Calgary History Tour - Missionaries Virtual Cache

This cache is one of Calgary's 10 oldest active caches.

What history chapter in western Canada is complete without a comment about Father Lacombe? His name appears everywhere in Alberta and the Lacombe House site in the former town of Midnapore, now a neighbourhood in Calgary, has a dedication to this great missionary.

A Brief Outline of Albert Lacombe's Life (it was busy)

Father Albert Lacombe was born in Saint-Sulpice on February 28, 1827. He was ordained on June 13, 1849 and was one of several Jesuit Priests of the Oblate Order who were Missionaries of the Oblate Order. Oblates have been pioneers of the Church in Western Canada and according to their website "serve the Church in creative ways with a determined preference for the poor and the marginalized..."

Immediately after being ordained, Father Lacombe travelled west to serve as a missionary bringing Catholicism to the native Indians. He began his work in North Dakota but returned to Montreal in 1851. In 1852 he followed Msgr Alaxandre Tache, Bishop of Saint-Boniface to the Red River. He then travelled to the Hudson Bay trading post of Edmonton where he spent the winter with the Cree and the Metis. In 1853 he travelled to Lac Sainte-Anne and in 1855 to Lesser Slave Lake. He returned to Edmonton and founded the Saint-Joachim mission in 1858 and the Saint-Albert mission in 1861.

In 1865 Father Lacombe accepted a mission to evangelize the Cree and the Blackfoot. This required him to travel even more than he had in the past. Between 1865 and 1872 he travelled throughout the Prairie Provinces. He acted as peacemaker between the Cree and the Blackfoot and founded several missionaries throughout the prairies including Brosseau and Fort Macleod. He spent his time preaching to the Indian populations, administering medical attention and providing philosophic guidance to the different tribes.

From 1872 to 1882 Father Lacombe took over the St. Mary's parish in Winnipeg and travelled Eastern Canada and the United States to encourage colonisation of Manitoba. He returned to the town of Calgary in 1882 where he became the first parish priest in the parish of St. Mary's. He was instrumental in the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Blackfoot territory. He successfully negotiated a route through the Blackfoot territory on behalf of the railway with Chief Crowfoot. In 1884 he founded an industrial school in Dunbow, Alberta.

In 1885 Father Lacombe once again travelled to Manitoba where he was instrumental in keeping the Plains tribes out of the Red River Rebellion. He then spent much of his later life establishing schools throughout the west. He continued to influence government policy and encourage settlement in the prairies. He also wrote a Cree dictionary.

In 1909 he organized a hospice for elderly people in Midnapore and founded the Lacombe Home in 1910. He lived here until his death in 1916.

The original home has since been destroyed by fire in 1999 but a later annex is still standing and the site is now home to St. Mary's College. The waypoints will take you to the water tower and the Alberta Heritage Site Sign.

Source: Calgary Public Library

Although little else is known about the Home, it is the site of one of the more unusual burials in Alberta. On Father Lacombe's death, he requested he be buried in St Alberta but that "his heart remain in Blackfoot country." His heart remained at the Lacombe Home site where it stayed in a sealed container in a locked room under the care of the Sister of Charity of Providence. In 1992 it was buried in the cemetery behind the Father Lacombe Nursing Home which is just east of the Lacombe Home site. It is beneath a stone that reads "Here Rests His Heart"

To successfully log this site, you must wander around the area and answer the following two questions:

1. Count the hard seats surrounding the outdoor pulpit at N50°55.378 W114°04.069.
2. On the tribute to Father Lacombe at N50°55.412 W114°04.086 count the number of rocks with words. The rocks are on multiple sides; do not include the rock that is different from the rest.

Also please note that this cache is part of a series called the "Calgary History Tour". There's a bonus cache if you complete the series. Be sure to save all the necessary answers from the various caches in the series for the bonus. It can be found at GC53FE Calgary History Tour - Bonus Cache.

To see all the caches in this Calgary History Tour series and verify how many you've already found, please check out the Calgary History Tour Series public bookmark list located on the right-hand side of this page or use this list below:

1. First Nations (FN)
2. N.W.M.P. (NW)
3. Settlers and Ranching (SR)
4. Cowboys and the Stampede (CS)
5. Missionaries (M) <-- You are here.
6. Politics (P)
7. Olympics (WO)
8. Outlaws! (O)