File consists of cards, stationery, small publications and other collected items. Includes thank you and business cards for The Home Insurance Company in Calgary and the Canadian Bank of Commerce; two blank pages with letterhead for Hotel Wales in Calgary; a round paper placemat/coaster advertising…
File consists of cards, stationery, small publications and other collected items. Includes thank you and business cards for The Home Insurance Company in Calgary and the Canadian Bank of Commerce; two blank pages with letterhead for Hotel Wales in Calgary; a round paper placemat/coaster advertising La Ronde Revolving Restaurant in Edmonton; a copy of "Bill and Al's Happy Motoring" by Esso Imperial Service containing an article about Banff National Park [pages 2-3]; a Laura Secord advertisement and info booklet, "The History of Our Flag"; a partial pack of blank score cards titled Auction Bridge; a page titled "Rules for the Game of Five Hundred"; a newspaper clipping with comics on both sides; and a large [23 x 15 cm] postcard with illustration titled "What Would You Have Done?" [see notes].
Notes
NOTE: Large postcard "What Would You Have Done?" contains outdated and potentially offensive language which is reflective of the time period in which it was produced.
"Bill and Al's Happy Motoring" publication has mailing stamp on back addressed to Norman Luxton.
"Rules for the Game of Five Hundred" card annotated in pencil
Sub-series of hut registers from the Balfour (Rob Ritchie) Hut produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between 1966 and 2019. Registers include entries from visitors to the huts which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurred while staying at the hut…
According to the Alpine Club of Canada's website:
"The Rob Ritchie Hut, also known as the Balfour Hut, is found on low, rocky hills at the toe of the Vulture Glacier, approximately 28 km northwest of the town of Lake Louise, AB. It is east of Balfour Pass and the Continental divide, just inside the Banff National Park boundary.[...]
The Rob Ritchie Hut, also known as the Balfour Hut, is found on low, rocky hills at the toe of the Vulture Glacier, approximately 28 km northwest of the town of Lake Louise, AB. It is east of Balfour Pass and the Continental divide, just inside the Banff National Park boundary.
This is the half-way mark for the Wapta Traverse and is usually used in conjunction with the other huts in this chain while attempting this classic cross-glacier ski trip. Usual approach is from Bow Hut through the Olive/St. Nicholas Col then down the gentle and pleasant Vulture Glacier to Balfour Pass, where the hut sits on a section of moraine beneath the impressive bulk of Mt. Balfour.
Though most people will spend one night at the R.J. Ritchie (Balfour) Hut before continuing on to Scott Duncan, there is potential for good skiing here, especially on the Diableret Glacier which sits northwest of Mt. Balfour and makes for a fantastic run on a clear day! There is also an optional route to the summit of Mt. Gordon from this hut, which would be an excellent loop trip if combined with the normal route back towards Bow Hut. Use your imagination and some neat trip ideas will present themselves!"
Scope & Content
Sub-series of hut registers from the Balfour (Rob Ritchie) Hut produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between 1966 and 2019. Registers include entries from visitors to the huts which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurred while staying at the hut, wildlife sightings, custodial issues and updates, and related topics.
The sub-series is separated into individual hut registers, arranged by date:
M200 / IV / I / 1: Balfour Hut [Register] [1966-1971]
M200 / IV / I / 2: Balfour Pass Hut [1971-1972]
M200 / IV / I / 3: Balfour Pass Hut Register [1973-1974]
M200 / IV / I / 4: Balfour Pass Hut [register 1974-1982]
M200 / IV / I / 5: "Balfour Hut" [register] Sept. 2, 1982 - Nov. 17, 1989
M200 / IV / I / 6: Balfour Hut Journal Nov. 22, 1989 - Apr. 25, 1997
M200 / IV / I / 7: Balfour Hut Register [1997 -2001]
M200 / IV / I / 8: Balfour Hut Register 2007 - 2015
M200 / IV / I / 9: Balfour Hut register 2011 - 2019
File consists of two folded maps and a small clipping [possibly top or bottom portion from a different map or one of maps in file]. One map is of Banff National Park and one is of Lake Louise [1959]. Banff National Park map has black pencil tracings over trail section near the bottom of the map and…
0.5 cm of textual records (2 maps ; 60.5 x 57.5 and 60 x 56.5 cm)
Scope & Content
File consists of two folded maps and a small clipping [possibly top or bottom portion from a different map or one of maps in file]. One map is of Banff National Park and one is of Lake Louise [1959]. Banff National Park map has black pencil tracings over trail section near the bottom of the map and annotation in bottom right corner which reads "Natural Bridge". Lake Louise map produced by the Government of Canada.
