The colourful history of Fish Creek Provincial Park and how it came to be
Fish Creek Provincial Park is a beloved Calgary park that has been around for decades, but its roots trace back long before it became a provincial park.
Long before European settlers arrived in the area, the valley that is now known as Fish Creek Provincial Park was home to Indigenous peoples who used the land to hunt for bison, which roamed the surrounding plains. The valley was used as a gathering place where hunting, trade and seasonal camps took place.
In 1873, John and Adelaide Glenn made their way to the Fish Creek Valley, becoming the first European settlers in the area. They set up a small trading post and farm in 1874, one year before the North West Mounted Police established Fort Calgary.
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John and Adelaide’s main income came from trading and farming. John was the first settler to develop an irrigation system in Alberta. He established a stopping house and trading store on his farm that served traffic between Fort Benton in the U.S. and Fort Calgary.
In 1879, after just six years of being there, John sold his farm to the Dominion Government. After Treaty Number Seven was signed in 1877, the federal government purchased farms as instructional farms to teach Indigenous peoples how to farm the land. John’s farm was purchased for $350, a calf, and a cow.
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After many years, the instructional program was phased out, and William Roper Hull, one of Calgary’s most prominent citizens, and his brother John Roper Hull purchased the land. The Hull’s were prominent butchers, and as their industry started to boom, they purchased the 4,000-acre Government Supply Farm, which later became the Bow Valley Ranche.
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Later, Patrick Burns, a prominent Calgary rancher and meat-packer, purchased the Hulls’ land, as well as adjacent land, to run the Bow Valley Ranche, which was 20,000 acres. Burns was conservation-minded and even built fences on the ranch to protect trees from cattle, as well as planted around 2,000 poplar trees.
After his death, Burns’ nephew. Michael John Burns moved onto the ranch and oversaw operations.
The ranch remained in the Burns family until 1973, when the provincial government bought it in 1972, and Fish Creek Provincial Park officially opened in 1975.
Patrick Burns has many ties to Calgary, and even has a park in the city named after him.