Perched above the town site of Waterton the Prince of Wales Hotel is just one of many buildings rooted in the smallest national park in the Canadian Rockies.
“That was the birthplace of the International Peace Park, when the Rotarian’s decided that we should join hands with the Americans they passed a motion at a meeting in 1931 and said we are going to get this done,” said Chris Morrison, a Waterton resident and local historian.
Waterton Lakes National Park was first known as the Dominion Forest Park by the federal government. The name has changed, but the goal to protect the area’s rich history and beauty has not.
“The initial offering was in 1911, although the park itself was established in 1895. They decided that tourism was the way to make money, people in Ottawa made that decision, and it would benefit all of Canadians if we had a reserve and a preserve,” added Morrison.
Morrison’s family cabin ignited her passion for the area’s history. It was built in 1926 by Cardston builders Oland and Scott.
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“When they finished with ours, they had a gap of about three months and then they got the job to build the Prince of Wales Hotel,” said Morrison.
Stacy Tangren owns the Northland Lodge. It was built in 1928. The business has been in her family for four generations.
“There is a lot of history there. When I had to evacuate, I’m sitting there thinking so whats the most important thing to take? So, I took a lot of the art work, and a lot of the historical stuff. I have some of the original china from when the house was built that I brought with me and just things I thought if it burns down and nothing is left what really do I want?”
WATCH: Kenow Mountain wildfire moves closer to Waterton Lakes National Parks
This is not the first fire Waterton residents have had to prepare for, but it is by far the most threatening.
“Historically speaking, there have been three or four significant forest fires and this has been the worst as far as forcing an evacuation. One of the biggest ones was surprisingly called the Sage Creek fire and that was in 1934. The smoke blew up over Crandell mountain and into the town site,” added Morrison.
The most recent blaze was in 1998, the Sofa Mountain fire. It burned out of control for about two weeks, scorching 1,500 hectares.
This fire has already burned over 11,000 hectares.
“It really pulls at your heart-strings, to think what might happen because there is no stopping it. It’s nature at its worst,” said Morrison.
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