HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1949-09-29, Page 8PAGE EIGHT
CLINTON NEWS -RECORD
CNR'S Jasper Park
Jewel of Rockies
It was,four decades ago — .
1907 — that the government of
Canada set aside a territory in
the Rockies larger than the state
of Connecticut in the United
States and called it Jasper Na-
tional Park. With an•adjuetment
of boundaries later, its size was
slightly seduced, but it is still,
with an area of 4,200 square miles,
bigger than the states of Dela-
ware and Rhode Island combined,
For a century Its mountains and
valleys had been familiar to fur
traders and explorers; the Atha-
baska Trail was for many years
the main thoroughfare across the
Canadian Rockies to the Pacific;
and it was a fur trader who gave
his name to the territory. Jasper
Hawes came from Missouri, He
married en Indian and raised a
large family. At first he was en
independent trapperend trader
but later he joined the Hudson's
Bay Company and was in charge
of the post at Brule Lake, which
was kown as Jasper's House and
Jasper House. He went there
some time around 1813. How long
he stayed, no one seems to know,
but he went back to private
trading. "Finally," legend says,
"yielding to the ,trapper's eternal
wanderlust, he started with his
family by raft on a hazardous
journey down the Fraser and
perished. :with them in one of its
treacherous rapids."
The Name "Jasper"
The quotation is from a book
on' the Park by M. B. Williams,
published by the. Department of
the •Interior in 1928. The author
notes that the Athabaska Valley
in those parts was known as
Jasper . Valley,that the .two
mountain's at the eastern entrance
were Jasper Portals • and that a
lake was Jasper Lgke, and goes
on. to- say:.
"Why he' should have so im-
pressed himsei(9 on the whole
region there is little to show. Was
it, one wonders, something in the
character and temperament of the
man which accounted for this
wide and almost affectionate use
of his Christian name? Was
"Hawes' House" too muchof a
mouthful, or did the word Jasper.
carry a suggestion which fitted
the beauty of this wonderful
region with its shining river
the midst of it and which ' caus-
ed the name to fix itself inmen's
minds? There are no records
which afford a satisfactory ex-
planation. Hawes remains an
almost legendary figure, im-
mortalized by his unusual Chris-
tian name."
The great explorers, David
Thompson and Simon Fraser, and 1
the other trail -blazers not so
well-known, passed into history,
leaving their records behind them;
sn David Douglas; the botanist,. who
gave " his name to the giant fir,
passed through and left a puzzle
for the future; he miscalculated
the height of two mountains; Paul
Kane, the artist, made his pictures
of the Indians; exactly a century
ago, Father de Smet, the Belgian
missionary, spent a month in
Jasper; the goldseekers •on the
way to the Cariboo followed the
trail of the fur trade; the first
:tourists, Viscount Milton and Dr.
W. B. Cheadle came and went;
the fur brigades made their
'traverses of the mountains twice
a year, and then they ceased.
The fur trade diminished' and
Jasper • slipped into the unknown,
and remained unknown, except
to a few hardy souls, until the
railway came.
Yellowhead Pass
The Grand Trunk Pacific and
the Canadian Northern (both ere
now part of the Canadian Na-
tional system) went thrqugh the
Park a few years after.it was
established. They forgot. the old
Athabaska Pass and took the
easier Yeliowhead, farther north,
to the ocean, one to Prince Ro-
per and the other to Vancouver.
The first world war' checked
development, however, and it
was not until 1922, with the
opening of the,now famous
Canadian National hotel, Jasper
Park Lodge, that the great play-
ground began to came into its
own. For a quarter of. a century,
The Lodge, as it is affeetionetely
known, has catered to the pleas-
ures of thousands of tourists from
all parts of the world, year by
year enlarging and.improving its
facilities as new trails end motor
highways, chalets and camps,
made more of the Park accessible
to visitors,
Between the coming of the
railway and the opening of The
Lodge, Jasper had some accom-
modation for tourists. They cal-
led it "Tent City," but to the
enterprising Brewster Brothers,
Fred and Jack, who had some-
thing to do with locating it and
who operated it for a time, it
was, more formally, Jasper Park
Camp, Lac Beauvert.
