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Appendix 9 "Mountain View- a land which has A Brief History of yielded all the riches the West so laden with golden visions ever Mountain View County promised." - Bodil J. Jensen During the first decade of the 21st Century, Mountain View County has become a prospering community in the heart of what has become known as Canada's economic "Western Tiger." It's remarkable that just over a century ago, the same slice of land was untamed wilderness, void of any semblance of permanent settlement. The first government surveys of the area between Calgary and fourth (Carstairs), fifth (Didsbury) and sixth (Olds) sidings. Edmonton weren't made until 1883, around the time when the Canadian Pacific Railway arrived from the east in what was Settlement in the early days was typified by ethnic and usually then the small settlement of Calgary. Just to the east of where religious groups living in close-knit communities or colonies. the busy Queen Elizabeth II highway runs today, people and Notable among them were a group of Mennonite families who goods traveled between homesteaded in the Dids- Calgary and Fort Edmonton bury area from Europe via by wagon along the original “The agenda of the municipal councils was largely Ontario around the turn of Calgary and Edmonton repetitious, and routine; deciding on the areas for road the 19th century. A large (C&E) Trail. In 1890, the C & improvement, petitioning the provincial government for number of German settlers E (Calgary and Edmonton) bridges; setting and collecting taxes; distributing the from the American Midwest Railway was chartered, and school tax when this function was taken form the local also settled around Olds; and construction began, with the school boards; enforcing the herd law and employing a a group of Norwegian pio- line reaching Mountain View pound keeper; regulating the building code; handling neers blazed a trail westward by the end of the year. municipal hail insurance; distributing relief in times of towards Sundre and Bergen. need; and generally looking after the local needs of the While a handful of squatters residents as the county government does today.” It was also in the early had arrived pre-1890, settle- 1890s that the first schools ment in Mountain View began to organize. By 1930, didn't begin in earnest until the arrival of the C & E Railway. On almost 90 school districts had been created to serve the Moun- July 27, 1891 the first through train made the trip from Calgary tain View region, with the one-room school house remaining a to south Edmonton, marking the beginning of regular scheduled fixture of rural life until 1936, when the Social Credit passenger train service for the next 60 years. After 1891, government allowed for the creation of larger school divisions. homesteaders began to arrive in the region from across Europe and North America, with settlements sprouting up around the (Continued on next page) For the Norwegian settlers in the Bergen area of western Mountain View County, turning acres of forest into agricultural land was back breaking and tedious work. Here, Arne Halvorson and his son Trygve pitch in to clear the brush, and turn the sod on Mr. Arneson's field, in a photo dated 1919. (Mountain View County archives) As the population grew, so did the needs of the growing With the introduction of the County system of government in population. This led to the formation of local government, 1961, joint administration of municipalities and the school though the creation of Local Improvement Districts, which later boards was initiated, and would continue until 1994. began consolidating to form larger rural municipalities in 1912. Accompanying this change, the Municipal District of Mountain Initially the response to the idea of consolidation was unenthu- View No. 49 was formed into the County of Mountain View No. siastic. A majority of rural residents in Mountain View voted 17 as of Jan. 1, 1961, with William J. Bagnall of Dogpound was against consolidation with other L.I.D's in a series of plebiscites selected as the County's first Reeve. A municipal councillor prior held in 1912. Only the Rural Municipality of Mountain View No. to the County’s formation, Bagnall would continue to serve as 310 would be created out of four improvement districts around Reeve until 1980, and as a councillor until 1985. Olds and Didsbury, making it one of 55 rural municipalities to come into existence province-wide on Dec. 9, 1912. Others The newly-formed County chose Didsbury as the seat of govern- would soon follow their lead. ment, and in Oct. 1962, a new administration building was opened to house both the County administration and the school In her 1983 book chronicling the history of the County of board. This building would serve the County until a new state-of- Mountain View No. 17, Bodil J. Jensen outlines the duties facing the-art office was erected on Hwy. 2A between Olds and Dids- the councils of these new rural municipalities: bury in 2005. “The agenda of the municipal councils was largely repetitious, On Jan 21, 1998 the County of Mountain View No. 17 officially and routine; deciding on the areas for road improvement, changed its name to Mountain View County, as it continues to petitioning the provincial government for bridges; setting and be known today.■ collecting taxes; distributing the school tax when this function was taken form the local school boards; enforcing the herd law Sources: and employing a pound keeper; regulating the building code; Jensen, Bodil J., Alberta's County of Mountain View- A History, Didsbury, Alta.: Mountain View County No.17, 1983 handling municipal hail insurance; distributing relief in times of need; and generally looking after the local needs of the "Story of Rural Municipal Government in Alberta 1909 to 1983", Alberta Association of the Municipal Districts and Counties residents as the county government does today.” www.virtualmuseum.ca As consolidation continued throughput the ‘40s and ‘50s, the www.teachers.ab.ca provincial government moved to amalgamate municipalities www.municipalaffairs.gov.ab.ca and the local school boards. In 1955, the M.D. of Mountain View and Olds School Division No. 39 were made "coterminous" (meaning they shared the same boundaries). Wranglers gather on the Burns Ranch, which was operated by meat- packing magnate, and future Senator Pat Burns, approximately 10 miles east of Olds. Burns initiated his grazing operation around 1892 to provide meat to crews building the Calgary and Edmonton Railway, and would continue to operate in eastern Mountain View until 1918. (Mountain View County archives) Mountain View County Alberta at a glance Established: January 1, 1961 Status: Municipal District Land area: 3804.43 km² Population: 12,570 (2007 census) Kilometres of Road Maintained: 2,796 Education The County is part of the Chinook's Edge School Division, whose headquar- tered is in Innisfail. There are two public schools located in Mountain View County: Reed Ranch east of Highway 2, and Koinonia Christian School southeast of Olds. Olds College, located in Olds, provides post-secondary training in technologies which support direct production agriculture, such as mechanics, Ag. Production, plant and animal science, business and com- puter applications. Mountain View County, Economic Base Alberta, CANADA The main economic base of the region is agriculture. A prosperous rural population is engaged in grain, oilseed, beef, dairy, sheep, hogs, poultry and equine enterprises. The urban centres provide extensive services and supplies to support the surrounding farmers. Forestry is also important to the County. Recent prosperity has placed great demands on the forestry industry to meet increasing requirements for building materials for all types of construction. The industry provides employment for many area residents in falling, skidding, trucking or in the lumber mills. Oil & gas is a major economic driver, not only in Mountain View County, but throughout the province of Alberta. Every year numerous wells, coalbed methane (CBM) in particular are drilled and brought into production. Plants built to process the vast quantities of natu- ral gas under much of the County are among the larg- est in North America. Numerous pipelines transport these essential materials in Canada and throughout the United States. Many oil & gas support services have been established in Mountain View County to service the industry. Emergency Services There are volunteer fire departments in each of the towns (Didsbury, Olds, Carstairs, Sundre) and a number of the smaller communities. The County is also served by three detachments (Didsbury, Olds, Sundre) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), as well as Alberta Sheriffs. Ambulance service is available throughout the County provided by Mountain View Regional Emergency Services, and hospitals are located in Didsbury, Olds and Sundre. Recreation Mountain View County has it all: magnificent scenery, picturesque communities, golf courses galore, river recreation, skiing, hiking picnicking, and year round cultural and arts events. Whether you are interested in a day-long circle tour of our attractions or an extended vacation, you’ll find something to please you here.■ .

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