The Archives General File is an artificial collection of accessions which do not constitute separate fonds or collections or cannot be placed within existing fonds or collections. Included in the collection are textual records of many types, such as manuscripts, reports, letters, diaries, speeches…
57 cm textual records. -- 50 cm of photographs : prints. -- 189 photographs (15 framed prints, 51 transparencies, 79 negatives; 44 copy negatives). -- 3 photograph albums (139 prints). -- 6 motion pictures. -- 9 sound recordings
Scope & Content
The Archives General File is an artificial collection of accessions which do not constitute separate fonds or collections or cannot be placed within existing fonds or collections. Included in the collection are textual records of many types, such as manuscripts, reports, letters, diaries, speeches, poetry, plans and others; photographs in the form of prints, negatives, transparencies, albums, postcards, etc.; sound recorded interviews and programmes; and motion pictures. Material pertains broadly to the Banff area and many other areas within the Archives collecting mandate.
Notable items include: Walter Wilcox letter; George Kinney report; interviews with Bill Round and Edward Feuz; original copy of Treaty Number Seven; Mary Schaffer material, including letters, notes, photograph and report; reports on the Nakimu Caves; film pertaining to Banff Winter Carnival; Georgia Engelhard letters and photos; plans for buildings and structures; George Noble photograph; W. S. Park photograph.
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)
Fonds consists mainly of diary excerpts and transcripts, 1912-1913, 1921-1954; also includes a guest book, 1924-1956, posters, ca.1942, publications relating the story of Belmore Browne Peak, 1992-1993, and photographs, ca.1930, ca.1955, 1991-1992. Diaries are mainly trip diaries pertaining to summ…
24 cm of textual records. -- 108 photographs : prints, copy negatives, transparencies
History / Biographical
Belmore Browne, d.1954, was a well-known artist who lived and worked at Banff and Seebe, Alberta, Canada and in the United States. Browne and Agnes Evelyn Sibley, 1882-1976, were married in 1913. In 1921, they bought property in Banff for a summer home and with their children, George, 1918-1958, and Evelyn, 1915-1994, travelled extensively throughout the 1920s and 1930s in pursuit of subjects for Belmore Browne's paintings. In 1946, the Brownes built a home near Seebe. Agnes Browne was a diarist for the family and much of her extensive writing centres around the career of Belmore Browne. Her daughter Evelyn consolidated the diaries in the 1980s. George Browne was also an artist.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists mainly of diary excerpts and transcripts, 1912-1913, 1921-1954; also includes a guest book, 1924-1956, posters, ca.1942, publications relating the story of Belmore Browne Peak, 1992-1993, and photographs, ca.1930, ca.1955, 1991-1992.
Diaries are mainly trip diaries pertaining to summer travels and family life in the Canadian Rockies, 1921-1933. Included are trips to Red Earth Creek, Skoki, Mystic Lake, Sawback Lake, Red Deer Valley, Hector Lake, Bow Lake, Kananaskis Valley, Cascade and Panther rivers, Elbow Pass, and other locations. Other diaries cover the years 1943 to 1954, years partly spent at Seebe until Belmore Browne's death. Diary copies and typescripts have been annotated by Evelyn Browne.
Posters on alpine and wilderness survival, ca.1942, were done by Belmore Browne for the American military's Arctic Training Program.
Photographs are mainly photographic copies of paintings by Belmore and George Browne produced by Peter A. Juley & Son, Photographers of Fine Arts, New York, ca.1955, 79 items. Other photographs pertain to Belmore Browne and the Browne family, their Banff home and painting activities, ca.1930; the site of Belmore Browne plaque on Browne Peak, rediscovered and photographed by Tony and Gillean Daffern in September 1991, and dedication of the Belmore Browne plaque, 1992.
Official correspondence pertaining to the naming of Belmore Browne Peak, 1989-1993, is available in document file.
Fonds pertains to Hinman's career and travels in the Canadian Rockies and consists of I. Photograph albums; II. Motion pictures; III. Photographs (prints, lantern slides, 35mm transparencies); and IV. Textual records. Photographs and motion pictures pertain to mountain tours and trips led by Hinman…
10 photograph albums (ca.3300 prints). -- ca.1600 photographs (574 prints, ca.1000 transparencies). -- 17 motion pictures. -- 4 cm of textual records
History / Biographical
Caroline Hinman, 1884-1966, was a trip/tour leader who worked out of Summit, New Jersey, USA. Hinman was first introduced to the Canadian Rockies in 1913, attending several early Alpine Club of Canada camps. For almost every summer following until ca.1960, she conducted pack trips and tours throughout the Rockies, chiefly in the area between Mount Assiniboine, British Columbia, and Jasper, Alberta. During winters, her parties travelled widely in Europe, Asia and Africa. Starting in the 1940s, Hinman offered a wide variety of motor and rail trips through the Rockies, fishing expeditions in British Columbia, as well as camping trips. Hinman's motto, "off the beaten track," became the hallmark of her adventures.
