setName:"Ralph (E. W.) Edwards fonds" found 1 record - Research Collections

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Scope & Content: Fonds consists of 6 diaries written by Ralph Edwards who recorded his backcountry pack trips with Bill Peyto while working for Tom Wilson. The diaries relate Edwards' activities on these trips which included trapping, hunting, and exploration in the following areas: Red Deer River, Bourgeau Valle…

History / Biographical: Ralph Edwards was born in Ramsgate, Kent, England and was educated at the City of London School. In 1888 Edwards moved to eastern Canada with the intention of farming but soon moved west to the mountains. Edwards worked in the mines at Canmore for two years before moving to Banff where he worked as a guide and packer for Tom Wilson, the outfitter, as well as Bill and Jim Brewster. Ralph Edwards was one of the earliest guides, trappers, and prospectors in the Banff and Lake Louise area. Edwards accompanied many of the climbers and explorers of the period, notably Walter Wilcox. Edwards often worked and travelled with Bill Peyto and other well known individuals in the earliest days of the area's settlement. In 1914 Edwards joined the C.P.R. working on bridge crews and doing carpentry work. Edwards also worked for the Highways Department as a road foreman-timekeeper on the Banff-Windermere, and Lake Louise to Golden Highways. In 1940 Edwards worked with the government information bureau at Banff, and held positions as secretary-treasurer to Banff Municipal Hospital, secretary to the Banff Advisory Council and secretary-treasurer to the Banff Winter Carnival. Ralph and his wife Mary Jane (Jenny) had two sons and a daughter. In 1950 Edwards published "The Trail to the Charmed Land" which recounts his life as a guide and outfitter in the Rocky Mountains. Edwards died in Banff in 1958 at 90 years of age.

Scope & Content: Fonds consists of 6 diaries written by Ralph Edwards who recorded his backcountry pack trips with Bill Peyto while working for Tom Wilson. The diaries relate Edwards' activities on these trips which included trapping, hunting, and exploration in the following areas: Red Deer River, Bourgeau Valley, Mount Assiniboine, Cascade Creek, Ice River, Pipestone Valley, Howse Pass, and Wilcox Pass. Notes include route-finding, trapping techniques, inventories of provisions, books, etc. One volume includes Bill Peyto's record of account with L. C. Fulmer & Co. Banff, 1894. The diaries also describe some of the problems and dangers encountered by these early travellers.

Subject Access: Environment; Exploration, discovery and travel; Sports, recreation and leisure

Category: Environment; Exploration, discovery and travel; Sports, recreation and leisure

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