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Whenever I am home to Glenwood, I love to travel around to the places I went as a child, with my own children. So, I took my mom, the kids and the dogs on a whirlwind tour around the deep South. First stop was "Lone Rock" or as it appears to be named "The Glenwood Erratic" . A glacial erratic located in the middle of a pea field. As a child, I always wanted to climb to the top of it, but never have yet. Whether its entirely accurate, my mom has a legend that goes with the rock. She says that there was a native warrior with a young bride who were being chased by the mounties. The warrior hid his wife on top of the rock to elude capture. I have yet to actually find any record of this, but I heard the story all my life. If you happen to read this and you know more about the story, I would love to hear it. 
The next stop on our travels was the St Stephen's chapel near the Alberta/ Montana border crossing at Carway. Surpisingly, the chapel was actually open and my son and mother went inside. I didnt realize while we were there that it was, but they told me after we were on the road again, so sadly, no pics of that. The chapel was actually built on the South Hill in Cardston in 1901, but before it could be officially dedicated and put into use, terrible winds came, blew away a good deal of the structure and it had to be rebuilt. Over the course of the next few years there were continued difficulties with weather etc and so finally a parishoner donated some land southwest of Cardston and the church was relocated to its existing spot. 
The next stop was my Great-Grandfather's homestead in the shadow of Chief Mountain. I wasnt exactly sure how to find it as the last time I was there was probably close to thirty years or more. I called my uncle and he said to simply find a dirt road not too far from the main road. A little vague, but in the end the directions were good. We found it, but had a hard time finding anywhere close to access it with a vehicle. Undaunted, we took the dogs and kids and make a trek of it through the grass which was taller than my daughter. 
After visiting the homestead we traveled further East to Police Lake. As a child my grandfather took me ice fishing to this lake and we would catch Rainbow Trout. It made a permanent impression because he drove his truck way out into the middle of the lake, and the entire day, I was terrified that we would fall through the ice. I think I was 5. On this trip, the weather was extremely hot and muggy. We walked out to the island and had a feast on Saskatoon berries all along the way. The dogs even took a dip in the muddy waters. 
After the lake, we hopped back into the truck and traveled West to Waterton Lakes National Park. Since I spent so much time in the park as a child, I didnt have a deep burning desire to head back in there for just an hour or two. Instead, we drove through the buffalo paddock in hopes of actually seeing some buffalo, and we were not disappointed. Sadly, there were quite a few other vehicles so we were not able to get very close or stay for long. 
One last stop before we headed home. Another Prairie church on top of a hill in a seemingly somewhat random place. It always makes me wonder about places that thrived at one point in history and then simply cease to carry on. This church does have a dwelling behind it and it is well maintained, so I am curious if it still isnt used for functions, funerals, if nothing else. 
This summer I had the privilege to be invited out to my brother's in-law's home for a little get together/ camping. The gardens were incredible and I had the chance to spend some time with my siblings.                Make sure to click on these images as these are just thumbnails in a gallery.      |
Brandie Sunley B.Fa, B.EdPhotographic Artist. Archives
October 2016
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