A typed text report on Banff 14 pages long - the text has been heavily edited throughout with white-out and additional pieces of paper glued overtop of written text. Accompanying the text are 26 images and 4 maps, two of which are hand-drawn as overlays of the others.
The report follows the story o…
2 cm of textual records (32 pages ; 21.6 x 27.9 cm or smaller)
Scope & Content
A typed text report on Banff 14 pages long - the text has been heavily edited throughout with white-out and additional pieces of paper glued overtop of written text. Accompanying the text are 26 images and 4 maps, two of which are hand-drawn as overlays of the others.
The report follows the story of a family named West from Calgary visiting their cousins, the Cunninghams, in Banff sometime in the late 1960s, which is also when it is believed the report was written. It is unclear if the families are real or fictitious. The report describes in some detail the history of the area, features around town, environment, commerce, wildlife, and community and ends with a series of questions, presumably posed to students. The accompanying prints relate to the topics in the report and are numbered to correspond correctly - some prints have typed text notations attached either to the back or the front along an edge. Two prints show the town of Banff from the top of Tunnel Mountain and a Mylar sheet has been laid overtop of each with landmarks, streets, and buildings noted in blue ink. Contents of the images include the afore mentioned aerial views, the Administration Building grounds, shops along Banff Avenue (which clearly show shop-front windows, signs, cars, and peoples' outfits), the original Whyte Museum building, the Banff High School, the Cave & Basin cave and pools, various wildlife, and Banff Indian Days.
Notes
Some prints came from the Canadian Government Travel Bureau, as indicated either in the typed notations or stamped on the back of the print.
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 139 pages of handwritten research notes, correspondence, and newspaper clippings, H35 x W30 cm or smaller. File pertains to Dorothy's research on Banff and surrounding area, Parks Canada, Department of the Interior, and the history of the Canadian Rocky Mountains in general. Record…
2 cm of textual records (139 pages ; 30 x 35 cm or smaller)
Scope & Content
File consists of 139 pages of handwritten research notes, correspondence, and newspaper clippings, H35 x W30 cm or smaller. File pertains to Dorothy's research on Banff and surrounding area, Parks Canada, Department of the Interior, and the history of the Canadian Rocky Mountains in general. Records were filed in an envelope that was titled "Book Notes."
Notable people include James Wardle, J.B. Harkin, Pat Brewster, Arthur Unwin, Dr. Brett, Norman Sanson, and Bill Peyto, among others. Notable places and topics include the organization of the Department of the Interior, the Banff-Windemere Highway, Rocky Mountain Park and Park Wardens, Kootenay National Park fires, coal and precious metal mines (e.g. Bankhead, Silver City), trail riding and hiking, research about James Wardle and his accomplishments, Ya-Ha-Tinda, and various parks (e.g. Glacier, Revelstoke, Elk Island, Kootenay, and Yoho).
Other records include a handwritten letter to the Auld family in Scotland (cousins of Sheila Ritchie) with a story about Glenbow and a highland cow from Oban, Scotland; personal reflections on the Banff area and mountains in general; notes that Dorothy took while doing research at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies and the Banff Public Library; and a variety of newspaper clippings.
Notes
Includes request slips and stationary from the archives at the Whyte Museum.
Potentially includes a handwritten list of Dorothy's written works.
Newspaper clippings primarily from the Times Colonist, which is published in Victoria, British Columbia.
