Warden’s Patrol Cabin


Exhibit Details

Area

Natural Resources Area

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Category

Building/Museum

About the Warden's Patrol Cabin

The year 1885 marked the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the birth of Canada’s National Park system. The Dominion Government established a ten square mile reserve around the Cave & Basin Hot Springs, and two years later expanded it to create Rocky Mountains Park.

By 1909 the National Parks of Canada (NPC)  included Rocky Mountains Park, Jasper, Waterton Lakes, Yoho, Glacier, Elk Island and Buffalo National Parks. The first “Fire and Game Guardians” were hired that year to enforce improved regulations protecting the national parks. Their duties included fire and predator control, sealing firearms, dealing with poachers, telephone maintenance, blazing trails and supervising trail gangs.

This cabin was originally built in 1931 by Bert Pendergast near the Trans Canada Highway in Canmore, and is reminiscent of the ‘base camp’ cabin a trapper would set up at the start of an extensive series of trapping lines. In 2021 it was repurposed to portray a warden’s non-standard patrol cabin and highlight the environmental stewardship and significant contributions of NPC wardens.

Visit Heritage Park

1900 Heritage Dr. S.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2V 2X3

Email: info@heritagepark.ca
Phone: 403.268.8500

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