File consists of one manuscript of a publication titled "In Search of Ancient Alberta" by Barbara Huck and Doug Whiteway, with edits and corrections by Ben and Cia Gadd. File also includes a letter sent to the Gadds from Barbara Huck, thanking them for their help.
File consists of one manuscript of a publication titled "In Search of Ancient Alberta" by Barbara Huck and Doug Whiteway, with edits and corrections by Ben and Cia Gadd. File also includes a letter sent to the Gadds from Barbara Huck, thanking them for their help.
Fonds consists of materials pertaining to Ben Gadd's personal life and career as an environmental researcher, educator, interpretive guide, publisher, public speaker and author, ca.1956-2018. Fonds includes maps, research materials, publication notes/drafts, correspondence, contracts, photographs, …
ca. 7.9 metres of textual records -- ca. 274 maps -- 29 VHS tapes -- ca.15 discs with digital files -- 21 cassettes -- photographs -- oversized materials -- USB stick with 15 sldeshows
History / Biographical
Ben Gadd (1946-) is a retired naturalist, guide, geologist, instructor, freelance writer and award-winning author based in the Canadian Rockies.
Ben was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1946. He met his wife, Cia (Langdon) Gadd at Colorado College in 1965, and the couple married four weeks later. Ben and Cia had two sons, Will and Toby. Ben and his family relocated to Jasper in the late 1960s. Ben later attended the University of Lethbridge and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Earth Science in 1972.
Between 1976 and 1980, Ben taught classes at Mount Royal College and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology; he later taught additional classes at Grant MacEwan College and Lakeland College. From 1981, Ben also worked as a seasonal naturalist/guide for Parks Canada. Ben left Parks Canada in 1985 to start an independent naturalist guiding business with Cia based in Jasper and other parts of the Canadian Rockies, which the couple continued to operate for over two decades.
Ben published his best-known work, "Handbook of the Canadian Rockies", through his publishing company Corax Press in 1986. The second edition of "Handbook of the Canadian Rockies" received multiple awards after its release in 1995. Ben's fiction book, "Raven's End" won the title of Best Canadian Rockies Book at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival in 2001 and became a Canadian bestseller. Overall, Ben has authored or co-authored 11 books and received nearly one dozen awards for his achievements as a writer, researcher and guide.
Ben continued to lead guided hikes and school programs until his retirement in 2016.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of materials pertaining to Ben Gadd's personal life and career as an environmental researcher, educator, interpretive guide, publisher, public speaker and author, ca.1956-2018. Fonds includes maps, research materials, publication notes/drafts, correspondence, contracts, photographs, video and sound recordings, and other related material. Materials donated in 2024 include one USB stick containing
Notes
Ben Gadd fonds arrangement:
Series I : Personal records
- Subseries A : Travel guides and maps
- Subseries B : Education and early writings
- Subseries C : Personal interest files
- Subseries D : Other personal and collected
Series II : Research and publication records
- Subseries A : Handbook of the Canadian Rockies
- Subseries B : Other publications
Series III : Professional records
- Subseries A : Parks Canada Records
- Subseries B : Interpretive guiding
- Subseries C : Teaching records
- Subseries D : Other contracts and projects
Series IV : Legal and financial records
- Subseries A : Legal records
- Subseries B : Financial records
File consists of business licenses, application forms and letters of approval sent between Parks Canada and Ben Gadd's guiding company, Ben Gadd Interpretive Services. File includes laminated and paper business license cards used by Ben Gadd between 1997 and 2016.
Produced by the Department of Canadian Heritage and Parks Canada
Date Range
1996-2017
Physical Description
4 cm of textual records
Scope & Content
File consists of business licenses, application forms and letters of approval sent between Parks Canada and Ben Gadd's guiding company, Ben Gadd Interpretive Services. File includes laminated and paper business license cards used by Ben Gadd between 1997 and 2016.