Scope & Content
Fonds pertains to Hinman's career and travels in the Canadian Rockies and consists of I. Photograph albums; II. Motion pictures; III. Photographs (prints, lantern slides, 35mm transparencies); and IV. Textual records.
Photographs and motion pictures pertain to mountain tours and trips led by Hinman, 1913-1960. Content includes Hinman, her associates and clients, activities and camps, and Banff and area and Rocky Mountain scenics.
Textual records, 1915-1960, include diaries, notebooks, manuscripts, trip accounts, advertising materials, and other material. One of the diaries refers to an early trip (1915) with Mary Jobe and Curly Phillips, Robson Pass. The tour literature includes form letters, pamphlets, etc. containing itineraries for most of Hinman's trips in the Canadian Rockies.
Fonds consists of two series : I. Dan McCowan series; II. Mary E.(Fee) McCowan series. I. Dan McCowan series, ca.1905-1967?, ca.30 cm of textual records, ca.3400 photographs, 4 graphic records. Includes five sub-series: A. Correspondence; B. Writing; C. Photography; D. Professional activities; E…
ca.50 cm of textual records. -- ca.3400 photographs (ca.1000 negatives, ca.1540 lantern slides, ca.770 transparencies 35mm, 117 prints). -- 4 graphic records
History / Biographical
Dan McCowan, 1882-1956, was a naturalist, lecturer and writer at Banff, Alberta, Canada. McCowan came to Banff from Scotland in 1907. There he met Mary Ethel Fee, 1888-1973, a teacher, and they married in 1921. Mary McCowan shared an interest in Dan's work, hand-coloured his lantern slides and accompanied him on his tours. Dan McCowan was an active photographer and naturalist and lectured at hospitals during and following the First World War. He was later recommended to Sir Edward Beatty, CPR President and hired by the CPR to promote the scenic beauties and natural history of the mountains, which he did for 26 years. For a period his lantern slide presentations included motion pictures. During the 1940s, he used natural colour Kodachrome slide photography. While in England in 1936, McCowan was made a Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society. From ca.1907 onwards, he wrote for magazines and newspapers. The first of six books was published in 1936; the last in 1955. Beginning ca.1937, McCowan wrote and broadcast radio talks on natural history on CBC. These were heard widely in Canada and the United States. In 1939, McCowan accompanied the King and Queen on a portion of their railway tour through the mountains, providing information on natural history and residents. During the Second World War, he toured extensively on behalf of the YMCA. The McCowans retired to Cloverdale (now Surrey), B.C., ca.1951.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of two series : I. Dan McCowan series; II. Mary E.(Fee) McCowan series.
I. Dan McCowan series, ca.1905-1967?, ca.30 cm of textual records, ca.3400 photographs, 4 graphic records. Includes five sub-series: A. Correspondence; B. Writing; C. Photography; D. Professional activities; E. Ephemera.
Correspondence includes incoming letters re writing, business and broadcasting. Writing is in the form of notes and notebooks, unpublished and published manuscripts, newspaper articles and other materials.
Photography includes negatives, lantern slides, 35mm transparencies and prints. Material pertains to flora, fauna, people, places and scenery, also family, activities and events. Photographs of Banff personalities and visitors are available in negative and lantern slide form, 254 items.
Lantern slides were designed for lectures such as: "On skyline trails in the Canadian Rockies"; "On nature trails at Banff and Lake Louise"; "A naturalist in the Canadian Rockies" (200 slides); "Snow peaks and flower meadows in the Canadian Rockies" (200 slides); "Over the hills and far away: a pictorial review of the Canadian Rockies"; "Victory Day, May 8th 1945, Dan McCowan presents: Bye-gone days in Banff" (exact titles were based on title slides).
