Fonds consists of two sous-fonds: M521 and V75.
M521 consists of four series, 154 cm, ca.1870-2002. Series I: Dorothy Wardle Personal Papers, 69.5 cm, ca.1870-2002 (includes Dorothy's written work and research and notes related to Banff). Series II: Wardle Family, 32.5 cm, 1872-1998 (including cor…
154 cm of textual records. -- 1304 photographs (1190 prints, 95 negatives, 19 transparencies). -- 6 photograph albums.
History / Biographical
The Wardle family was comprised of husband and wife, James Morey Wardle (June 26,1888 - May 18,1971) and Maud Leette (Roney) Wardle (May 24,1889 - December 1,1969), and their one child, Dorothy Hope Wardle (May 23,1919 - July 20,2003).
James Wardle, born in Chiliwack, British Columbia, was a civil engineer and public servant. He was the Superintendent of Banff National Park from 1918-1921, Chief Engineer for Parks Canada from 1921-1935, and Deputy Minister of the Interior from 1935-1936. He is primarily known as a highway design engineer, particularly for building the Banff-Windermere, Banff-Lake Louise, and Banff-Jasper highways. He was a councillor for the Municipality of Rockcliffe Park in Ontario and he was the President of the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies in Banff from 1925-1929. Mount Wardle in Vermillion was named after him in 1921. James married Leette on November 4, 1913, with whom he had one child, Dorothy.
Born in Calgary, Alberta, Dorothy (also known as Dot and Dorie) grew up in Banff, Alberta and Ottawa, Ontario, due to her father's position with the federal government. She was educated at the Mountain School in Banff and at the Elmwood School in Ottawa. All three family members were graduates of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. James graduated in 1912 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Leette graduated with a Bachelor's degree, and in 1942, Dorothy also earned a Bachelor's degree. Dorothy was prominent in student life and active in athletics. In 1941, Dorothy became the first woman elected as President of the Alma Mater Society and during her academic career, Dorothy was a member of the Levana Intercollegiate Debative, University Centenary Committee, and Queen’s War Aid Commission.
Dorothy spent her career as a freelance writer however, upon graduation she served as the first Secretary-In-Charge of Records at Carleton College (now Carleton University) from 1942-1944 in Ottawa and in the mid-1950s worked as a secretary for the Glenbow Foundation in Calgary. Dorothy pursued a lifelong interest in traveling, art, and antiques. Although she was fiercely proud and protective of Banff and the Park, and remained a volunteer and patron of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Dorothy eventually settled in Sidney, British Columbia and shared an apartment with Sheila Iris Ritchie, with whom Dorothy travelled extensively. After her death in 2003, Dorothy, "Dorie," was laid to rest alongside her parents in the Old Banff Cemetery.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of two sous-fonds: M521 and V75.
M521 consists of four series, 154 cm, ca.1870-2002. Series I: Dorothy Wardle Personal Papers, 69.5 cm, ca.1870-2002 (includes Dorothy's written work and research and notes related to Banff). Series II: Wardle Family, 32.5 cm, 1872-1998 (including correspondence with Carl Rungius and Mrs. Helen Brett, and Christmas and other greeting cards from Peter and Catharine Whyte). Series III: Queen's University, 7.5 cm, 1911-1980 (including graduation certificates for each family member and records pertaining to Dorothy's participation on the Alma Mater Society). Series IV: Travel, 44.5 cm, ca.1950-1988 (includes hand-written notebooks meticulously detailing their travels).
V75 consists of two series, 79.5 cm, ca. 1912-2001. Series I: Wardle Family, ca. 1912-1971, 6 albums, 31 cm of photograph prints and negatives (including family trips, trail rides in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and family gatherings). Series II: Dorothy Wardle, 1972-2001, 34 cm of photograph prints, negatives, and transparencies (including Dorothy's travels in Alberta and British Columbia, overseas, and various outings with friends).
Fonds consists of personal papers, 1940-1948, pertaining to guiding examination, Smith's son Michael Guinn, and Smith's estate; financial papers, 1914-1946, re business accounts, 1914-1919, income tax and receipts; photographs pertaining to Soapy Smith, pack trips, associates and clients, hunting, …
3.5 cm of textual records. -- 176 photographs : prints
History / Biographical
Herbert Alonzo "Soapy" Smith, 1878-1948, was a rancher, guide and outfitter at Jumping Pound, Banff, and Seebe, Alberta, Canada. Smith came to Canada in 1904 and worked on ranches in the Jumping Pound district. In 1906 he began working for Brewster Brothers as a cook and guided for them until ca.1920. During the winters, he raised and boarded horses, returning to Banff each outfitting season. In about 1923, Smith started a new ranch, the present day Rafter 6 near Seebe, from which he outfitted and guided. In later years, he frequently outfitted for the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of personal papers, 1940-1948, pertaining to guiding examination, Smith's son Michael Guinn, and Smith's estate; financial papers, 1914-1946, re business accounts, 1914-1919, income tax and receipts; photographs pertaining to Soapy Smith, pack trips, associates and clients, hunting, wildlife, Rafter Six Guest Ranch and scenic views.