File consists of 5 commercial miniature calendars with photographs [one printed directly onto calendar, 4 attached to backing]. Photographs on calendars are by Byron Harmon [one is not attributed, but likely by Harmon as well], and pertain to: an unnamed Indigenous couple [possibly Stoney Nakoda co…
File consists of 5 commercial miniature calendars with photographs [one printed directly onto calendar, 4 attached to backing]. Photographs on calendars are by Byron Harmon [one is not attributed, but likely by Harmon as well], and pertain to: an unnamed Indigenous couple [possibly Stoney Nakoda community members], a view of Maligne Lake, an unidentified mountain, 4 ice climbers at the peak of Mt. Habel, and Stoney hunter and Trapper Silas Abraham. Calendar depicting Silas Abraham, 1907, includes printed advertisement for Norman Luxton's trading and taxidermy businesses in Banff and Exshaw.
File pertains to the screenplay for the 1948 film "Canadian Pacific" by Jack DeWitt. The film was made in Banff, directed by Nat Holt, and follows the construction of the line through the Rockies in the 1880s.
File pertains to the screenplay for the 1948 film "Canadian Pacific" by Jack DeWitt. The film was made in Banff, directed by Nat Holt, and follows the construction of the line through the Rockies in the 1880s.
Fonds consists of visual and texual material pertaining to the Canadian Pacific Railway and its holdings. Visual material conists of two series. Series I: lantern slides, Series II: prints. Textual material consists of two series. Series I: organizational records, Series II: the 1942 film "Canadian…
69 b&w lantern slides, 5 cm of textual records, ca. 309 prints : b&w ; 27.9 x 20.3 cm or smaller
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of visual and texual material pertaining to the Canadian Pacific Railway and its holdings. Visual material conists of two series. Series I: lantern slides, Series II: prints. Textual material consists of two series. Series I: organizational records, Series II: the 1942 film "Canadian Pacific" screenplay and associated documents.
Visual material includes black and white lantern slides and black and white prints depicting various scenes pertaining to travelling on the Canadian Pacific Railway and depict dining rooms, scnes involving trains and mountains, farming scenes and fields, people in train cars, various cities and towns, figures in natural landscapes, horses and horseback riding, mountains, waterfalls, skiing, ships, CP hotels, and other grand buildings [across Canada] such as Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal.
Textual material includes paper reports [some compiled by Canadian Pacific Hotels Architectural Engineer Ed Steel] detailing various construction and/or renovation projects for hotels, lodges, tea houses, bugalow camps, huts, and backcountry lodges throughout the Canadian Rockies as well as records pertaining to CP hotels in the Canadian Rockies, and the screenplay for "Canadian Pacific."
Notes
Slides were stored in rectangular wood box with leather handle on top, and metal handle at one end. White label that says “Lyon & Turnbull 432 04 February 2009” on lid of the box. Old, peeling, and stained label on top under handle, illegible. Faded, peeling labels on front, some words legible: “from the Canadian Pacific…” 2 stained and water damaged labels detached from box appear to be English shipping labels.“10” stamped in black on both ends of box. Stamped in black on rear of box: “Canadian Pacific Rly Co. 62 to 65 Charing Cross, London, S.W. 1. “3” engraved on upper rim of box. Box is divided into 3 sections with removable wood separators, small pieces of felt line 2 sections of the box.
Prints and some textual records absorbed from old records V121 and M48.
Lantern slides donated to the Whyte Museum by Dr. William and Mrs. Wynn Bensen. The slides were purchased by the Bensens from Lyon and Turnbull in Scotland.
File consists of 1 cm of textual records, 10 x 22 cm. File pertains to tourist maps of the Canadian Rocky Mountains created by Murray Hay. File includes a brochure of titled "Canadian Rockies Access Maps" that, when unfolded, includes several maps of the various areas that make up the Canadian Rock…
File consists of 1 cm of textual records, 10 x 22 cm. File pertains to tourist maps of the Canadian Rocky Mountains created by Murray Hay. File includes a brochure of titled "Canadian Rockies Access Maps" that, when unfolded, includes several maps of the various areas that make up the Canadian Rocky Mountains, like Kananaskis Country, Canmore, Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, Yoho National Park, etc.
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).
File consists of souvenir postcards sent to Ethel McKnight from various friends and relatives between ca.1909-1945. Postcard images pertain to views in and around Banff and the Canadian Rockies. Items are annotated with personal messages to Ethel.
File consists of souvenir postcards sent to Ethel McKnight from various friends and relatives between ca.1909-1945. Postcard images pertain to views in and around Banff and the Canadian Rockies. Items are annotated with personal messages to Ethel.