Exshaw, Alberta
Encyclopedia
Exshaw is a hamlet
in Alberta
, Canada
within Municipal District (M.D.) of Bighorn No. 8
. Located approximately 90 kilometres (55.9 mi) west of downtown Calgary and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Canmore
, Exshaw is situated within the Bow River
valley north of the Bow River
.
The hamlet was once located within Banff National Park
, with the original park entrance being only a couple miles east of Exshaw.
, Dead Man's Flats
, Harvie Heights
and Lac des Arcs
, as well as large swaths of ranchland west of Cochrane, Alberta
. Exshaw is the municipal seat for the M.D. of Bighorn No. 8.
communities of Kananaskis (lime plant), which is not the recreational area
of the same name, and Seebe
(power dam), which is now closed but proposed for future residential redevelopment. A small ranch
area, now mainly dude ranch
es, is also near the hamlet. Of note is the Brewster's Kananaskis Ranch & Golf Course, which sits on the original homestead property of Bud Brewster and has remained in the family's possession since the 1880s.
A number of smaller parks with camping facilities have also developed in the east Bow Valley
. Directly across the Bow River south from Exshaw is the Hamlet of Lac des Arcs although no bridge connects the two hamlets.
A dam on the Bow River
is east of Seebe.
The smaller Exshaw Mountain, 1783 m (5850 ft.), is north of the hamlet, and is locally known as Cougar Mountain. Across from the community south beyond Lac des Arcs is Heart Mountain
, known as an easier scramble. People often marry outdoors on this mountain because of the heart shape.
Exshaw Creek, locally known and identified on the Highway 1A bridge as Canyon Creek, runs through the hamlet. In 1958, Alan McGugan, et al., identified a new species of the pelecypod Megalodon in a river cliff of Exshaw Creek and gave the new specific name M. banffensis, for the proximity of the Banff
area.
The eastern portion of the hamlet is on the flood plain for Juta Creek. In 1937, P.S. Warren described outcrops on the banks of Jura Creek, naming these the Exshaw Formation
. The Jura Creek valley is known to provide a good introduction to some Front Range geology, with the exposed formations including the Palliser (Devonian
), Exshaw and Banff (Mississippian). The naming of Jura Creek was from misidentified Jurassic fossils, which are actually Paleozoic
, not Jurassic
, in age.
Grotto Creek, 3 km west, has pictographs, including a possible "fluteplayer" Kokopelli
image that may be from the Flute Clan of the Hopi
tradition.
The local area is known for wildlife, despite the industrial development. Duncan MacGillivray
, with explorer David Thompson
on his survey of the Canadian Rockies, first encountered a Big Horn Sheep, near Exshaw, on 30 Nov. 1800, which lead to the specimens collected and subsequent scientific naming.
(B. 15 Feb 1866, Bordeaux
, D. 16 Mar 1927; of Anglo-Irish decent; and Sailing
Olympic Gold Medalist at the Paris 1900 Summer Olympics), who with Fleming helped establish the Western Canada Cement and Coal Company. William Exshaw visited in 1908 when a banquet was held in his honour by the staff of WCC&C.
Robert D. Hassan, an American mechanical engineer, was hired in 1906 to build a mill in Exshaw, Alberta for the Western Canada Cement and Coal Company. He was assisted in building the plant by Alexander Graham Christie, 1880–1964, a mechanical and electrical engineering graduate from the University of Toronto, who later in 1909 became associate professor of engineering at the University of Wisconsin, and in 1914 joined the School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Although the original cement plant was further west, the community has had a large plant for many years. The cement plant, now owned by Lafarge
North America, is the main industry in the community. The limestone is quarried on the mountain north of the plant.
A number of other plants and quarries are in the area east and west. West is Baymag calcined magnesium oxide
plant, and east, Graymont lime
and limestone products plant.
Edwin Loder organized a company, Loders Lime, to take over lime kilns already in operation at the community of Kananaskis, approximately 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) east of Exshaw. Due to the need for more capital a new company was incorporated in 1906 and a new plant completed by 1908. A peak on Door Jam Mountain, above the hamlet and plant, is named after him. The Loder name is still connected with the area.
Roy Zeller, [ca. 1895-1947], from Kitchener
, Ontario
, and married to Lucille, 1896–1982, established together a garage in Exshaw about 1926. During the summers Lucille ran the Bowfort Service Station and tea room nine miles (14 km) east of Exshaw, at 'The Gap'. They retired to the New Westminster, British Columbia
area in 1943 or 1944.
In 1935, Mr. Zeller recognized the three Doukhobor
bandits, Posnikoff, Voyken and Kalakous, who had shot Sergeant T. S. Wallace, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
, near Banff, which lead to their capture.
Bruno Gerussi
, a Canadian television actor who is best known for the lead role in the CBC series The Beachcombers
, grew up in Exshaw.
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
within Municipal District (M.D.) of Bighorn No. 8
Bighorn No. 8, Alberta
The Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8 is a municipal district situated in Census Division No. 15 of Alberta, Canada. It is located between Calgary and Banff National Park, north of Kananaskis Improvement District. Highway 1 bisects this county.It was created as a municipal district on January 1,...
