Okotoks Culture and History - History Fun Facts

The last buffalo in the Okotoks area was killed in 1879, one mile north of Okotoks.
Okotoks was renamed Dewdney from 1892 to 1896 in honour of Lieutenant Lord Edgar Dewdney of the North West Territories. He was a former lieutenant governor of the territory, and a Canadian Pacific Railway (C.P.R.) director. The name reverted back to Okotoks due to confusion with a Town of Dewdney in British Columbia.
The Sheep River originated some 12,000 years ago as the transcontinental glaciers carved a pathway for the river during the retreat of the Ice Age.
No one knows for sure how the "Sheep River" got it name. One educated guess is that Palliser named it after seeing Big Horn Sheep at the river's headwaters in the Rocky Mountains.
A flood in 1915 covered Mainstreet with water. In 1916, 200 flat cars of rock were brought by train from Frank Slide in the Crowsnest Pass and placed on the north side of the river one mile west of Town to prevent further flooding in Town. It was locally referred to as "White Rocks".
From initial settlement to the 1940's, women were expected to quit work once they were married.
In the early 1900's, land sold for $2.00-$4.00/acre.
In the early 1900's, a staple food was "sow bosom"; - a salt fat pork stacked in stores like cordwood.
Oats grown in Okotoks took the highest award at the Paris Exposition in 1902.
Before the invention of fridges, local people used to cut ice from ponds created by the Sheep River, and haul them to their storage house. The blocks would be packed with sawdust ad would last through the next summer.
In 1908 it was custom at the time to welcome newlyweds at the town train station with the Okotoks Band.
Mrs. Tillotson, while preparing a goose for a meal, discovered a gold nugget in the bird. Word of this soon spread, triggering a gold rush in the area. Many claims were staked, extending as far as a quarter mile east of the Sheep River bridge. No gold was discovered.
Wooden sidewalks and hitching posts were removed in the late 1920's.
Wages in the early 1930's were $600-700.00/yr.
In 1958 there were no "mixed" (women & men) drinking holes in Calgary, but there was in Okotoks. Needless to say, Okotoks became a popular drinking spot for Calgarians.
Train passenger service to Okotoks was discontinued in 1972, ending 80 years of passenger service.
Bobby Kennedy visited the St. James Roman Catholic Church in the 1960's.

September 2010

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Okotoks Museum and Archives

49 North Railway Street

Monday to Friday

10am - 5pm

Saturday to Sunday

12 noon - 5 pm

(closed statutory holidays)