Some of the slips of paper are taped together. Was unable to remove them without damaging the materials. May present conservation issues in the future.
Sub-series of hut registers from the Bow Hut produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between 1968 and 2019. Registers include entries from visitors to the huts which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurred while staying at the hut, wildlife sightin…
According to the Alpine Club of Canada website and their Backcountry Huts: Bow Hut Info Sheet:
"The original Bow Hut project was initiated by Peter Fuhrmann, funded by Peter and Catharine Whyte and was constructed in 1968 by members of various groups including the Calgary Ski Club and the ACC. The hut was built near Bow Glacier to facilitate ski tourers and mountaineers entering the Wapta via Bow Lake, the easiest and most natural route to the icefields. Fiberglass igloos had been established at both the Peyto Glacier and Balfour Pass in the years prior, and with the building of a deluxe 14-person facility at a location between the two, the vision of a system of huts on the Wapta/Waputik Icefields was taking shape. None of those responsible for the project, however, could have predicted the amount of use and the level of abuse that the original Bow Hut would endure.
The hut was abused from the beginning, and saw very little regular maintenance or upkeep. By the 1980s the place was a total hole. The hut was used as a flop house, the snow within several hundred feet of the hut had been contaminated by the outhouses and by indiscriminate waste disposal, and some estimates put the number of users per year at 7,000 (19 people per night at a facility which was built to sleep 14!). The hut which was described upon its completion as the “the Ritz” had metamorphosed into the “Bow Ghetto”.
By the mid-1980s it was evident that the facility required radical change. In 1989, under the direction of the ACC’s Huts Committee Chairman Mike Mortimer, that radical change took place. The original hut had been built on a site which was non-porous and therefore had no drainage – a problem that led to the contaminated water and snow. Plans were made for a new hut in a more environmentally sensitive location and fund-raising began. The new Bow Hut was constructed for $98,000, raised primarily through the Calgary and Edmonton sections of the Club. Design concerns in the new hut included proper waste disposal, spacious and bright common areas and sleeping rooms which were both increased in size from the original hut and separated from the common areas to facilitate use by may groups at one time. The palatial new Bow Hut was opened in the fall of 1989 to rave reviews and is presently operated by the ACC.
The hut today is a far cry from the original Balfour and Peyto fiberglass igloos, which a Banff Warden predicted in the late ’60s “will only serve the few hardy ski mountaineers who can accept the hardships of carrying and skiing with heavy loads and are willing to put up with discomfort during the night in bad weather”. It’s an even further cry from the abused state of the original Bow Hut and now serves as a stopover for many summer and winter trips."
Scope & Content
Sub-series of hut registers from the Bow Hut produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between 1968 and 2019. Registers include entries from visitors to the huts which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurred while staying at the hut, wildlife sightings, custodial issues and updates, and related topics.