. Located approximately 90 kilometres (55.9 mi) west of downtown Calgary and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Canmore
Canmore, Alberta
Canmore is a town in Alberta, Canada, located approximately west of the City of Calgary near the southeast boundary of Banff National Park. It is located in the Bow Valley within Alberta's Rockies. The town shares a border with Kananaskis Country to the west and south and the Municipal District of...
, Exshaw is situated within the Bow River
Bow River
The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, and is considered the headwater of the Nelson River....
valley north of the Bow River
Bow River
The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, and is considered the headwater of the Nelson River....
.
The hamlet was once located within Banff National Park
Banff National Park
Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine...
, with the original park entrance being only a couple miles east of Exshaw.
Administration
Exshaw is the largest hamlet in the M.D. of Bighorn No. 8, which also includes the hamlets of BenchlandsBenchlands, Alberta
Benchlands is a hamlet in Alberta within the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8. The Ghost River is located on the hamlet's south side, while Highway 40 borders the north side....
, Dead Man's Flats
Dead Man's Flats, Alberta
Dead Man's Flats is a hamlet in Alberta within the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8. Statistics Canada also recognizes it as a designated place under the name of Pigeon Mountain. It is located within Alberta's Rockies at Highway 1 exit 98, approximately southeast of Canmore and from...
, Harvie Heights
Harvie Heights, Alberta
Harvie Heights is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada within the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8. It is located within Alberta's Rockies on the Trans-Canada Highway approximately northwest of Canmore and immediately east of the park gate for Banff National Park.- References :...
and Lac des Arcs
Lac Des Arcs, Alberta
Lac des Arcs is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada within the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8. It is located on the south side of the Bow River opposite the Hamlet of Exshaw and has an elevation of . Highway 1 borders Lac des Arcs on the south.The hamlet is located in census division No...
, as well as large swaths of ranchland west of Cochrane, Alberta
Cochrane, Alberta
Cochrane is a town in the Canadian province of Alberta. The town is located 18 km west of the Calgary city limits along Highway 1A. With a population of 15,424 , Cochrane is the second largest town in Alberta and one of the fastest growing communities in Canada...
. Exshaw is the municipal seat for the M.D. of Bighorn No. 8.
Geography
East of Exshaw are smaller company townCompany town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
communities of Kananaskis (lime plant), which is not the recreational area
Kananaskis, Alberta (community)
Kananaskis is an unincorporated community in Alberta's Rockies within the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8 of Alberta, Canada. It is located on Highway 1A approximately east of Canmore and west of Cochrane. The community is located on the north shore of the Bow River.- External links :*...
of the same name, and Seebe
Seebe, Alberta
Seebe is a former hamlet in Alberta, Canada, within the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8. It is a former Calgary Power Company Ltd. employee townsite that was closed on August 31, 2004....
(power dam), which is now closed but proposed for future residential redevelopment. A small ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
area, now mainly dude ranch
Dude ranch
The guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism.-History:...
es, is also near the hamlet. Of note is the Brewster's Kananaskis Ranch & Golf Course, which sits on the original homestead property of Bud Brewster and has remained in the family's possession since the 1880s.
A number of smaller parks with camping facilities have also developed in the east Bow Valley
Bow Valley
Bow Valley is a valley located along the upper Bow River in Alberta, Canada.The name "Bow" refers to the reeds that grew along its banks and which were used by the local First Nations peoples to make bows; the Peigan name for the river is "Makhabn", meaning "river where bow weeds grow".-Parks:Bow...
. Directly across the Bow River south from Exshaw is the Hamlet of Lac des Arcs although no bridge connects the two hamlets.
A dam on the Bow River
Bow River
The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, and is considered the headwater of the Nelson River....
is east of Seebe.
The smaller Exshaw Mountain, 1783 m (5850 ft.), is north of the hamlet, and is locally known as Cougar Mountain. Across from the community south beyond Lac des Arcs is Heart Mountain
Heart Mountain (Alberta)
Heart Mountain is a mountain located in the Bow River valley just south of Exshaw, Alberta. The peak was named in 1957 for the heart shaped layer of limestone near the top....
, known as an easier scramble. People often marry outdoors on this mountain because of the heart shape.
Exshaw Creek, locally known and identified on the Highway 1A bridge as Canyon Creek, runs through the hamlet. In 1958, Alan McGugan, et al., identified a new species of the pelecypod Megalodon in a river cliff of Exshaw Creek and gave the new specific name M. banffensis, for the proximity of the Banff
Banff, Alberta
Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise....
area.
The eastern portion of the hamlet is on the flood plain for Juta Creek. In 1937, P.S. Warren described outcrops on the banks of Jura Creek, naming these the Exshaw Formation
Exshaw Formation
The Exshaw Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Mississippian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.It takes the name from the hamlet of Exshaw, Alberta, and was first described in outcrops on the banks of Jura Creek, north of Exshaw by P.S. Warren in 1937. The formation is of late...
