Fonds includes seven series: I. Personal and professional, 1884-1959; II. Business and financial, ca.1910-1959; III. Professional photography, 1900-1955; IV. Writing, 1906-1957; V. Natural history, 1904-1954; VI. Other interests, 1913-1956; VII. Riggall family, ca.1865-1959. Personal and pro…
ca.13,100 photographs: ca.7080 prints, ca.5310 negatives, ca.700 transparencies. -- 9 photograph albums. -- ca.2 m textual records, print material and graphic records. -- 33 cartographic records
History / Biographical
Frederick Herbert (Bert) Riggall, 1884-1959, was a mountain guide, outfitter, hunter, trapper, rancher, naturalist, photographer, writer and gunsmith/loader in southern Alberta. Born in 1884 at Gayton-le-Wold Grange, Lincolnshire, his family moved to Grimsby where his father was an auctioneer and, in 1905, served as Mayor. In England, Riggall was an athlete, avid sportsman and naturalist. He was exposed to alpine country on school holidays in Switzerland and, determined to visit Canada, left for North America in 1904.
Upon arriving in western Canada, Riggall worked for a year at Craighurst Farm near Calgary. There he met Dorothea (Dora) Williams, 1877-1951, an Irish Quaker ranch cook who had emigrated with her sister Anna in 1902. In 1905, Bert worked on the Correction Land Survey in southwestern Alberta and explored Waterton Lakes. Bert and Dora married in 1906 and until 1946 they homesteaded and ranched adjacent to Waterton Lakes National Park.
Initially, Bert and partner Jack Hazzard built boats and guided fishing parties on Waterton Lakes. In 1909, with partner Cyril Watmough, the Riggalls began guiding and outfitting summer and fall hunting and fishing trips for numerous repeat clients, especially, after 1913, four Minneapolis, Minnesota families: Bovey, Crosby, Bennett and McKnight. Hunts involved Big Horn Sheep, goats, black and grizzly bears. Bert served as chief guide and Dora as camp cook. Prior to 1911, the Riggalls worked at Gloyne's oil camp and Oil City to supplement their income. In 1911, Bert and partner Cyril Watmough made a 1000 mile (1600 km) exploratory trip from Fort Steele, B.C. to the Yellowhead Pass and beyond. Following that trip, Riggall concentrated guiding activities on the continental divide as far north as the Highwood region, but primarily in the upper Oldman River Valley and Gap in the Livingstone Range. Their outfit grew to include numerous saddle and pack horses.
Of five children, only two daughters survived infancy. Kay Riggall (Russell), 1909-1984, and Doris (Babe) Riggall (Burton), 1910-1999, were both able riders, markswomen and packtrain workers. They accompanied their parents on summer back country trips starting in 1918. Bert Riggall was renowned for his knowledge of botany, geology, zoology, wilderness life and lore as well as literature and current affairs. He was especially endeared to his clients for his skill as a raconteur and campfire storyteller. He wrote articles for magazines such as: Arms and the Man, American Rifleman, Field and Stream and the Boone and Crockett Club's book: North American Big Game. Riggall was an accomplished semi-professional photographer who specialized in wildlife studies, panoramic landscapes, Dufaycolor and later Kodachrome transparencies. His photographs appear in Department of Interior Reports and other publications.
Bert's heart problems forced the Riggalls to move to Pincher Creek in 1947. Daughter Kay and son-in-law Andy Russell continued the packtrain and guiding business until 1960. After Dora's death, Bert experienced medical problems and lived with or close to Doris.
Scope & Content
Fonds includes seven series: I. Personal and professional, 1884-1959; II. Business and financial, ca.1910-1959; III. Professional photography, 1900-1955; IV. Writing, 1906-1957; V. Natural history, 1904-1954; VI. Other interests, 1913-1956; VII. Riggall family, ca.1865-1959.
Personal and professional series consists of diaries and notes, correspondence and personal papers.
Business and financial series consists of guiding and ranching records, gunsmithing, shooting and loading records; and legal and financial records.
Professional photography series consists of standard photographs, panoramas, transparencies and textual records
Writing series contains manuscripts, published magazines, book outlines, newspaper articles and letters to the editor
Natural history series contains bird and plant records, and other natural history papers
Other interests series consist of clippings, annotated books and collected material
Riggall family series contains Bert and Dora Riggall family papers and photographs, Williams family photographs, Frederick W. and Fanny Riggall papers and photographs, and Allan Riggall papers and photographs. Negatives and transparencies pertain to Andy Russell as a young man with Bert Riggall.