The sub-series is separated into individual hut registers, arranged by date:
M200 / IV / F / 1: Bow Glacier Hut [1968 - 1971 register]
M200 / IV / F / 2: Bow Glacier Hut Register [1971 - 1973]
M200 / IV / F / 3: Bow Glacier Hut Register [1973 -1975]
M200 / IV / F / 4: Bow Hut register [1975 -1977]
M200 / IV / F / 5: Bow Hut [register 1983 - 1984]
M200 / IV / F / 6: Bow Hut Register [1984-1986]
M200 / IV / F / 7: [Bow Hut Register Dec. 17, 1986 - June 19, 1989]
M200 / IV / F / 8: Bow Hut [1989 - 1991]
M200 / IV / F / 9: Bow Hut 1991 - 1993
M200 / IV / F / 10: [Bow Hut Registers 1992 - 94]
M200 / IV / F / 11: "Bow Hut Register" Sept. 30, 1994 - Aug. 28, 1995
M200 / IV / F / 12: Bow Hut Register Sept. 16, 1995 - June 27, 1996
M200 / IV / F / 13: [Bow Hut Dec. 1995 - March 2000 Register]
M200 / IV / F / 14: Bow Hut Register June 29, 1996 - Mar 29, 1997
M200 / IV / F / 15: Bow Hut register Mar 29, 1997 - Nov. 14, 1997
M200 / IV / F / 16: "Bow Hut Register" November 24, 1997 - September 26, 1998
M200 / IV / F / 17: Bow Hut Register [2000 - 2001]
M200 / IV / F / 18: Bow Hut Register [2001 - 2002]
M200 / IV / F / 19: Bow Hut Apr 18, 2002 - Feb 24, 2003
M200 / IV / F / 20: Bow Hut Apr 8, 2003 - July 18, 2004
M200 / IV / F / 21: Bow Hut July 18, 2004 - Aug 4, 2004
M200 / IV / F / 22: Bow Hut Register 2004 - 2006
M200 / IV / F / 23: Bow Hut Register 2006
M200 / IV / F / 24: Bow Hut Register April 2009 - August 2010
M200 / IV / F / 25: 2010 - 2012 Bow Hut Register
M200 / IV / F / 26: Bow Hut 2012 - 2014
M200 / IV / F / 27: Bow Hut Register [2014/15]
M200 / IV / F / 28: Hut Register Bow Hut [2015-2016]
M200 / IV / F / 29: Bow Hut Register, 2016 - 2018
M200 / IV / F / 30: Bow Hut Register 2018-2019
M200 / IV / F / 31: [100 YR SWISS CENTENNIAL CLIMB 1999: Faye Summit notes. Bow Hut OCT - DEC 1998]
The Alpine Club of Canada website:
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/bow-hut/
The Alpine Club of Canada Backcountry Huts: Bow Hut Info Sheet pdf:
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/BowHut-InfoSheet.pdf
File consists of a 1997 Parks Canada Diving Lake Minnewanka Submerged Cultural Resources brochure, a photocopied diagram of the Department of the Interior's plan for the subdivision of villa lots at Lake Minnewanka [consisting of two pieces of paper taped together], a Calgary Power Company progress…
0.4 cm of textual records (4 volumes ; 21.3 x 27.6 cm or smaller)
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File consists of a 1997 Parks Canada Diving Lake Minnewanka Submerged Cultural Resources brochure, a photocopied diagram of the Department of the Interior's plan for the subdivision of villa lots at Lake Minnewanka [consisting of two pieces of paper taped together], a Calgary Power Company progress pictures report pertaining to the Cascade Project - specifically the construction of the Stewart Canyon Bridge - accompanied by two printed colour maps of the details surrounding the pump house [most likely printed from a computer by Bob Smith at a later date], and three print-outs pertaining to various components of the Calgary Power Company Minnewanka Storage Dam.
File consists of 1 B&W photograph Canadian Demonstration Ski Team, 1960s. Photograph taken at Sunshine Village; identifications of individuals written on reverse of photograph are: John Hanna?, Lorne McFadgen, Guy Barventz, George Vigeant, Don Darry, Ernie Macoulloh, Mario Podroziach, Wayne Bradfo…
File consists of 1 B&W photograph Canadian Demonstration Ski Team, 1960s. Photograph taken at Sunshine Village; identifications of individuals written on reverse of photograph are: John Hanna?, Lorne McFadgen, Guy Barventz, George Vigeant, Don Darry, Ernie Macoulloh, Mario Podroziach, Wayne Bradford, Bob McLennon
File consists of published materials pertaining to topics of Canadian, provincial and regional history, related statistical information, and national politics; information booklets and guides for Banff National Park, Alberta, Victoria, B.C., and other regions within Canada; and other Canadian trave…
File consists of published materials pertaining to topics of Canadian, provincial and regional history, related statistical information, and national politics; information booklets and guides for Banff National Park, Alberta, Victoria, B.C., and other regions within Canada; and other Canadian travel and promotional material.
File stored in two folders arranged by subject:
LUX / II / F1 / 63 : Canadian history and research material
LUX / II / F1 / 64 : Canadian tourism publications