Louise is one of the most famous landmarks in Banff National Park. The town of Lake Louise was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, who was the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Princess Louise was also the wife of the Marquess of Lorne who was the Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. Princess Louise Caroline Alberta was born at Buckingham Palace in London, England. On March 21, 1871, Princess Louise married John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne. Louise was the first British princess to marry a non- royal spouse since King Henry VIII’s sister Mary married Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk in 1515. As viceregal consort, Louise promoted the arts in Canada, including the founding of the National Gallery of Canada and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Lake Louise and the province of Alberta were named in her honour for people to remember what she contributed to the creation of Canada. Marquess wrote a poem and dedicated one of the verses to Princess Louise.

“In token for the love which thou has shown For this wild land of freedom, I have named A province vast, and for it’s beauty Framed, By thy dear name to be hereafter Known. Alberta it shall be”

The lake itself is one of the many beautiful clear blue lakes in Banff National Park, the colour of Moraine Lake comes from the rocks and minerals frozen inside the glacier that melts into the lake. The Bow River is a magnificent turquoise blue river that begins in Banff National Park. The Bow River runs through the most populated region of Alberta, intersecting the cities of Banff, Canmore, Cochrane, and Calgary. The Bow River begins at Bow Lake. It’s fed by the Bow Glacier in Banff National Park, and flows southeast past Lake Louise and Banff eventually becoming the South Saskatchewan River, which ultimately flows into the Hudson Bay. The Bow River flows for 587 km from Banff National Park until it becomes the South Saskatchewan River. The South Saskatchewan River provides water to Buffalo Pound Lake which is the source of drinking water for the Regina area. Just like Moraine Lake, the Bow River gets its very blue colour from the minerals in the glacier that melt into it. The Bow River has an average temperature of 19.1 °C and July is the warmest month. January is the coldest month for the river with temperatures averaging -10.5 °C. The name Bow refers to the reeds that grow on the banks of the river that were used by the First Nations to make bows. The Blackfoot language name for the river is Makhana meaning “river where bow reeds grow” Founded in 1883 near a Canadian Pacific Railway tunnel site, the first town, 3 km from present-day Banff, was known as “Sliding 29”. It was renamed on November 25, 1883 and relocated two years later to where the town of Banff is situated today. Banff ś development was controversial because of the fragility of its environment, and the towns growth has always been determined by the federal government, tourism and the railway. Banff’s growth was spurred by one significant event in the town ś history, the opening of the Banff Spring Hotel on June 1, 1888. Having accommodations and hot springs opened up the town to visitors in the cooler fall and winter seasons when it is much too cold to be hiking and touring around places like Lake Louise and the Banff townsite. Since 1888, Banff has developed other winter attractions such as skiing through the mountains at places such as Sunshine Village and Mount Norquay. Almost all of the buildings in the townsite are somewhat original and no more new buildings are allowed to be constructed because people don’t want to destroy anymore of Banff’s natural environment. In 1867, the British North America Act (now known as the Constitution Act) established the Dominion of Canada. The provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick joined together in confederation. Prime Minister John A. MacDonald envisioned connecting Canada from coast to coast. Having a transportation link across the country would help newcomers, supplies, and resources move across the country by railway. About 15,000 Chinese labourers helped build the Canadain Pacific Railway. They worked in harsh conditions for little pay. They suffered greatly and it is estimated that at least 600 died during the construction of the railway. Banff National Park was created because in the blueprints for the railway, the track would go right through where the town of Banff would later be established, and at the time people thought it would be a beautiful place to set up a town that could be a pit-stop on the railway. In fact, you can take a train on the Canadain Pacific Railway directly to the town of Banff. The name Banff is derived from a country town in Scotland also called Banff. The area was named Banff in 1884 by George Stephen who was the President of the Canadian Pacific Railway, recalling his birthplace in Banff, Scotland. The railway was built between eastern Canada and British Columbia between 1881 and 1885 fulfilling a promise to British Columbia when they joined confederation in 1871. The Canadian Pacific Railway was Canada’s first transcontinental railway (a transcontinental railroad is a continuous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders). The Canadian Pacific Railway Station in Banff was built in 1910. The station is located at the end of Lynx Street, facing the center of the town of Banff. The Canadian Pacific Railway Station in Banff is directly linked to the development of Canada’s national park system and the evolution of Canada’s tourist industry. The Banff station was designed in the Arts-and-Crafts style, popular in mainstream architecture at the time of its construction. The station retains its dramatic mountain setting and its prominent location within the Banff townsite. When the First World War began in 1914, there was widespread suspicion in Canada that immigrants from enemy countries might be disloyal. During and immediately after the war, 8,579 people from enemy countries were interned as prisoners of war across the country. Twenty four internment camps had been built in Canada at the time of the war. Deep in the heart of Banff National Park are the remains of one of Canada’s darkest memories, the Castle Mountain Internment Camp. During World War I, more than 88,000 immigrants from the other countries that were participating in the war were required to register as “enemy aliens”. All of these immigrants were at risk of being put into an internment camp. If they were found by authorities without work and identity papers, they would be put in one of the 24 camps that were set up all across the country. Two of the camps were set up between 1915 and 1917 in Banff National Park, one for winter use in the Cave and Basin area near the townsite of Banff and the other for summer use at Castle Mountain. There were as many as 600 prisoners and 180 guards in the camps. The internees worked in the park for 25 cents a day. The tasks they had to do included mainly constructing the road between the town of Banff and Lake Louise. The living conditions at Castle Mountain camp were described as grim and harsh and there was at least one reported suicide and 60 escape attempts. Both of the camps in the park closed in 1917 and the remaining 47 prisoners were transferred to another internment camp in Ontario. The camp