A Journey into the Past

With a large bump on her head, Julia and the rest of the family headed out to Heritage Park, a place similar to Plimouth Plantation but at the turn of the nineteenth century on the Alberta frontier. The weather was overcast and it did begin to rain when we finally arrived at the parking lot. A quick side note: our breakfasts have been a mishmash of whatever we could find at the local grocery store and this morning was no exception. The prices are expensive in Canada and even if we had an advantageous exchange rate we are paying 25% more for food than we thought. Anyways, the breakfast at the local store began with a smorgasbord of doughnuts and a nice chat with a lady waiting with her groceries. With sugar running through their blood, the kids were more than happy to make conversation with her and she thought they were a delight; I was simply pleased to have a distraction while I enjoyed my morning coffee.

Arriving at the park, we immediately headed for the traditional steam engine train with three cars attached. A beautiful train and the “Heritage” of the park was readily on display as we took a circular tour of the surroundings. Of course, the kids saw the rides section of the park and they immediately wanted to head for them, but we were able to head them off and began our tour at a couple of teepees and what we thought was a fort. The fort turned out to be an outpost for the Hudson Bay Company. Each of these outposts had a store for trappers and the local natives to trade beaver pelts for manufactured goods from the home countries. A wool blanket from the Hudson Bay Company has 4 black stripes on the side to represent an exchange for 4 beaver pelts. This was the early version of the bar code and this bartering system remained in place for close to two hundred years.

We continued through the park visiting the old schoolhouse, the outpost for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the general store, and the hospital. The kids tried rock candy, but didn’t seem too impressed. After visiting the historical part of the park we moved on to the antique midway. Julia and Michael were both thrill seekers and asked to ride the “Whip,” the “Caterpillar,” and the “Swinging Vines” several times. All of these rides existed around the turn of the century and the Caterpillar was manufactured by the Spillman Engineering Co. located in N. Tonawanda, NY. The reason it is called the Caterpillar is due to the large green canvas roof that covers the riders once it begins moving full speed. Needless to say the ride was very popular with couples and the company could not produce enough rides to meet demand. The day proved to be both fun and educational.