We started the day at the River’s Edge, where Tom was unwilling to buy “toonies” for a shower and showered in Khan. Scott decided he was sufficiently clean from Cranbrook. We were faced with two options for entertainment in Fort MacLeod.
The first one was a UNESCO world heritage site – “Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump”. Here, the indigenous men would corral and herd the Buffalo towards a cliff to meet their fate. It looked interesting, but we’ve seen cliffs before, it was expensive for non-indigenous out-of-towners, and finally, it didn’t open until 10AM. We passed.
The second one was The Fort in Fort MacLeod. This had several recreated buildings that would be interesting, had a discount for old farts, and most important opened at 9:00AM. While driving to the fort, we noticed an odd sign. Can you guess what it means? Stay tuned tomorrow for the answer if you can’t figure it out.
We got there at the stroke of 9AM, though several high-school-age kids were already there in addition to the staff of three. The two of us kinda overwhelmed the staff – in the hour and 20 minutes or so we were there, no other visitors showed up. We met up with the students later in our tour.
We learned a lot about the challenges of the Northwest Mounted Police – it did not seem like a fun job, particularly in the early days. Now they are known for their “Musical Ride” – a choreographed parade ride inside the fort complete with stands for viewers and a separate fee. However, this won’t start until July 1st so we of course missed it.
Turns out the kids were there to prepare for a play they were giving in the small theater for small groups from local schools. Tom chatted with them for a bit.
Some artifacts from the collection include these images:
Collection of Indigenous portraits with not so flattering names by today’s standards.
There was one clock and at least two pump organs, and good exhibits of the early days of the fort and its officers – who kept the peace and chased those selling Whiskey without permits (it was apparently possible to sell to indigenous people legally, unlike the US.)
The cover image at the top of this post of the Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump is from a diorama in the Fort, so we got to sort of see it anyway.
After the fort, we drove to nearby Lethbridge, which had not one but two Walmarts. We stocked up on everything we needed from 6 days on the road and headed to our next stop in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. The day started nice and just got better – perfect temperature and not a cloud in the sky. One daily weather issue is the wind. When Tom asked a gas station attendant if was was always windy, they promptly replied, “We don’t talk about the wind.”
On par with yesterday’s World’s Largest Truck, today we followed this behemoth farm implement. Note how it takes up two lanes and the tractor trailer for scale.
The Eagle Valley Park Campground seems fairly nice – the washrooms are closed for renovation but you can use the ones in the indoor pool (which is supposed to have an additional fee, but I don’t see how they could charge that.)
Dinner was in Maple Creek at The Rocking Horse and was excellent. We’re now doing our standard Blog and Bed routine.