Notes
Some transparencies in V110 Dick Russell are marked Andy Russell, some marked 64 dup; V110 - original transparencies have full set of duplicates (2 sets were made, 1 for Dick Russell and the other is part of this accession)
File consists of personal and legal papers of Bert Riggall's parents, grandparents and English relatives, 1905-1956, 2 cm; and Fanny Neave diary, 1877-1880, [ca.1948], 1 v. (1 cm). Diary was written at age 17; later notes and footnotes were written in advance of being mailed to her son, Bert Rigga…
File consists of personal and legal papers of Bert Riggall's parents, grandparents and English relatives, 1905-1956, 2 cm; and Fanny Neave diary, 1877-1880, [ca.1948], 1 v. (1 cm). Diary was written at age 17; later notes and footnotes were written in advance of being mailed to her son, Bert Riggall, ca.1948. File also includes Doris (Babe) Riggall's notes on Riggall extended family
Fonds includes business papers, 1922-1957, including legal documents, 1922-1957, and other papers, 1925-1957; miscellaneous items pertaining to James I. McLeod and the McLeod family, 1955-1980; and photographs, ca.1875-ca.1956. Textual records pertain to McLeod's tour and transport activities and H…
6.2 cm of textual records. -- 305 photographs : prints, postcards
History / Biographical
James Irving McLeod, 1879-1955, was a businessman at Banff, Alberta, Canada. After coming to Lake Louise from Ontario in 1906, McLeod cut ice for the hotels there and was a manager for Brewster Transport Co. from ca.1912 until 1920. In 1921, McLeod and William Warren formed Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. which McLeod operated until his retirement in 1946. The firm was operated by his sons, James and Allan, and his sons-in-law, H. H. Waterhouse and R. V. Bray, until amalgamating with Brewster Transport Co. Ltd. in 1957. McLeod also had an interest in the Homestead Hotel. James McLeod was married to Evelyn Davidson McLeod, 1885-1951.
Scope & Content
Fonds includes business papers, 1922-1957, including legal documents, 1922-1957, and other papers, 1925-1957; miscellaneous items pertaining to James I. McLeod and the McLeod family, 1955-1980; and photographs, ca.1875-ca.1956.
Textual records pertain to McLeod's tour and transport activities and Homestead Hotel, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport operations, late 1940s and early 1950s and successors. Partners, vendors, etc. referred to include R. V. Bray, R. H. Brett, Earl Gammon, J. H. McLeod, D. M. Soole and H. H. Waterhouse.
Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
File consists of 52 b&w prints, some captioned, some mounted. Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
Subjects include moose with antlers in metal fence, …
File consists of 52 b&w prints, some captioned, some mounted. Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
Subjects include moose with antlers in metal fence, unidentified individuals on edge of Lake MacAuthur, unidentified person leading a horse, three unidentified women posed next to gate, children in sleigh and two adults posed in front of cabin, unidentified person filming on boulderfield, four women on horseback, man posed on horseback on a bridge, camp at Lake O'Hara, group on a picnic, ice loading into building, unidenfied individual on horse crossing a bridge, group posed in front of tipi in camp, two women posed with boulders, man leading a horse, group eating at an outdoor table, Miss Halling and Miss Russell at Lake Agnes, ice boat, camp at ice river valley, two women posed with dogs, women posed at the Lake Agnes teahouse, men delivering ice, man posed next to glacier, riders crossing river in Ice River Valley, woman posed with dog on bridge at Lake Louise, unidentified individuals posed on horseback, unidentifiied man posed next to horse team, men posed in front of cabin, group riding on a sleigh, group posed near Takakkaw Falls, Lefroy Glacier, group posed in front of lunch counter, and Corkscrew Drive on Tunnel Mountain.
File consists of 50 b&w prints, some captioned. Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
Subjects include an unidentified glacier, cows in corrall in winte…
File consists of 50 b&w prints, some captioned. Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
Subjects include an unidentified glacier, cows in corrall in winter, group posed in front of cabin, Takakkaw Falls from above, four staff members at Moraine Lake posed on horseback, two staff members at Moraine Lake with photographer's kodak case, group of men posed on boat, parade on Banff avenue, J.I. McLeod and group posed on porch, J.I. McLeod cutting ice, group making pyramid at Cave and Basin, J.I. McLeod and Evelyn and Emma Rae McLeod, J.I. McLeod posed at 207 Banff Avenue, construction of the Chateau Lake Louise, J.I. McLeod and Jim Brewster posed in camp, J.I. McLeod posed on horseback with group, two women posed on rocks in Banff, Mary Sammuel and Tom Dunsmore, group posed at Banff Indian Days (1911), Chateau Lake Louise, wagons at Banff Indian Days, J.I. McLeod at Lake Agnes with group, men posed with blocks of ice, Evelyn (Davidson) McLeod in carriage, hockey game in Banff, Banff Springs hotel, two individuals posed in front of Laggan Station, J.I. McLeod walking toward firehall and Cascade mountain on Banff avenue, J.I. McLeod in sleigh posed with large group, Mrs. Christina MacLeod, bagpipers in parade on Banff avenue, J.I. and Evelyn McLeod posed in wagon, a group posed behind the King Edward Hotel, Chateau Lake Louise in winter, a horse-drawn bus owned by Rocky Mountain Tours, horse team hauling logs, J.I. McLeod posed on porch on the croner of Lynx and Wolf street.