. The Jura Creek valley is known to provide a good introduction to some Front Range geology, with the exposed formations including the Palliser (Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
), Exshaw and Banff (Mississippian). The naming of Jura Creek was from misidentified Jurassic fossils, which are actually Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
, not Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
, in age.
Grotto Creek, 3 km west, has pictographs, including a possible "fluteplayer" Kokopelli
Kokopelli
Kokopelli is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player , who has been venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and agriculture...
image that may be from the Flute Clan of the Hopi
Hopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
tradition.
The local area is known for wildlife, despite the industrial development. Duncan MacGillivray
Duncan McGillivray
Duncan McGillivray , born in Inverness-shire, Scotland, was an explorer and fur trader who accompanied David Thompson on explorations of the North-West Territory and the Canadian Rockies. In 1800, they reached what is now Banff National Park...
, with explorer David Thompson
David Thompson (explorer)
David Thompson was an English-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, known to some native peoples as "Koo-Koo-Sint" or "the Stargazer"...
on his survey of the Canadian Rockies, first encountered a Big Horn Sheep, near Exshaw, on 30 Nov. 1800, which lead to the specimens collected and subsequent scientific naming.
History
Sir Sanford Fleming named Exshaw after his son-in-law, E. William ExshawE. William Exshaw
Edward William Exshaw was a British sailor who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics.He was a member of the British/French boat Ollé, which won the gold medals in the both races of 2-3 ton class. He also participated in the open class, but did not finish-External links:*...
(B. 15 Feb 1866, Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, D. 16 Mar 1927; of Anglo-Irish decent; and Sailing
Sailing at the 1900 Summer Olympics - 2 to 3 ton
The 2 – 3 ton was a sailing event on the Sailing at the 1900 Summer Olympics program in Meulan. It was the third-heaviest weight class. Two races were held as part of the Expo 1900 in Paris. Only the first race was recognized by the International Olympic Committee. The first was held on 22 May...
Olympic Gold Medalist at the Paris 1900 Summer Olympics), who with Fleming helped establish the Western Canada Cement and Coal Company. William Exshaw visited in 1908 when a banquet was held in his honour by the staff of WCC&C.
Robert D. Hassan, an American mechanical engineer, was hired in 1906 to build a mill in Exshaw, Alberta for the Western Canada Cement and Coal Company. He was assisted in building the plant by Alexander Graham Christie, 1880–1964, a mechanical and electrical engineering graduate from the University of Toronto, who later in 1909 became associate professor of engineering at the University of Wisconsin, and in 1914 joined the School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Although the original cement plant was further west, the community has had a large plant for many years. The cement plant, now owned by Lafarge
Lafarge
Lafarge is a French industrial company specialising in four major products: cement, construction aggregates, concrete and gypsum wallboard. In 2010 the company was the world's second-largest cement manufacturer by mass shipped behind Holcim.-History:...
North America, is the main industry in the community. The limestone is quarried on the mountain north of the plant.
Magnesium oxide
Magnesium oxide , or magnesia, is a white hygroscopic solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium . It has an empirical formula of and consists of a lattice of Mg2+ ions and O2– ions held together by ionic bonds...
plant, and east, Graymont lime
Lime (mineral)
Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...
and limestone products plant.
Edwin Loder organized a company, Loders Lime, to take over lime kilns already in operation at the community of Kananaskis, approximately 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) east of Exshaw. Due to the need for more capital a new company was incorporated in 1906 and a new plant completed by 1908. A peak on Door Jam Mountain, above the hamlet and plant, is named after him. The Loder name is still connected with the area.
Roy Zeller, [ca. 1895-1947], from Kitchener
Kitchener, Ontario
The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, and married to Lucille, 1896–1982, established together a garage in Exshaw about 1926. During the summers Lucille ran the Bowfort Service Station and tea room nine miles (14 km) east of Exshaw, at 'The Gap'. They retired to the New Westminster, British Columbia
New Westminster, British Columbia
New Westminster is an historically important city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and is a member municipality of the Greater Vancouver Regional District. It was founded as the capital of the Colony of British Columbia ....
area in 1943 or 1944.
In 1935, Mr. Zeller recognized the three Doukhobor
Doukhobor
The Doukhobors or Dukhobors , earlierDukhobortsy are a group of Russian origin.The Doukhobors were one of the sects - later defined as a religious philosophy, ethnic group, social movement, or simply a "way of life" - known generically as Spiritual Christianity. The origin of the Doukhobors is...
bandits, Posnikoff, Voyken and Kalakous, who had shot Sergeant T. S. Wallace, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
, near Banff, which lead to their capture.
Bruno Gerussi
Bruno Gerussi
Bruno Gerussi was a Canadian television actor born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, best known for the lead role in the CBC Television series The Beachcombers...
, a Canadian television actor who is best known for the lead role in the CBC series The Beachcombers
The Beachcombers
The Beachcombers is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that ran from October 1, 1972 to December 12, 1990 and is the longest-running dramatic series ever made for English-language Canadian television...
, grew up in Exshaw.