Banff National Park
(pronounced /'bæmf/) is
Canada's oldest national park,
established in 1885 in the Rocky
Mountains. The park, located 110-180
kilometres (70-110 mi) west of
Calgary in the province of Alberta,
encompasses 6,641 square kilometres
(2,564 sq mi)[1] of mountainous
terrain, with numerous glaciers
and ice fields, dense coniferous
forest, and alpine landscapes.
The
Icefields Parkway extends from
Lake Louise, connecting to Jasper
National Park in the north.
Provincial forests and Yoho
National Park are neighbours
to the west, while Kootenay
National Park is located to
the south and Kananaskis Country
to the southeast. The main commercial
centre of the park is the town
of Banff, in the Bow River valley.
The Canadian Pacific
Railway was instrumental in Banff's
early years, building the Banff
Springs Hotel and Chateau Lake
Louise, and attracting tourists
through extensive advertising.
In the early 20th century, roads
were built in Banff, at times
by war internees, and through
Great Depression-era public works
projects. Since the 1960s, park
accommodations have been open
all year, with annual tourism
visits to Banff increasing to
over 5 million in the 1990s. Millions
more pass through the park on
the Trans-Canada Highway. As Banff
is one of the world's most visited
national parks, the health of
its ecosystem has been threatened.
In the mid-1990s, Parks Canada
responded by initiating a two-year
study, which resulted in management
recommendations, and new policies
that aim to preserve ecological
integrity.[2]
History
Throughout its history,
Banff National Park has been shaped
by tension between conservation
and development interests.
The park was established
in 1885, in response to conflicting
claims over who discovered hot
springs there, and who had the
right to develop the hot springs
for commercial interests. Instead,
prime minister John A. Macdonald
set aside the hot springs as a
small, protected reserve, which
was later expanded to include
Lake Louise and other areas extending
north to the Columbia Icefield.
Early
history
Archaeological evidence found
at Vermilion Lakes radiocarbon
dates the first human activity
in Banff to 10,300 B.P. Prior
to European contact, aboriginals,
including the Stoneys, Kootenay,
Tsuu T'ina, Kainai, Peigans,
and Siksika, were common in
the region where they hunted
bison and other game.
With the admission
of British Columbia to Canada
on 20 July 1871, Canada agreed
to build a transcontinental
railroad. Construction of the
railroad began in 1875, with
Kicking Horse Pass chosen, over
the more northerly Yellowhead
Pass, as the route through the
Canadian Rockies. Ten years
later, the last spike was driven
in Craigellachie, British Columbia.[2]
Rocky
Mountains Park established
With conflicting claims over discovery
of hot springs in Banff, Prime
Minister John A. Macdonald decided
to set aside a small reserve of
26 square kilometres (10 sq mi)
around the hot springs at Cave
and Basin as a public park in
1885. Under the Rocky Mountains
Park Act, enacted on 23 June 1887,
the park was expanded to 674 square
kilometres (260 sq mi) and named
Rocky Mountains Park. This was
Canada's first national park,
and the second established in
North America, after Yellowstone
National Park. The Canadian Pacific
Railway built the Banff Springs
Hotel and Chateau Lake Louise
to attract tourists and increase
the number of rail passengers.
Banff
Springs Hotel, 1902
Early on, Banff was popular with
wealthy European tourists, who
arrived in Canada via trans-Atlantic
luxury liner and continued westward
on the railroad, as well as upper-class
American and English tourists.
Some visitors participated in
mountaineering activities, often
hiring local guides. Tom Wilson,
along with Jim and Bill Brewster,
was among the first outfitters
in Banff. The Alpine Club of Canada,
established in 1906 by Arthur
Oliver Wheeler and Elizabeth Parker,
organized climbs and camps in
the backcountry.
By 1911, Banff was
accessible by automobile from
Calgary. Beginning in 1916, the
Brewsters offered motorcoach tours
of Banff. In 1920, access to Lake
Louise by road was available,
and the Banff-Windermere Road
opened in 1923 to connect Banff
with British Columbia.[2]
Canadian Pacific
Railway advertising brochure,
highlighting Mount Assiniboine
and Banff scenery (c. 1917)In
1902, the park was expanded to
cover 11,400 square kilometres
(4,402 sq mi), encompassing areas
around Lake Louise, and the Bow,
Red Deer, Kananaskis, and Spray
rivers. Bowing to pressure from
grazing and logging interests,
the size of the park was reduced
in 1911 to 4,663 square kilometres
(1,800 sq mi), eliminating many
foothills areas from the park.
