Fonds includes motion pictures by Alice Wright of horse trips and travels in the Canadian Rockies and miscellaneous papers and ephemera pertaining to Mount Robson Ranch, Berg Lake Chalet and Mount Robson region and history. Films pertain mainly to the Mount Robson and Jasper, Alberta areas; also B…
Alice Wright, d.ca.1982, was owner of the Mount Robson Ranch and operator of the Berg Lake Chalet in the Mount Robson area of British Columbia, Canada. She also lived at Red Pass and Sidney, B.C.
Scope & Content
Fonds includes motion pictures by Alice Wright of horse trips and travels in the Canadian Rockies and miscellaneous papers and ephemera pertaining to Mount Robson Ranch, Berg Lake Chalet and Mount Robson region and history. Films pertain mainly to the Mount Robson and Jasper, Alberta areas; also Banff and Lake Louise. Textual records include a transcript of a portion of a diary of George MacDougal, 1827, describing a trip through Yellowhead Pass, Tete Jaune Cache to Jasper House. Also includes a memorandum of the British Columbia Parks Branch, 1975, re the future of the Berg Lake Chalet; annotations by Alice Wright.
Fonds consists of seven series: I. Personal and professional series, 1937-1993 (diaries, correspondence, filing systems and papers pertaining to awards, memberships, biography and other); II. Business series, 1948-1982 (pertaining to guiding, outfitting, trail riding, ranching, Andy Russell and S…
6 m of textual records and printed material. -- ca.6100 photographs : prints, negatives, transparencies. -- 1 photograph album (49 prints). -- 29 motion pictures. -- 5 sound recordings
History / Biographical
Andy Russell, 1915-2005, was a trapper, guide and outfitter, writer, photographer, cinematographer, lecturer and environmental advocate in the Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada.
Russell was born in Lethbridge, Alberta and spent his childhood on a ranch in the foothills near Pincher Creek. He became a skilled horseman, hunter, fisherman and trapper, and, in 1936, was employed by Bert Riggall, a pioneer guide and outfitter of wilderness pack trips in the southern Rockies since 1907. He became Riggall's partner in 1939 and took over the business when Riggall retired in 1946. Andy Russell and Kathleen (Kay) Riggall married in 1938 and raised five children at their ranch bordering Waterton Lakes National Park, where family businesses included guiding, saddlehorses and ranching. 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).
Russell continued as a renowned guide and outfitter with a wealthy repeat clientele until he was forced out of guiding by 1960 with the advance of the oil industry concerns upon wilderness areas in southern Alberta and British Columbia. Russell began to write nature articles in 1945 and after 1960 concentrated upon writing, photography, film making, lecturing and ranching. He wrote for numerous magazines and newspapers, produced radio broadcasts, and, using colour motion picture photography, developed programs on wildlife and wilderness habitat research for live public performances. Russell's films launched his career as an author of popular wildlife and mountain culture books, which included Grizzly Country. In later years, he was an active writer, consultant and advocate of wilderness and environmental management and received numerous awards and honours, including Member of the Order of Canada.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of seven series: I. Personal and professional series, 1937-1993 (diaries, correspondence, filing systems and papers pertaining to awards, memberships, biography and other); II. Business series, 1948-1982 (pertaining to guiding, outfitting, trail riding, ranching, Andy Russell and Sons, royalties and lecturing); III. Writing, broadcasting and public appearances series, 1908-1990 (papers and photographs pertaining to writing, book projects, columns, broadcasts, reviews, advertising, promotion and other); IV. Photography and cinematography series, 1909-1990 (details below); V. Wildlife study and conservation activities series, 1945-[198-]; VI. Other activities series, 1931-[199-] (politics, interviews, information files); VII. Russell family series, [1867]-1983.
Photography and cinematography series consists of: Riggall/Russell guiding activity photographs, 1909-1962, ca.280 items; Andy Russell and Sons Production Ltd / Andy Russell professional photographs and films, ca.1940- ca.1990, ca.4200 photographs (mainly transparencies), 28 motion pictures, accompanied by some textual and printed items; personal and family photographs, 1916-1989, ca.1550 items; collected photographs, ca.1940-197-, ca.75 items. Professional photography and cinematography primarily arose from field work by Andy, Dick and Charlie Russell and pertains mainly to flora, fauna and landscape of the Canadian Rockies in continental divide region, British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska.
Motion pictures, ca.1950-1974, include original film "Grizzly Country" by Dick, Charlie and Andy Russell, produced by Evan J. Anton, ca.1969, copy print of same; also unedited wildlife and landscape footage of Waterton area, Yukon and British Columbia.
Sound recordings are interviews with Andy Russell, [ca.1970]-1988.
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 consists of 53 diaries pertaining to personal life, travel, office work, and Alpine Club of Canada camps. Diaries range in date from 1885 to 1944. Also included are two volumes/scrapbooks compiled by A.O. Wheeler. Both volumes include numerous articles, newspaper clippings, letters, ACC broc…
62 vol. of textual material. -- 66 vol. of photograph albums
History / Biographical
Arthur Oliver Wheeler (1860-1945) DLS, ALS, BCLS, was born in Ireland, arriving in Canada in 1876. Wheeler was a mountaineer, co-founder of the Alpine Club of Canada (1906), and Dominion Land Surveyor. In 1913, Wheeler was appointed Boundary Commissioner and tasked with photo surveying the Alberta / British Columbia interprovincial boundary.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of 53 diaries pertaining to personal life, travel, office work, and Alpine Club of Canada camps. Diaries range in date from 1885 to 1944. Also included are two volumes/scrapbooks compiled by A.O. Wheeler. Both volumes include numerous articles, newspaper clippings, letters, ACC brochures and notices addressed to ACC members. Volume one covers the period 1902 to 1913; volume two includes materials from 1914 to 1940. A inventory of both volumes, compiled by ACC member Paul Geddes, is also included. Additionally there are 7 volumes of notes corresponding to the photographs A.O. Wheeler took.
Photographic material consists of 66 albums which contain approximately 5000 photographs, black and white positive prints from glass negatives, all 12 x 16 cm. The first album is dated 1915, the last 1924. Some of the albums contain a small map printed on linen. Each album contains an index to the photographs taken for the Alberta - British Columbia Interprovincial Boundary photo survey and are organized by Station, Bearing, and Subject.