File consists of 34 b&w prints, some captioned. Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
Subjects include men at the Cave and Basin, Banff Indian Days para…
File consists of 34 b&w prints, some captioned. Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
Subjects include men at the Cave and Basin, Banff Indian Days parade, J.I. Macleod posed next to horse hauling logs, man on horse crossing a bridge in Paradise valley, a group posed in wagon on Corkscrew Drive on Tunnel mountain, woman in canoe with Rundle Mountain in background, J.I. Macleod posed with other Rocky Mountain tours employees outside the Rocky Mountain Tours garage, unidentified indivuals posed in camp, individual posed with two packhorses, Athabasca Glacier, a group posed for portrait in a machine room, Rocky Mountain Tours building, a portrait of Annie Dunsmore and Evelyn Davidson (Macleod), a Rocky Mountain Tours company touring car at the opening of the Banff - Windermere Highway, Takakkaw Falls, and a woman posed in camp with three horses.
File consists of 38 b&w prints, some captioned. Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
Subjects include Rocky Mountain tours bus parked next to a waterfa…
File consists of 38 b&w prints, some captioned. Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
Subjects include Rocky Mountain tours bus parked next to a waterfall, Yoho Valley, Burgess Pass and Wapta Peak, Lake Louise, Takakkaw Falls, Lake Louise in winter, Lake MacAuthur, bridge near Chateau Lake Louise, Moraine Lake road, trail to Lakes in the Clouds, Mount Daly and Niles and Daly Glacier, Emerald Lake and Yoho Pass, moose eating bark, moose at buffalo paddock, marmot on a rock, Twin Falls, Laughing Falls, man posed on horseback next to Laggan Station, Mirror Lake, Moraine Lake, Castle Mountain, Seven Sisters falls, big horn sheep, bison at Banff buffalo paddock, bridge over Devil's Canyon near Lake Minnewanka, Emerald Lake and Mount Burgess, Columbia Valley road between Radium and Golden, Mrs. Neales Cottage, Yoho Valley road, Rocky Mountain tour company bus on Yoho Valley road, and Rocky Mountain tour company bus at Sinclair Canyon.
File consists of 32 b&w prints, some captioned. Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
Subjects include Rocky Mountain Tours busses parked at Banff train…
File consists of 32 b&w prints, some captioned. Photographs pertain to James Irving McLeod, Evelyn Davidson McLeod, family and friends; also, Rocky Mountain Tours and Transport Co. Ltd. cars, drivers, buses, promotional photographs.
Subjects include Rocky Mountain Tours busses parked at Banff train station, Rocky Mountain Tours bus on Banff Windermere Highway near Hector Gorge, Rocky Mountain Tours bus on Banff Windermere Highway at Sinclair Canyon, Rocky Mountain Tours bus on Banff Windermere Highway at valley overlook, Rocky Mountain Tours bus parked near Pilot Mountain, Rocky Mountain Tours bus parked to view the Massive Range, Rocky Mountain Tours bus parked at Golden Lodge, Rocky Mountain Tours bus at Bow Falls, Yoho Valley Road, Rocky Mountain Tours bus on Yoho Valley Road, Rocky Mountain Tours bus on road from Calgary, Rocky Mountain Tours bus at Kootenay National Park Gates, Rocky Mountain Tours bus at Lake Louise, Rocky Mountain Tours bus on circle tour (Banff, Yoho, Kootenay) with J.I, Macleod in front seat, Rocky Mountain Tours bus parked in Sinclair Canyon, Rocky Mountain Tours bus at Johnson's Canyon trading post, Rocky Mountain Tours bus parked at the Chateau Lake Louise, Kicking Horse Valley from near Burgess Pass, J.I. Macleod posed wit a group of men at the Cave and Basin pool, Rocky Mountain Tours buses parked outside of the garage.