“So Long Charley” and “Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump”

July 3, 2013

Today was a long day on the bus for visits to two great places. Out first stop was “The Remington-Alberta Carriage Centre.” The Museum was founded by Donald Remington, a local who collected and restored antique carriages. The museum is also a memorial to Jockey George Wolfe (a Cardston, Alberta native) and his memorable challenge race victory with Seabiscuit over War Admiral, the “unbeatable” Triple Crown winner. In this race George turned and yelled out to the other jockey, “So Long Charlie!” and then proceeded to turn a neck and neck race into a 4 length rout.  The carriage museum has examples of just about every carriage and sled type ever used. The pictures cover only a minor part of the collection.

Freight Wagon - 20 Mule Team Borax

Chuck Wagon

Fancy Resort Coach

Central Park New York Sunday Touring Coach

"See and Be Seen"

Royal Enclosed Taxi Coach - Owned by Albert Vanderbilt

Seabiscuit - "So Long Charley"

 

Our second stop was the “Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump,” a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about it is the prime site (a cliff) where the Blackfoot Tribe gathered for an annual meeting to harvest bison for the upcoming winter. In essence they herded the buffalo and then panicked the animals into a stampede and funneled them over the cliff to their deaths. About 300-500 buffalo were harvested to feed the entire tribe for a winter. The meat was dried, ground into powder, mixed with Saskatoon berries to make pemmican, the tribe’s winter food.

Site of the Buffalo Jump

Today was also their monthly Native Dance Festival. The dancers we saw are among the best in the world. The show was simply spectacular. The best was the young lady who hoop danced, however, the man who did the “chicken dance” was a close second. The dress was extremely colorful. I took pictures and video. We’ll see what makes it up on-line.

 

Dinner tonight was at the Great Canadian Barn Dance and Campground. The meal was plentiful and delicious by the owners and family. After dinner we had a live music show by the entire Kunkel family who are all quite accomplished musicians. The ages ran from 15 to very senior citizens. The genre is oldies country and rock. The show lasted 2 hours without a break!