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This cache is one of Calgary's 10 oldest active caches. |
Settlers and Ranching
Fish Creek Park has a long and rich human history - from the earliest native people to the Provincial Park that it has become today. This cache concerns settlers and ranching, so one site is of particular interest is John Glenn's Trading Post.
Arriving at Fish Creek in 1873, John Glenn, an Irish immigrant, became one of Alberta's first settlers. He and his wife, Adelaide, built a farm and a trading post two years before the arrival of the North-West Mounted Police.
John & Adelaide Glenn (Click for larger size)
Source: Glenbow Museum Archive
John Glenn was instrumental in the construction of Fort Calgary. He was the first to cultivate cereal crops in this area and in 1879 he was the first to develop an irrigation system. His motto throughout life was, 'Live within your means, and save a beef for a hungry day.'
Sadly, the building was torn down in 1998. Severely rotted logs and vandalism both contributed to its demise. The University of Calgary's Department of Archaeology carefully recorded the position of all of the building elements for eventual reconstruction. Until the building is restored, click here to take a virtual tour of the trading post.
John Glenn's Trading Post is located very close to another famous landmark: William Roper Hull's Bow Valley Ranch house. William Roper Hull drove 1200 head of horses to Calgary in 1883. He leased and later bought land in the Fish Creek valley, creating the Bow Valley Ranch.
John Glenn's Trading Post & Bow Valley Ranch House, William Roper Hull (Click for larger size)
Source: Glenbow Museum Archive
The house on his Bow Valley Ranch was constructed in 1896. In the span of his life, he owned 25 ranches and made a fortune from ranching, meat-packing, farming, land speculating, and urban development. He has the distinction of building several Calgary landmarks including the Grain Exchange Building (the City's first skyscraper), the Alberta Hotel, the Calgary Opera House, and the Calgary Brewing and Malting Co. In 1902, Hull sold the ranch house to Patrick Burns. You'll learn more about Burns' story from another cache!
Fish Creek was also the home of two other famous settlers who brought Alberta its first industry: Samuel and Helen Shaw and their woollen mill.
Samuel William and Helen Shaw (Click for larger size)
Source: Glenbow Museum Archive
The Shaws, a wealthy family from Kent, England, arrived in Canada in 1883. By 1889, their mill was operational and produced blankets, cloth, yarns, flannel, and other woollen goods. Water for the mill was drawn from John Glenn's irrigation ditch. The mill met an unfortunate end: it burned down in 1915.
Shaw's Woollen Mill (Click for larger size)
Source: Glenbow Museum Archive
Objective
A sign near the ranch house commemorating William Roper Hull is located at:
N50 54.604 W114 01.270
A sculpture to commemorate the Shaw's Woollen Mill is located at:
N50 55.692 W114 04.721
In order to log this cache, you must accomplish three tasks:
- Visit the coordinates of the William Roper Hull sign. On the sign, a line starts with the word 'ranches'. Email me exactly what that line says - word for word.
- Email me the total number of gas lamps in the vicinity of the ranch house. Do not include the one behind the red plaque! Click here to see what the lamps look like.
- Visit the coordinates of the Shaw's Woollen Mill sculpture and email me the 3rd word of the last line of the last paragraph on the plaque near the sculpture.
Click here to email your answers to the above questions.
Do not post the answers to these questions in your cache log
even if it's encrypted!
Bonus Cache
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:
- First Nations (FN)
- N.W.M.P. (NW)
Settlers and Ranching (SR) <-- You are here.- Cowboys and the Stampede (CS)
- Missionaries (M)
- Politics (P)
- Olympics (WO)
- Outlaws! (O)