Jasper's Development
Osborne Scott, who was pas-
senger traffic manager for the
CNR, Western Region, when he
retired several years ago, was,
in the early days of the Canad-
ian Northern, one of the first
railwaymen to become actively
interested in the development of.
Jasper as a resort. He travelled
a great deal, on foot, on horse-
back and by canoe coming to
now the' Park intimately and
passing on this enthusiasm to to
travellers. But it was R. C. W. th
Lett, tourist agent of the Grand .J
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29. 1949
Trunk Pacific, who took thelead
in setting up lodgings for them,'
Seeing the possibility of inducing
eastern visitors to the World's
Fair in' San Francisco in 1913 to
return home by way of Canada,
he encouraged Robert Kenneth,
an Edmonton business man, to
make it possible for them to stop
over in Jasper.
H. F. Tilley of the GTP in Ed-
monton was sent to investigate
locations for a camp. In company,
with Fred and Jack Brewster,.
he visited Lake Edith, Pyramid
Lake andother likely situations.
Then, at the suggestion of the.
Brewsters, who saved their "ace
in the hole" until the last, he
came to Lac . Beauvert. There
Tent City went up and there
Jasper Park Lodge stands today.
It is a perfect location for a
summer hotel, on the shore of
the charming little lake, in view
of Mount Edith Cavell on one
side and Pyramid Mountain on
the other, with, the' Good Old
Man sleeping his eternal sleep
across the valley behind.
A "Tent" City
The site of the original Jasper
Park Camp was to the left of
where the 'main building of the
Lodgenow stands and closer to
the water, on ground now given
over to lawns and flower beds.
There were eight tents, all with
wooden floors and sidewalls.
From the beginning, Jasper
has attracted tourists from the
United States end three days be-
fore the opening of the camp on
June 15, 1915, these were guests:
E. V. Leland of Cambridge, Mass.,
G. P, Ireland, of Springfield,
Martin W. Luse of Harrisburg,
Pa., and J. E. Bell of. Seattle.
The early registers ere now in
possession of Major James Wood,
superintendent of the Perk, and
one of these days they will go
into a Jasper museum.
In the first season, between'
June and September, scores of
visitors came, from all parts of
Canada, fromthe United States
and from abroad. Mr. and Mrs.
A. O. Merrick of Winnipeg, Mary
S. Webster • of Toronto, F. M.
Olsen of Edmonton and T. Thor-
vaidsen and L. L. Burgess of
Saskatoon were registered g ed at the
opening. Ten days later, W. H.
Billy' Robinson, Canadian North-
ern photographer, now head of
the Canadian National Railways.
photographic services, arrived and
began his long career of making
pictures, both still end movies,
>f Jasper. Among the other early
guests were James Lightbody,
public relations official with the
British Columbia Electric Rail-
way, Vancouver; Miss Josephine
Adams Rathbone, chief librarian
of the Pratt Institute, New York.
It was a good first season but
several years were to pass before
there was another. Because of
the first world war, Jasper Park
Camp was closed until 1919, when
it was bought and re -opened by
Fred Brewster, now a major re-
rned from service overseas with
e Engineers, and his brother,
ick. Thy built a log cabin 'to
THE ONLY RAILWAY SERVING ALL TEN PROVINCES
Comfort is the word for Canadian National
travel. Whether you tide in coach or parlor
car, you enjoy roomy armchair ease as the
miles speed smoothly by. Stretch your legs
when so minded, by a stroll to the smoking
compartment or dining car. The hours pass
swiftly and pleasantly. You arrive refreshed
-- when you go Canadian National.
Mealtimes are, a delight in Canadian National's
inviting dining cars. Your favourite dishes,
temptingly prepared, are deftly served in a
cheerful, friendly atmosphere.
You'll sleep soundly in the soothing quiet of Canadian
National night -travel accommodations, berths or moms
...air-conditioned for your comfort. Travel by train
for dependable, ail -weather service.
.Hallett Couple Married
Shown following their marriage are MR. AND MRS.
THEODORE DOMINIC PLYNN, who were married by Rev.
