Last modified: 2012-08-09 by rob raeside
Keywords: alberta | rocky mountain house | city crest | lodgepole pines | oil derrick |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
![[flag of Rocky Mountain House]](../images/c/ca-ab-rm.jpg)
image by Darrell Neuman, 2 December 2006
See also:
Rocky Mountain House does have a municipal flag.
Flag of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, featuring the town crest in the
middle (oil derrick, lodgepole pines) superimposed above the Alberta
provincial coat of arms.
Darrell Neuman, 23 April 2006
The details of the flag include such as the
ram's head as well as an illustration of the two stone chimneys of a
Hudson Bay Company fur trading post that was once located along a bank of the North
Saskatchewan River and is designated as being part of the Rocky
Mountain House National Historic Site.
image by Darrell Neuman, 2 December 2006
From the town website:
During the late 1700's, the presence of British and Canadian fur traders in Canada's West played an important role in opening the vast uncharted lands surrounding what is now known as Rocky Mountain House.
In 1799 the North West Company (Nor Westers') and the Hudson Bay Company established two fur trading posts known as Rocky Mountain House and Acton House. Fierce competition for the Indian trade with the Kootenay and the Blackfoot was the rule of the day until 1821 when the two companies merged. The Nor Westers' post was closed, but the name "Rocky Mountain House" remained. The original Hudson's Bay post was replaced, only to be burned to the ground during the winter of 1861 and replaced in turn by the final Rocky Mountain House completed in 1868. The fur trade era ended, however, when this last fort was closed in 1875.
Although these locations were established as fur trading posts, they were also used as a base for exploration. David Thompson, the famous explorer, surveyor and geographer spent several years here searching for a passage west to the Pacific Ocean. This search led to the extensive surveying and mapping of the west. His achievements are commemorated by the naming of highway #11west, "David Thompson Highway". In the early 1900's, a new wave of adventurers began to arrive.
They came seeking the opportunities offered by the numerous other natural resources in the area, and by 1912, the Town of Rocky Mountain House was firmly established. Many historic sites have been preserved in this area, like the Rocky Mountain House National Historic Park and Brazeau Collieries at Nordegg.
Phil Nelson, 23 April 2006