Colonel Macleod's Letter
Letter from Colonel James F. Macleod, Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, to his wife, Mary
August 1879
Glenbow Archives M-776-14
Colonel Macleod wrote this letter after visiting Blackfoot Crossing, the site of the signing of Treaty 7, with Indian Commissioner Edgar Dewdney. After his official duties, Macleod walked to the spot where he and Mary had camped shortly after their marriage in 1874 and he picked some wild roses to send her in remembrance.
The Glenbow Archives has 250 of Macleod's letters, donated by descendants of the Macleods. They are rich in historical details with vivid descriptions of events, people, and places of the times. But they are much more than mere historical accounts for they are also love letters to his wife. They are passionate, filled with emotion, and give wonderful insight into Victorian love, marriage, and family life. View letters.
Bull Plume's Winter Count
1917
Glenbow Archives M-8188
Bull Plume of the Piikani (part of the Blackfoot Confederacy) created this "winter count," or calendar, to record the major events for each year from 1764 to 1917. It is not only one of the longest winter counts for the Blackfoot, but it is also a rare document in the Glenbow Archives that records history from the point of view of the First Nations. The final entry on this page documents the arrival of smallpox to Blackfoot territory. The English translations written next to Bull Plume's pictographs were penned by Canon W.R. Haynes, an Anglican missionary stationed at the Piikani reserve at Brocket, Alberta. The Glenbow Archives also holds Blackfoot winter counts by Many Guns, Teddy Yellow Fly, Joe Little Chief, Houghton Running Rabbit, and Bad Head.
Charles Horetzky's Photograph
Entrance to Yellow Head Pass near Jasper House
Photographer: Charles Horetzky
November 1871
Glenbow Archives PB-885-25
In 1871 a Canadian Pacific Railway survey party headed to Western Canada to investigate routes and passes through the Rocky Mountains for the transcontinental railway that Ottawa had promised British Columbia. Charles Horetzky joined the party as photographer, and became the first person to take photographs of what later became Alberta. He travelled as far west as Jasper House, carrying his cumbersome large-format camera and glass plates on the dog carioles shown in this photograph. Twenty-nine vintage photographs taken by Horetzky on that landmark trip were donated to the Glenbow Archives in 2000 by the descendant of another member of the original survey party.
Photo of Laura Gardiner
Laura Gardiner washing clothes, Porcupine Hills, Alberta.
1896
Glenbow Archives PA-3215-128
Claude Gardiner left his home in England in 1894 and moved to Alberta where he established the Wineglass Ranch in the Porcupine Hills. He wrote such wonderfully evocative letters home to his family that his mother, Laura Gardiner, and his sister, Barbara Gardiner, came out in 1896 to experience the pioneer life firsthand. Laura and Barbara fell in love with Alberta and extended their "visit" to 1914. They too wrote detailed letters to England, describing ranch life, neighbours, and their social activities in southern Alberta. The Glenbow Archives has dozens of letters written by Claude, Laura, and Barbara, along with many family diaries and photographs, all donated by the descendants of Claude and his wife Alice.
View the Gardiner Family finding aid
Sophie Puckette's Diary
December 1903
Glenbow Archives M-843-2
Sophie Alice Puckette emigrated to Alberta from Kansas with her family in 1903 when she was eighteen years old. The family travelled to their homestead in midwinter with their belongings piled on sleighs, arriving at the tiny log cabin that was to be their new home on December 20. In this and her other diaries Sophie records her thoughts and daily activities, leaving us a rich record of pioneer life in Alberta. Sophie wrote faithfully in her diaries until just two weeks before her marriage to Jim Miles in 1908. The Glenbow Archives holds not only her diaries, but correspondence and family photographs as well, donated to us by her descendants.
View the Miles Family finding aid
Harold McGill's Field Service Postcard
1917
Glenbow Archives M-742-7
Harold McGill, a Calgary doctor, served with the 5th Canadian Field Ambulance in France during the First World War. In May 1915 he received his first letter from Calgary nurse Emma Griffis, and so began a remarkable four year correspondence between the two. Emma traveled to England in 1917 to work at the Bramshott Military Hospital and the couple married in December of that year.
Harold's letters to Emma were descriptive and frank about the horrors of war. When in action, however, letters were not allowed since they might lead enemies to the Allies' position. Instead, Harold sent field postcards, which told Emma little more than that he was still alive. The McGills returned safely to Canada in 1919, bringing over 200 war letters home with them. Their daughters, Kathleen (Odell) and Doris (McNab), treasured their parents' war correspondence and donated the letters to the Glenbow Archives between 1976 and 1979.
View the McGill Family finding aid
Visit the Dear Miss Griffis blog to read and comment on these remarkable letters
De Lorme Photograph
Child receiving polio vaccination, Calgary, Alberta
Photographer: Jack De Lorme
June 1954
Glenbow Archives NA-5600-7434a
Jack De Lorme was appointed staff photographer for the Calgary Albertan in 1953 and continued in this position until 1957. During his time behind the camera he saw the city go through an incredible growth spurt, almost doubling in size from 129,000 to 250,000 people. The postwar baby boom was on, and children were the major focus of life. Suburbs grew, schools bulged at the seams, and modern technologies like television arrived in the city. De Lorme's photographs mirrored all of Calgary's youth and optimism, as well as the few darker notes such as the polio outbreak. In 2002 Jack De Lorme donated over 2,500 of his Calgary Albertan negatives to the Glenbow Archives.
View the Calgary in the 1950s virtual exhibit
Tom Innes' Cartoon
Canadian politicians sitting on the fence
Cartoonist: Tom Innes
November 25, 1980
Glenbow Archives M-8000-716
Tom Innes was one of those rare cartoonists who did not need a caption to get his message across. In 1956 he submitted a cartoon to the Calgary Herald which resulted in requests for more of his work. Within six months he was working full-time for the newspaper as an editorial cartoonist, and he continued in this capacity until 1988. He won a National Newspaper Award in 1981 for his political cartoons, and two books of his cartoons have been published. The Glenbow Archives has the original artwork for over 2,500 of Innes' cartoons, dating from 1972 to 1988. The cartoons are particularly rich in documenting the many confrontations between Alberta and Ottawa.
View the Innes cartoons