File consists of 137 colour photograph prints, 21.5 x 26.5 cm or smaller. File pertains to Dorothy (DW) and friends visiting with one another and traveling together. File documents: DW and Glen and Dorie Gordon (appears to be a golf tournament); DW visiting with Anne and David Kelly and family (inc…
137 photographs : col. ; 21.5 x 26.5 cm or smaller
Scope & Content
File consists of 137 colour photograph prints, 21.5 x 26.5 cm or smaller. File pertains to Dorothy (DW) and friends visiting with one another and traveling together. File documents: DW and Glen and Dorie Gordon (appears to be a golf tournament); DW visiting with Anne and David Kelly and family (includes handwritten note that was taped to the envelope); Shirley and DW traveling from Sidney to Canmore, 1996; Mary Hay's multiple visits and travels to Emerald Lake, Moraine Lake, Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump, Takkakaw Falls, and Yoho National Park (1994-1995) and Thanksgiving at Mary's (1994); holdiays (Easter) and travels (Salt Spring Island, Chemainus) with Anne Thomas (Includes DW and Sheila visiting Anne photographs with a dog), 1987-1993; Marmie's Ranch (includes photographs of wildflowers), 1993 and 1995; visits and parties (Christmas) with Peg and Bert Millard, 1989-1990); Nancy and Gilbert Nelson's 50th anniversary and day trip to Salt Spring Island, 1988 and 1993; various birthdays with friends in and around Sidney, BC; dinners and visits with Anne and Claude Hudson, 1980, 1990-1995; photographs of Sheila and DW (1984); and miscellaneous photographs and portraits, including a photograph print of a painting of Carl Rungius (1977, 1983, 1988).
Notes
Photographs of Sheila and DW were originally framed but have been removed from frames for storage purposes.
Most folders include original envelopes that the photographs were stored in, which have additional information.
File consists of 82 black and white photographs, 18 x 13 cm or smaller. File documents the Wardle family and friends in the community, at different events and various travels, including: baby photographs of Dorothy in Banff (1919-1926); Banff early days with James and Leette Wardle, particularly at…
File consists of 82 black and white photographs, 18 x 13 cm or smaller. File documents the Wardle family and friends in the community, at different events and various travels, including: baby photographs of Dorothy in Banff (1919-1926); Banff early days with James and Leette Wardle, particularly at the snowshoe tramp for the Banff Winter Carnival (1919-1920); snapshots from a trip to Big Bend (1930); Norman Sanson's 1000th ascent of Sulphur Mountain in 1931; class photographs from the Mountain School (1932, 1935); various trips with Carl Rungius, including Lake McArthur and Lake O'Hara (1933), Ottawa (1945), and the Laurentians (1949); a trip to the Panama Canal (1933); miscellaneous photographs of school events (including the Alma Mater Society election that resulted in Dorothy being the first female president) of Dorothy and friends at Queen's University (1938-1941); the Swedish Legation in Ottawa (1946-1950); and photographs of Frank Kaquitts and his artwork (1963).
Notes
Most photographs are annotated on the backside of the print.
V75 / I / PA -193 : Includes an accompanying list identifying everyone in the class photograph (Dorothy attended the Mountain School as a young child).
V75 / I / PA -239 to 247 : includes handwritten notes regarding Frank Kaquitts. Dorothy originally filed these images with M521 / I / A / 10 ([Indigenous] Story Material).
File consists of 109 black and white and colour photograph prints, 23.5 x 17 cm or smaller. File documents various unidentified family members and friends, travels and outings, special events (e.g. weddings, graduations), holidays (e.g. Easter), official portraits (including a National Film Board o…
109 photographs : b&w and col. ; 23.5 x 17 cm or smaller
Scope & Content
File consists of 109 black and white and colour photograph prints, 23.5 x 17 cm or smaller. File documents various unidentified family members and friends, travels and outings, special events (e.g. weddings, graduations), holidays (e.g. Easter), official portraits (including a National Film Board of Canada portrait of James Wardle), and sports and leisure (e.g. canoeing, golf). File also includes photographs of Carl Rungius (on his birthday in 1954), Betty Ormond in Peru (with a message addressed to "Dorrie" written on the back of the print), graduation photograph of James Wardle from Queen's (c.1912), and travel photographs from the United States in 1948 (New York, Washington, Philadelphia, and Atlantic City) and Amsterdam, Netherlands (1952). Notable places the photographs depict include Banff (including Banff Train Station), the Great Divide, St. Lawrence River (the Wardle family had a cottage here), Sunshine trail, Mt. Athabasca, Columbia Icefields, Lake O'Hara, Montreal, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Paris (France), Ghost River, Ottawa, Peru, Lake Minnewanka, Elk Island, and Maligne Lake.
