It’s been more than a century since wagon wheels rolled through a small ravine at the end of Elk Street in Okotoks.
Today, only the odd person uses the trail to hike up out of the Sheep River Valley, but for more than 120 years it was an important link in the Old Macleod Trail – a vital lifeline for much of what is now southern Alberta.
Foothills historian Bill Dunn unveiled a new wagon wheel marker at the base of the ravine on Dec. 8 recognizing its role in Alberta’s history. It’s one of 17 markers lining the route the trail once took.
Dunn said the trail and its role in Alberta’s history before the arrival of the railroad is worth remembering.
“It was the only communication with the outside world,” he said. “There was no telegraph in Alberta. There was no rail in Alberta. There was no means of getting supplies in volume like they did with the Macleod Trail.”
The Old Macleod Trail connected Fort Macleod and Fort Calgary and it was also part of a longer trail stretching from Fort Benton in Montana to Fort Edmonton. The Montana fort was located on the northern-most stretch of the Missouri River that could be navigated by steamboats. From there, teams of oxen pulled wagons headed north loaded with all manner of items such as cook stoves and mail to and from eastern Canada.
It was much better than the alternatives when there was no rail line in western Canada. The only other options were to travel overland from eastern Canada or by York boat to Fort Edmonton. The first was a long trip across unsettled prairie and York boats were limited in how much they could carry.
Freight wagons only travelled during the summer months, but stagecoaches accessed the trail throughout the year delivering people and mail.
When the railway reached Calgary the number of bull trains dropped but the trail was still well used to the south.
“They still had to have mail and there was no other transportation than horseback,” said Dunn.
It was a 300-mile trip from Fort Benton to Fort Calgary and the trip could take well over a month.
The section between the Sheep River and Calgary marked the final leg of the journey. It was a one-day coach ride from Okotoks to Fort Calgary and a one or two-day trip for bull teams.
Okotoks was also a key link in the trail.
Dunn said the ravine was the easiest location for wagons to get out of what was then called the Sheep Creek Valley to continue north to Fort Calgary.
The trail crossed the creek in two locations, the Macmillan Ford crossed near the existing rail bridge and the Cameron Crossing was near the Northridge Drive bridge. North Railway Street mirrors the route of the Macleod Trail between the MacMillan Ford and where it went up the hill through the ravine.
According to Dunn, the Okotoks area was also identified as one of five places stagecoaches could stop along the trail and be out of the weather and stopping houses were built to shelter people on the trail.
Kathy Coutts, Okotoks museum specialist, said Okotoks wouldn’t exist today without the trail.
She said the first buildings in what is now Okotoks were constructed to serve the bull trains and travelers who followed the trail.
The MacMillan stopping house was located near the Okotoks Recycling Depot and the Cameron stopping house was at the base of the river escarpment near Center Avenue.
Over time more people settled in the area and the town of Okotoks was born.
“Travelers along the route probably recognized this as a worthwhile place to stop and put down roots,” she said. “It had the river and good farmland. It was situated on the Macleod Trail.”
The trail largely fell out of use once the railway was built through Okotoks in 1892.
Few sections of the rail remain, but wagon wheel markers line the route with the first one being erected in Fort Macleod.
Dunn said the first markers were put up in the early 1980s and eventually led to efforts to fix existing markers and install new ones along the trail. He has led an effort to rebuild and refurbish a series of wagon wheel markers lining the route of the trial between Fort Macleod and Calgary.
The Okotoks marker will be number 16 along the route and will replace a plaque set up by the Okotoks Historical Society in 2000.
Marker number one is located beside Highway 3 a few blocks east of the fort in Fort Macleod. Dunn unveiled wagon wheel marker number 17 on the site of the longest remaining continuous section of the trail on a ridge overlooking DeWinton in June.
Dunn now has his sights set on setting up markers in Calgary. He is currently working with Fort Calgary to have a marker installed at the fort once renovations of the site are complete and he would also like to have a marker set up at Pine Creek next to Macleod Trail just inside Calgary.