S. J. McDonald in St. Joseph's Church, Clinton, on Monday,
Seiitrneber 5. Mrs. Flynn, the former Rita Gertrude Carbert,
is a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. George Carbert, Hullett
Township, and the groom is n son of Mrs. Flynn and the late
Owen Flynn, also of Hullett Township. Following a wedding
trip to Northern Ontario, the couple 'have taken up residence
on the groom's farm in Hullett. — Photo by Earl MacLaren;
engraving courtesy The London Free Press. _
be used as a kitchen and dining
room to serve the guests in the
tents,
In 1921, the
91,National
Railways hotel department took
the camp over from the Brew-
stars, erected eight log bungalows,
and Jasper Park Lodge was op-
ened in the following summer.
Unique Design
John Schofield, chief architect
for Trans -Canada Air Lines and
recently retired from the position
of chief architect for the Canad-
ian. National System, was largely
responsible for the over-all de-
sign of The Lodge, but he main-
tains that credit for the idea of a
bungalow hotel isnot due to any
one men. It was one of those
happy ideas that come to life
spontaneously. The original tents
must have had something to do
with it, as well as the nature of
some of the pinoeer buildings in
the Park. Maybe the cabin built
by the famous squatter Swift,
who Iived many years in Jasper,
was an inspiration. At any rate,
Mr. Schofield felt that the Ath-
abaska Valley was no place for a
massive city hotel.
Out of the war, badly wounded,
crushed in body and crushed in
spirit, came a young Englishman
named Godfrey Milnes. He had
migrated to Canada to get a fresh
start, but there seemed to be no
opening in this new country for
a man of his talents and he was
at the end of his tether when he
walked into Mr. Sehofield's office
in Toronto on a July day in 1920.
With sympathy for his plight and
confidence in the ability shown
in the samples of his work, the
architect decided to give him a
chance. Milnes was taken on
es a draughtsman and it was he
who made the ' first architect's
drawing of Jasper Park Lodge.
Mr. Schofield called him in one
Saturday, gave him a rough idea
of what he wanted and said he
wonted it in a hurry. He got it
in a hurry. Milnes made his draw-
ings that very afternoon and The
Lodge was on the way. -
"Fell your Iogs and build your
habitation." The builders of this
great modern hotel followed the
practice of the pioneers of the
wilderness, The jackpine for the
first bungalows came from the
site and from the ground now
smoothed out for the eighteenth
fairway of the golf course. The
stones came from close at hand
Later the builders went a little
farther afield, 'tutting from the
stands on the slopes of the Cohn
Range, below Old Man Mountain,
end shipping the cedar uprights
by rail from the Pacific Coast.
Fred and Jack Brewster hauled
in the logs by horsedrawn sleighs
during the winter months.
At first, the logs were chinked
with moss. As refinements came
in, they were cemented, The
carved woodwork admired by the
guests in the main building is
the work of Ralph Jolles, a
Welshman who learned his trade
in the .Old Country. He was one
of Jasper's early settlers and
blazedSprings. the trail to the Miette Hot
Consta'uction was supervised by
John Craig of Winnipeg, the rail -
Way s building superinendent, and
he had a large crew of workmen
brought in by the CNR to aug-
ment local labor,
Steady Carowth
It would be tedious to follow
the development of Jasper Park
Lodge year by year, but a few
dates are important, The first
unit of the main building, which
some say is the largest log sttue
hire in the world, was erected in
the winter of 1922-23, when ad-
ditional bnngaicwsand staff
quartere also went up. It now
includes under its shingled roof
the expansive lounge with, stone
'fireplaces the dining roam with
tablas for 400 guests, large kit-
chen, the ;meek room, the ball-
-MOM n wing for offices end a
bInedrooilspmesent ize tying. It. in ry1.928.as enlarged
r
Like a mother hon, ut sits
smugly In its nest of trees, grass
aanri flowers, surrounded by its
breed of bungalows spread out.
along the curve of Lae Benuvert,
These Nibble are of varying
sizes, some wltit tour rooms,
some with as ninny as 16, one
with 82. The special heuseiteep-
taai; cabins, which aur' rented out-
right: to Were
or porgies of
Friends, were` built, "Point Cabin„
in 39311 and "bethink Cabin" two
7enrs later,
Tire, open-air .haalarl swimming
Itool wait built in 3926' the power
Crouse end *unary' a year later;,
the golf clubhouse and the green-
house in 1929; the hospital in 1930.
The golf course, pride of Jasper
and, indeed, of Canada, was of-
ficially opened on July 17, 1925,
by Earl Haig, Commander -in -
Chief of the British forces in. the
first world war. A bronze plaque
commemorating the event may be
seen inthe clubhouse.