Notes
Most (but not all) photographs are annotated on the back identifying who is in the photograph, when it was taken, and where.
FIle pertains to photographs of Soapy Smith, pack trips, associates and clients, hunting, wildlife, Rafter Six Guest Ranch and scenic views.
Notes
IMAGES :
1. Youngest Trail Rider was five years old - rode pint sized saddle but full sized horse [identified as Michael Guinn]
2. Man identified as John Murray Gibbon presenting a Hundred Mile Button to a child identifed as Michael Guinn
3. First Ranch Rafter Six
4. S. Smith at his ranch
5. Unidentified
6. Road at Soapy Smith’s ranch
7. Rafter Six Ranch [Nov. 29, 1963]
8. [Missing?]
9. Soapy Smith on the Saskatchewan Glacier [1924]
10. DeMott [at horse’s head], Bill Bagley [behind horse], DeMott [pulling on rope]
11. [Unidentified men with horse]
12. [Unidentified men chopping wood]
13. From left to right: DeMott brothers, Soapy Smith, Johnny Muska
14. From left to right: Bill Bagley, DeMott brothers, Johnny Muska, Soapy Smith
15. [Horses]
16. Soapy Smith [at horse’s head], Bill Bagley [bent over horse], [unidentified man in background]
17. From left to right: Bill Bagley, DeMott, John Muska
18. [Unidentified men packing a horse] John Muska has arm raised
19. Johnny Muska [walking], C.M. DeMott, Soapy
20. [Pack train]
21. [Pack train]
22. DeMott
23. Alexandra River?
24. J. Muska
25. [Camp]
26. [Camp]
27. [Right] Soapy Smith and C.M. DeMott packing horse
28. [Unidentified mountain scene]
29. [Unidentified lake]
30. [Unidentified men packing a horse]
31. Dr. Athin? [behind horse], Bill Bagley
32. [Mountain goat]
33. DeMott
34. [Unidentified men packing horses]
35. [Unidentified man fishing]
36a & 36b DeMotts?
37. Pack train and saddle horses
38. [Horses]
39. [Unidentified river]
40. J. Muska, C. DeMott Jr.?
41. [Pack train crossing river]
42. [Unidentified mountain]
43. [Pack train in meadow]
44. [Pack horses]
45. [Pack horse]
46. [Unidentified mountain]
47. [Unidentified mountain]
48. [Camp]
49. Johnny [Muska]
50. [Pack horses fording river]
51. Soapy
52. Happy Valley – Head of the Valley of Evans-Thomas Creek
53. [Unidentified valley]
54. [Camp]
FIle pertains to photographs of Soapy Smith, pack trips, associates and clients, hunting, wildlife, Rafter Six Guest Ranch and scenic views.
Notes
IMAGES :
55. [Mountain goat]
56. [Unidentified mountain]
57. B. Bagley?
58. [Old burn forest]
59. [Unidentified mountain]
60. [Unidentified mountain]
61. J. Muska
62. [Pack train on road]
63. [View of Banff Ave and Cascade Mt. from Cascades of Time Gardens]
64. Deer on lakeside
65. [Cow Moose with calf]
66. [Unidentified mountain]
67. Hold em boys
68. Rock Mtn. Sheep – rams
69. Soapy Smith’s Rafter Six Guest Ranch
70. Camp horseshoeing equipment
71. Original bridge at Saskatchewan River Crossing
72. Rafter Six Guest Ranch of Soapy Smith
73. Rafter Six Guest Ranch of Soapy Smith
74. Rafter Six Guest Ranch of Soapy Smith [ca.1940]
75. Bow Lake
76. [Pack horse]
77. [Unidentified lake]
78. What the well dressed man will wear this season on the trail – J. Muska? And unidentified man
79. Smoke from the Jasper fire
80. Four moose
81. Deer
82. Rocky Mtn. sheep – rams
83. [Unidentified man sitting on slope]
84. [Unidentified man]
85. [Unidentified mountain]
86. [Horses at pasture]
87. Douglas Lake
88. Caribou
89. Four Moose
90. Caribou
91. Moose
92. [Unidentified mountain]
93. [Big horn sheep – rams]
94. Bull moose
95. [Unidentified mountain range]
96. Moose
97. Mountain goat
98. Banff Ave ca. 1925 [colour tinted]
99. [Unidentified men at camp]