II. Mary E. (Fee) McCowan series consists of diaries, 1926-1957, photocopied from 12 volumes (19 cm); and letters from Dan McCowan, 1943. Diaries discuss joint travels, activities, lecture tours for CPR (Canada, U.S., U.K.), Banff, trail rides, skyline hikes, and Royal Visit, 1939
Notes
Both Dan and Mary McCowan have written identifications on the slide mounts
Fonds consists of photographs primarily taken by Gladys (Atkin) Gardner during the years ca.1910-1970. Also included is Gladys Gardner's diary pertaining to her life on a ranch in Jumping Pound, Alberta 1945-1947 and at Glacier B.C.,1949.
Gladys Gardner (née Atkin), 1915-1970, was the daughter of Dr. Gilbert Atkin of Banff. Gladys married Noel Gardner of Jumping Pound in 1945. Both Gladys and Noel were active skiers and climbers and in 1948, Gladys and Noel moved to Glacier National Park, B.C. where Noel took a Warden's position observing weather patterns and recording avalanche activity. Noel Gardner became an avalanche consultant in the Roger's Pass for the Federal Department of Public Works until 1964 when he and Gladys moved to a ranch west of Pincher Creek.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of photographs primarily taken by Gladys (Atkin) Gardner during the years ca.1910-1970. Also included is Gladys Gardner's diary pertaining to her life on a ranch in Jumping Pound, Alberta 1945-1947 and at Glacier B.C.,1949.
Photographic prints pertain mainly to national park wardens, including Henry Ness, ca.1930; also, Banff Cafe Hockey Team, including Ness; and portraits of Ness and Lofstrand families, ca.1911. Transparencies are of relocation of the Philip and Pearl Moore house to the grounds of the Whyte Museum, …
ca.30 photographs : prints, transparencies, negatives. -- 1.5 cm of textual records. -- 1 sound recording : audio tape cassette
History / Biographical
Paul Henry Ness, ca.1908-2001, was a long-time resident of Banff, Alberta, Canada. Ness was born at nearby Bankhead, where he lived until age 6. He worked as a national park warden at Banff, ca.1930.
Scope & Content
Photographic prints pertain mainly to national park wardens, including Henry Ness, ca.1930; also, Banff Cafe Hockey Team, including Ness; and portraits of Ness and Lofstrand families, ca.1911. Transparencies are of relocation of the Philip and Pearl Moore house to the grounds of the Whyte Museum, 1971, 7 items: 35mm, colour.
Textual records include: Gems from Morant [correspondence and miscellaneous items from Nick Morant to Henry Ness], 1968-1990, 1 cm ; copies of diary and letter concerning trip by the Bradley, Johnson and Steen families to Clearwater area in 1928 (trip ended with the death of one member); story, "Saga of the Opium Pipe" by Henry Ness, 1998, 3 pages. Also, textual items, photographs and sound recording pertain to Henry Ness meeting with Chow family in Calgary, 1993. Chow Dung Hee, grandfather of the family, had been friends with the Ness family in Bankhead. Includes Chow family genealogy chart; notes by Helene Letnick; photocopies of photographs of the Chow Dung Hee family, 1923-1960s; six colour prints of Henry Ness and Chow Dung Hee's family at Calgary, 1993.
Fonds consists of 35mm transparencies of John Stratton's cycling trip to Banff with Canadian Youth Hostel Association group, 1954. Textual records include a diary of his trip, map, letter, registration information.
ca. 185 photographs: transparencies; 35mm. -- 0.5 cm textual records
History / Biographical
John Stratton
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of 35mm transparencies of John Stratton's cycling trip to Banff with Canadian Youth Hostel Association group, 1954. Textual records include a diary of his trip, map, letter, registration information.
Fonds consists of three series: A. Kay Russell personal series, 1922-1984; B. Russell family correspondence series, 1921-1984; C. Russell family papers and photographs series, 1909-1983. Kay Russell personal series contains diaries, notes and other papers. Diaries pertain to hunting and pack tri…
2.4 m of textual records. -- ca.620 photographs (ca.570 prints, ca.45 negatives, 6 transparencies)
History / Biographical
Anna Kathleen (Kay) Russell, 1909-1984, was a camp cook, homemaker and naturalist who lived and worked near Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta, Canada. Kay Riggall was the daughter of guide and outfitter Bert Riggall, and Dora Riggall, and the sister of Doris (Babe) Riggall (Burton). Kay worked with her father as a camp cook until her marriage in 1938 to Andy Russell, who later took over Riggall's businesses. Kay Russell was an avid diarist who faithfully documented her personal and family life while working in the Riggall and Russell family businesses and raising five children on the family ranch. Children are: Richard "Dick" H. (b.1938); Andrew Charles "Charlie" (b.1941); Harold John "John" (b.1944); Hugh Gordon Riggall "Gordon" (b.1947); Lorenda Anne "Anne" (b.1952).