The site of the course was cov-
ered with timber end huge bould-
ers and clearing was . a task of
outstanding proportions, accord-
ing to Fred Brewster, who still
marvels how Stanley Thompson,
the golf architect, ever figured
out how to lay out the course.
Clearing the ground took only one
summer but it kept 50 teams and
200 men busy. Trainloads of soil
were imported. At the close of
the second world war, the course
was ploughed up and rebuilt. It
has always been kept in perfect
condition and it has won the ad-
miration of world renowned pro-
fessionals and amateurs alike. The
annual Totem. Pole Golf Tourna-
ment, inaugurated in 1926 was
won in 1947 by Bing Crosby who
played golf every chance to got
when he was working on the film
"The Emperor Waltz" in Jasper
the summer before.
The beautiful grounds of The
Lodge, as it is today, were clear-
ed after the golf course was laid
out, The Lodge grounds, with
their trees, shrubs, flowers and
lawns, are a tribute to the first
gardener, William Glass, who gave
many years of painstaking work
before he retired. His work is
being carried on by William
Nicol, long his assistant.
Accommodation 650
Over the years, The Lodge was
enlarged until today it has accom-
modation for 650 guests. Refine-
ment was added to refinement.
Jasper Park Lodge doesn't look
Iike a modern hotel but it has all
the comforts of a modern hotel of
the first class . . electricity,
.telephones, hot water, tasteful
furnishings, good food, dinner
music and music for dancing. It
makes provision for tennis as well
as golf, for canoeing as well es
swimming, for horseback riding,
hiking and climbing and simply
sitting or sauntering. The Brew -
eters' horsedrawn carriages that
brought the guests from the rail-
way station, three miles away, in
the early deys, have given way to
busses and limousines. With the
opening of new trails throughout
the Park, saddle .trips take the
guests farther and farther into
the Park, while improved high-
ways make miles of it accessible
by the automobiles, The most
spectacular* trip is over the 75
miles to the Columbia Icefields,
one of the wonders of the world.
Walter Pratt was general man-
ager of the Canadian National
hotel department when Jasper
Perk Lodge was opened and the
first manager was A. F. Darnell.
In 1923, when D.. B. Mulligan
was general manager of the de-
partment, T. G. Forshaw was
Manager of The Lodge. Thousands
of guests remember John O'Brien,
who was in Jasper every sum-
mer from 1924 until his death in
1936. He was succeeded by Ro-
bert Sommerville, 1937-1940. R
E. Cuhney was there for two
years. The Lodge was closed in
1943, 1944 and . 1945, When it
re -opened in 1946, J. P. Stark
was in charge, He • returned in
1047, but has since left the ser-
vice of the company and this year
the manager is H. J. Gunning,
Mr. Gunning who at the start of
his career spent several seasons
in summer resort hotels at Old
Orchard, Maine, became- assistant
manager at The Chateau Laurier,
Ottawa, in i938. That summer,
and for three or four summers
Otter, lie served in the same cap-
acity at Jasper. In August 1942,
he enlisted in the Royal Canad-
ian Army Service Corps as a
private. He was commissioned in
1943 and later promoted to the
rant: of Captain, serving both in
Canada and overseas until his
discharge in December, 1945.
Attended Convention
The 30th annual convention of
the Canadian Weekly Newspapers.
Association was held at Jasper
Park Lodge, September 12-14. Mr.
and Mrs. R. S. Atkey. represented
The NEWS -RECORD at this con-
vention and had a very enjoyable
time. They were very apprecia-
tive of the many courtesies Pro-
vided by the Canadian National
Railways.
Each day a farmer travels
far
Dy tractor, truck and
motor car
Our tires keep him on
Me go
O'er Se/ds and trails—through
mud and snow.
912
See Us Today
MURPHY BROS.
Chrysler and Plymouth Sales and Service
PHONE 465 CLINTON
0.0
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Feed
TO FIGURE O UT
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EGGS COST YOU-
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OU-
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Death in Flocks (Mortality) 00
Labor
Interest on Capitol
Miscellaneous Costs
09
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10.8%
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Since 61.8 of the cost to produce one dozen eggs is FEED ... choose
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