Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

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Jasper and Area Heritage - How the region was settled While you're staying at the Jasper Inn, we invite you to learn more about the heritage and history relating to the town of Jasper, the Alberta region and our magnificent Canadian Rockies. Start your Jasper experience with this primer on how this region came to be settled, and then explore it for yourself as you travel to various Canadian Rockies Resorts and Hotels, including The Jasper Inn, Alpine Resort as a stop along the way! As recently as 8,000 years ago, a great span of glacial ice covered most of the Athabasca Valley. As the valley warmed, plants, birds, insects and larger animals moved quickly into the “newly” formed post-glacial basin. This fresh abundance flora and fauna also attracted the plains-dwelling Native Indians. Living and traveling just beyond the Eastern Slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, these tribes relished the basin, which was bursting with life. Native hunters would journey into the central valley to harvest wild game that took refuge there. The remnants of transient campsites and workshops dating back over 3,000 years have been discovered inside the present park boundaries. Curiously, however, no permanent camps have been found. Considering the savage nature of the Rocky Mountain winter, and the deep snow in particular, this historical lack of “four-season interest” is somewhat easy to understand. This 1908 exploration party includes Mary Schaffer, Molly Adams, Billy Warren, Sydney Udwin and Muggins, the dog. In 1928, Curly Phillips finished construction of "The Leah," Maligne Lake's first tour boat. Maligne Lake Tours has lovingly restored the vessel for the public to see. A respect for the past characterizes all aspects of the Maligne Lake experience. The Stony Indian family, Samson and Leah Beaver with son, was photographed and hand painted (for color) by Mary Schaffer, circa 1908. It was Samson Beaver who drew the rough map that directed Mary Schaffer to Maligne Lake. At the beginning of the 19th century, fur traders from the Hudson's Bay and North West companies opened up the Canadian Rockies to the white man. In this great northern climate, traders and explorers reveled in the warmer months, but suffered greatly during the inhospitable winter months. They traveled by water whenever possible, and the “voyageurs,” or men of incredible endurance, traveled up to 130 kilometers per day in their search for undiscovered territory. Frontiersman Curly Phillips, who, along with Fred Brewster and the Otto brothers, brought the first visitors to Maligne Lake. In the background is the Phillips Boathouse, built in 1927. This structure is now a registered historic site, and is still in use. Led by the Indians of the Plains, small groups of determined explorers first discovered the Great River of the Woods (later to become known as the Athabasca) in the 1790s. And although Peter Pond produced the first map of the area in 1789, it wasn't until 1811 that this monumental waterway became known as the “Gateway to the Pacific.” At that time, David Thompson and his band arrived at the Meeting of the Waters, and from there, where the Whirlpool and Athabasca meet, they forged alongside the treacherous Whirlpool ... continuing upwards through the dead of winter to the snow-clogged Athabasca Pass at 1,716 meters. Continuing to strike westward, they followed to the Pacific Ocean, arriving there in mid-July of 1811, at which point, they realized the significance of their amazing discovery. Continue exploring the History of Jasper National Park and the town of Jasper by strolling through the town of Jasper and visiting our famous sites.

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Jasper Inn Alpine Resort & Inn Restaurant  98 Geikie Street, P.O. Box 879, Jasper, Alberta, Canada, T0E 1E0 Phone: 780.852.4461   1.800.661.1933 (Toll Free in North America)   Fax: 780.852.5916

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