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of three series: A. Kay Russell personal series, 1922-1984; B. Russell family correspondence series, 1921-1984; C. Russell family papers and photographs series, 1909-1983.
Kay Russell personal series contains diaries, notes and other papers. Diaries pertain to hunting and pack trips, vacations, daily life of the Russell family, and the natural environment in which they lived.
Russell family correspondence series contains family correspondence and general correspondence. Family correspondence consists of letters sent and received within the family by Kay, Andy, Dick, Charlie, John, Gordon and Anne Russell; also Babe Burton, Harold and Lorenda Russell, Fannie Riggall and others. General correspondence consists of letter and cards to the Russell family from numerous friends and acquaintances.
Russell family papers and photographs series consists of financial papers, 1952-1983, Bert Riggall estate papers, 1955-1962, photographs, 1909-1980, and other material. Photographs pertain mainly to the Riggall and Russell families, including: Kay Riggall and Riggall family; Riggall home, hunting, activities, Twin Butte and Waterton areas; wedding and honeymoon photographs of Kay and Andy Russell, 1938; Kay and Andy Russell and children; Russell home, Hawk's Nest, ranch, pets, horses; friends and relatives; hunting and fishing; wildlife and natural history.
Notes
One large b&w print (approx. 28x35cm) of a giraffe was moved from unprocessed box to V63 / O.S. for proper storage.
Fonds consist of four separate series: A. I.A. Photography: negatives; B. I.C. Photography: transparencies, 35mm; C. I.D. Photography: prints; D. I.B. Photography: lantern slides. Fonds consists mainly of scenic transparency views arising from Leacock's climbs, hikes, horse and car trips in the Can…
ca.5100 photographs (ca.4450 transparencies, ca.575 negatives, ca.90 prints). -- 17 cm of textual records (including several volumes). -- 4 sound recordings
History / Biographical
Leonard Henry Leacock, 1904-1992, was a musician and educator at Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Leacock was born in England and raised in Banff, Alberta. He was educated in Banff and Boston and through the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, and the Royal School of Music, London, England. Leacock joined the staff of Mount Royal College, Calgary as a piano teacher in 1924 and retired from teaching ca.1989. His music career also included performing, composing and adjudicating. Throughout his life, Leacock was an avid mountaineer and photographer. He took numerous hiking and horse trips in the Banff, Jasper and Yoho areas and sometimes worked in trail camps or as a guide.
Scope & Content
Fonds consist of four separate series: A. I.A. Photography: negatives; B. I.C. Photography: transparencies, 35mm; C. I.D. Photography: prints; D. I.B. Photography: lantern slides.
Fonds consists mainly of scenic transparency views arising from Leacock's climbs, hikes, horse and car trips in the Canadian Rockies and Selkirks from the Crowsnest Pass through Jasper National Park, ca.1939 to 1984. Also included are travels in Yukon, Canada and the United States, including Alaska. Negatives date from 1925 to 1940? and pertain to Assiniboine, Lake Louise, Banff, Banff-Jasper, Columbia Icefield and other mountain areas; also natural history, including wildflowers and wildlife. A small number of negatives are accompanied by prints. Other prints pertain to Leacock, family, events and scenic views.
Textual records include letters, 1926-1986, 1 cm; diaries, 1930-1934, 1943, 2 items; scrapbooks and clippings, 1931-1936, ca.6 cm; manuscript scores of vocal and instrumental music, before 1985, 8 cm; concert programmes for which Leacock wrote the notes, 1962-1969, 37 items; other concert programmes, [ca.1945]-1986, 2 cm; writings, 1924, 1928, n.d., 4 items; other material, 1931-1987, 8 items. Diaries pertain to Leacock's personal life, giving details of musical, writing, artistic and dramatic activities; teaching and tour guiding; hikes and climbs in the Canadian Rockies; and friends, including Herbert Hahn and Stewart Cameron. Some letters are from Earle Birney, 1926-1978.
Sound recordings are interviews with Leacock re his career in music, including performing, composing and teaching; also music played by Leacock. Also includes one cassette recording [ca.1985-1992] of Doug Hawkes interviewing Leacock re: a pack trip he went on around 1931 between Gleichen and Jasper and back; cassette includes a story of a camp trip at Castlegar.