Park boundaries
changed several more times up
until 1930, when the size of Banff
was fixed at 6,697 square kilometres
(2,586 sq mi), with the passage
of the National Parks Act. The
Act also renamed the park as Banff
National Park, named for the Canadian
Pacific Railway station, which
in turn was named after the Banffshire
region in Scotland.[9] With the
construction of a new east gate
in 1933, Alberta transferred 0.84
square kilometres (207.5 acres)
to the park. This, along with
other minor changes in the park
boundaries in 1949, set the area
of the park at 6,641 square kilometres
(2,564 sq mi).
Coal
mining
In 1887, local aboriginal tribes
signed Treaty 7, which gave Canada
rights to explore the land for
resources. At the beginning of
the twentieth century, coal was
mined near Lake Minnewanka in
Banff. For a brief period, a mine
operated at Anthracite, but was
shut down in 1904. The Bankhead
mine, at Cascade Mountain, was
operated by the Canadian Pacific
Railway from 1903 to 1922. In
1926, the town was dismantled,
with many buildings moved to the
town of Banff and elsewhere.[2]
Prison and
work camps
During World War I, immigrants from
Austria, Hungary, Germany and Ukraine
were sent to Banff to work in internment
camps. The main camp was located at
Castle Mountain, and was moved to
Cave and Basin during winter. Much
early infrastructure and road construction
was done by Slavic Canadian internees.[2]
Castle
Mountain internment camp (1915)
In 1931, the Government of Canada
enacted the Unemployment and Farm
Relief Act which provided public works
projects in the national parks during
the Great Depression. In Banff, workers
constructed a new bathhouse and pool
at Upper Hot Springs, to supplement
Cave and Basin. Other projects involved
road building in the park, tasks around
the Banff townsite, and construction
of a highway connecting Banff and
Jasper. In 1934, the Public Works
Construction Act was passed, providing
continued funding for the public works
projects. New projects included construction
of a new registration facility at
Banff's east gate, and construction
of an administrative building in Banff.
By 1940, the Icefields Parkway reached
the Columbia Icefield area of Banff,
and connected Banff and Jasper.[2]
Internment camps were
once again set up in Banff during
World War II, with camps stationed
at Lake Louise, Stoney Creek, and
Healy Creek. Prison camps were largely
composed of Mennonites from Saskatchewan.
Japanese internment camps were not
stationed in Banff during World War
II, but rather were located in Jasper
National Park where their detainees
worked on the Yellowhead Highway and
other projects.
Winter
tourism
Winter tourism in Banff began in February
1917, with the first Banff Winter
Carnival. The carnival featured a
large ice palace, which in 1917 was
built by internees. Carnival events
included cross-country skiing, ski
jumping, curling, snowshoe, and skijoring.[13]
In the 1930s, the first downhill ski
resort, Sunshine Village, was developed
by the Brewsters. Mount Norquay ski
area was also developed during the
1930s, with the first chair lift installed
there in 1948.[2]
Since 1968, when the Banff Springs
Hotel was winterized, Banff has been
a year-round destination.[14] In the
1960s, the Trans-Canada Highway was
constructed, providing another transportation
corridor through the Bow Valley, in
addition to the Bow Valley Parkway,
making the park more accessible. Also
in the 1960s, Calgary International
Airport was built.
Canada launched several
bids to host the Winter Olympics in
Banff, with the first bid for the
1964 Winter Olympics which were eventually
awarded to Innsbruck, Austria. Canada
narrowly lost a second bid, for the
1968 Winter Olympics, which were awarded
to Grenoble, France. Once again, Banff
launched a bid to host the 1972 Winter
Olympics, with plans to hold the Olympics
at Lake Louise. The 1972 bid was most
controversial, as environmental lobby
groups provided strong opposition
to the bid, which had sponsorship
from Imperial Oil.[6] Bowing to pressure,
Jean Chrétien, then the Minister
of Environment, the government department
responsible for Parks Canada, withdrew
support for the bid, which was eventually
lost to Sapporo, Japan. The cross-country
ski events were held at the Canmore
Nordic Centre Provincial Park at Canmore,
Alberta, located just outside the
eastern gates of Banff National Park
on the Trans-Canada Highway, when
nearby Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter
Olympics.[2]
Bears, elk,
deer and more viewed while traveling
in and around Banff National Park
in Alberta, Canada.