100. J. Muska?
101. [Unidentified man with ram skull]
102. [Unidentified man at camp]
103. [Pack train in valley]
104. [Pack train in valley]
105. [Pack horses]
106. [Horses at pasture]
107. [Unidentified valley]
108. One of the DeMott family?
FIle pertains to photographs of Soapy Smith, pack trips, associates and clients, hunting, wildlife, Rafter Six Guest Ranch and scenic views.
Notes
IMAGES :
109. Soapy Smith [note on back reads: “Soapy I am sending you this not that the picture is any good but I know it will bring back happy memories of Buttercup and the Days of the [illegible] Brigade]
110. B. Bagley? Soapy Smith
111. Soapy Smith [with cigarette] C.M. DeMott [on right]
112. C.M. DeMott
113. Soapy Smith? Bill Bagley?
114. Camp scene – Soapy Smith on right
115. J. Muska?
116. J. Muska C. DeMott Jr.?
117. [Unidentified man and Bill Bagley?]
118. [Unidentified man and horses in tall grass]
119. [Bighorn sheep - ram]
120. The cook at work! Soapy Smith
121a & 121b Soapy Smith [in vest]
122. Soapy Smith
123. Soapy Smith
124. Soapy Smith directly in front of tent
125. Soapy Smith – right
126. [Rafter Six Guest Ranch of Soapy Smith]
127. [Rafter Six Guest Ranch of Soapy Smith]
128. [Cat climbing screen door]
129. [Camp]
130. Rocky Mtn. sheep (rams)
131. Campsite cooking area?
132. [Unidentified cabin]
133. [Fire warning sign]
134. [Unidentified man at river]
135. [Unidentified mountain]
136. [Unidentified man at river]
137. [Camp]
138. George Brown painting
139. [Horses at pasture]
140. In the good old days before being lost in the sea of matrimony – Ahem! Soapy Smith ca.1930?
141. Soapy Smith ca.1930?
142. The Browne’s New House. Marine County, California (Belmore Browne)
143. Mr. and Mrs. Browne with Spike
144. Evelyn Browne
145. Entrance to the Browne’s House
146. Bruce Air Dale
147. Cow moose and calf
148. [Bighorn sheep]
149. [Unidentified men on mountain slope]
150. [Unidentified mountain]
151. [Unidentified men in field]
152. [Pack train crossing a river]
153. Fording
154. Buck thought it was Saturday night
155. The pack train on the move, slow but sure
156. [Unidentified mountain and glacier]
157. “When the Day is Done” this is home
158. All in a day’s work
159. The Kananaskis Dam at Seebe
160. The Four Musty Steers – Soapy Smith, J. Muska?, DeMott?, DeMott?
161. [Unidentified mountain]
162. [Unidentified mountain lake]
163. [Unidentified mountain range]
File consists of 1 album comprised of 69 black and white photographs, 17.5 x 11 cm or smaller. File pertains to various family trips and outings with family and friends (including Carl Rungius), primarily in the 1940s. File documents Wardle family trips to Wolfe Island (Ontario), the Seigniory Club…
1 album (69 photographs : b&w ; 17.5 x 11 cm or smaller)
Scope & Content
File consists of 1 album comprised of 69 black and white photographs, 17.5 x 11 cm or smaller. File pertains to various family trips and outings with family and friends (including Carl Rungius), primarily in the 1940s. File documents Wardle family trips to Wolfe Island (Ontario), the Seigniory Club in Montebello (Quebec), Banff-Windermere, Assiniboine, Takakkaw Falls, Yoho National Park, Mount Wardle, Bull Creek Ranch (High River), Collins Bay (Ontario), Ghost River, Lake Louise, Kingston (Ontario), and Washington, D.C., Atlantic City, and New York (USA). Includes photographs of family and friends, landmarks and scenery, picnics, James Wardle in front of the sign for Mt. Wardle, and Carl Rungius (1948-1950).
Notes
Album was a gift from Dorothy to her mother, Leette, for her birthday. It is signed: "To Mother for her birthday, May 24, 1951. With love from Dorie."
Album is also labelled "Volume II: Trips, Family, Friends."
V75 / I / PD - 2 is Volume I. Both albums were given to Leette from Dorothy as a birthday present on May 24, 1951.
Album is green with "Photo Album" written in gold on the front, it is bound with a green tassel.