Colonel James Walker Histroical Site - Parks 100 Traditional Geocache
Cache Effect: I have received no response from the cache owner so I must regretfully archive this listing. If you wish to repair/replace the cache sometime in the future, just contact us (by email), and assuming it meets the current guidelines, we'll be happy to unarchive it.
Colonel James Walker Histroical Site - Parks 100
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Calgary Parks 100 Project - Colonel James Walker Historical Site
Calgary Area Cachers teaming up with The City of Calgary Parks
Celebrating Calgary Parks 100th Anniversary
The Calgary Parks 100 Project is a partnership between the City of Calgary Parks, and the Calgary Area Cachers to celebrate Calgary Parks 100th anniversary. Calgary Parks has supplied cache containers and swag for 100 caches, and the we have placed these 100 caches in 100 parks around Calgary. These caches have some cool swag and trackables when placed, so make sure to find them as soon as they are published.
Named Calgary’s Citizen of the Century at the city’s Centennial in 1875, Colonel James Walker was a founder of the city of Calgary. After an early and distinguished career in the Canadian Military and with the Royal Northwest Mounted Police Walker took up a homestead on this land along the Bow River. This section and other adjacent property acquired by Walker, outside the city limits in 1882, is now the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and the most easterly part of the community of Inglewood, as well as the former site of a major oil refinery.
Also in 1882 James Walker established a sawmill on the homestead, the first substantial industry in Calgary, supplying building material for the young city. The sawmill was located in the floodway of the northeasterly bend of the river, east of the present visitor centre. The sawmill site was later developed as a greenhouse operation, and no physical remnants of the sawmill have been found and its precise location is uncertain. The remainder of the homestead lands were used for agriculture; croplands and cattle grazing. The area north of the existing estate house, built in 1910 to replace former ranch houses, was the site of Walker’s experimental growing of fruit trees and other specialty crops. This cultivated land was later leased for market gardens.
In 1929 Colonel Walker’s son, Selby, arranged for the adjacent shore and islands of the river to be designated as a federal migratory bird sanctuary, among the first in western Canada. In these early days of wildlife conservation the sanctuary had a purpose of sustaining game and pheasant rearing pens were operated in a compound south of the estate house.
With the most westerly part subdivided for housing (named Inglewood by Walker) the Walker estate was later acquired by the City of Calgary with 80 acres (west of the rail spur) sold as the site of the oil refinery. The entire remainder of the former Walker homestead and estate was to become the present Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. The designation of the estate as a Historic Site is underway.
The Cache
The old cache location (N 51° 01.714 W 114° 00.423)
The old cache site was at the former sawmill area. The sawmill was adjacent to the river floodway at the east edge of this area. From the cache site, you also have a nice view of the Walker house
The new cache site is directly in front of the house. Please be aware that there are sometimes classes going on in the house or in the yards around the house and may present a higher than normal muggle population!
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)