at Castle Mountain was quickly taken down and abandoned. There is a memorial and statue built near the site but the actual site of the camp is now hidden by a forest. Park officials don't advertise the camps precise location so they can protect the remains of the camp and stop people from illegally hunting for artifacts. If a tourist did come across the tattered remains of the camp there is almost nothing left except some barbed wire from the camp fences, some pieces of timber and bits of broken pots, tins and cans. Over the years the federal government has done many things to protect the animals and the environment within Banff and the other national parks. The parks are protected by the Candadain National Park Act that protects the land inside the borders from being developed and or destroyed. There are many animals that live in Banff including grizzly bears, cougars, tundra swans and mountain goats. Each of these animals has special characteristics that allow them to thrive in the Rocky Mountains in the park. Grizzly bears are large brown bears and are commonly known as “the brown bear of North America.” Grizzly bears can be found in Europe, Asia and North America. A place where they are commonly found in Canada is the Rocky Mountains. Grizzly bears are omnivores and their diet depends on what time of year it is and where in the world they are living. Grizzly bears are known to be more territorial and aggressive than the American black bear and they are recognized by the slight hump on their back.The cougar is a large feline and is native to North and South America. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the widest of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. Cougars are carnivorous and thrive in rocky terrain where they can create dens to hide from the elements and also where they can raise their young. When a mother cougar has a cub, they are furiously protective of it. Cougars are solitary animals and almost only interact with other cougars during their mating season. Tundra swans are large white birds with heavy bodies and long necks. When in the water, tundra swans keep their necks straight giving them a very proud look to them. Also, while in the water, these birds like to form large groups called flocks. Tundra swans like to nest in arctic or tundra areas because they are built for the cold with their heavy, fluffy white feathers. Mountain goats are hoofed animals that are closely related to antelopes, gazelles, and cattle. They live in the mountainous or rocky terrain and are commonly seen leaping from rock to rock on the side of a hill or mountains. These animals are sometimes aggressive when tourists get too close to them in their habitat. The conservation of wildlife in Banff National Park is part of what makes the park critical to species protection in Canada. There are six wildlife overpasses and thirty-eight wildlife underpasses in Banff National Park. These bridges and tunnels make up the largest wildlife crossing system in the world. The first wildlife overpass in Banff was constructed in 1997. Some people didn’t think that the overpasses were a good idea and thought they were a waste of taxpayer’s money and that the animals would never use them. The government went through with the decision to construct overpasses and underpasses for the animals throughout the park spending between two and four million dollars building each one of the overpasses. The underpasses cost much less to build only costing a tenth of the price of an overpass. The animals that commonly use the overpasses include elk, deer, lynx, and wolverines. The animals that more commonly use the underpasses are typically more solitary animals that are used to dark and enclosed spaces such as cougars and bears. The government has been successful in protecting wildlife in the park with the wildlife overpasses and underpasses. There has been a dramatic decrease in the amount of animals that are killed on the roads since the under and overpasses have been completed. The weather in Banff is constantly changing with the years in turn affecting it ś overall climate. You can especially see the change in climate in the mountains by looking at the size difference in the many glaciers and icefields inside the park. These very impressive glaciers include the Crowfoot Glacier, the Bow Glacier and Peyto Glacier. The changes in the size of the glaciers are very concerning and have gathered the attention of many people around the world who are very worried about what will happen if the glaciers continue to shrink further. For a long time, the Peyto Glacier located in Banff National Park has been used as a key global reference site for studies in the field of climate change. ̈ Buẗ the ice has started to crumble so quickly ̈ says John Pomeroy, the clusters of scientific instruments mounted on poles drilled deep into the ice are toppling over and other data collection sites are flooding. Each spring researches drill in the glacial ice to set up monitoring stations but such a drastic amount of the ice has melted this past summer that the surface of the entire glacier had dropped by more than five meters. That is a very dramatic difference in the amount of ice left to view in the magnificent glaciers. Banff has become one of the most well known places in Canada to foriegn tourists. Anyone who loves the outdoors and Canada’s magnificent wilderness would love to visit Banff and take in all of the park’s wonder and beauty. Banff was the first of 46 Canadian national parks that started something fantastic, not only for the people of this country, but also for Canada’s economy allowing millions of dollars to steadily flow into Canada every year. Also branching off from National Parks are provincial and interprovincial parks (existing or carried on between provinces of the same country) all over Canada. Having these national parks means that there will be places in Canada that will always be protected for the people of Canada by the Canadian government for future generations to come and visit and enjoy. If Canada didn't have its many national parks, including Banff National Park, these precious places would be developed and destroyed and would no longer exist. Banff was the first national park in Canada and was established in 1885 in the province of Alberta. Banff has become a very well known piece of Canadian history because of its unique and beautiful environment such as Lake Lousie, Castle Mountain and the Bow River. It has become important to Canada because if it hadn't been protected in the past it would not be here for today's generations to enjoy. Banff was established in such a secluded location that in the past the government was able to use it as an internment camp in 1915. The transcontinental railway allowed people to travel across Canada and access Banff National Park on the Canadian Pacifc Railway. Currently, issues related to climate change also pose problems to the park including decreasing snow levels impacting the skiing hills and the size of the glaciers shrinking impacting river flows. The people of Canada and the rest of the world are working to try and reverse the effects of climate change and they hope to be successful. There are 46 national parks in Canada and all are protected. This protected land helps Canada be known all over the world for its beauty and freedom.

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