| Exshaw | |
|---|---|
| — Hamlet — | |
 |
|
  |
|
| Coordinates: 51°03′30″N 115°09′52″W / 51.05844°N 115.16448°W | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Alberta |
| Region | Alberta's Rockies |
| Census division | 15 |
| Municipal District | Bighorn |
| Government | |
| - Type | un-incorporated |
| - Governing body | Bighorn municipal council |
| Elevation | 1,320 m (4,331 ft) |
| Time zone | MST (UTC−7) |
| - Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC−6) |
Exshaw, Alberta is a small hamlet of about 350 people. Located at least 45 minutes driving time from Calgary city limits, and 60 minutes from downtown Calgary, Exshaw is located on the north side in the eastern portion of the Bow River valley. The community is now outside the Banff National Park boundary another 30 minutes west up the valley; however, the original park entrance was actually only a couple miles east of Exshaw.
Contents |
Administration
Exshaw is the largest hamlet in the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8, which also includes the communities of Harvie Heights, named after Senator Eric Harvie, Dead Man's Flats, Lac des Arcs, Seebe, and Jamieson Road, as well as large swaths of ranchland west of Cochrane, Alberta. The MD No. 8 Administration, Council, Public Works, Roads, and Waste Management offices are all located in Exshaw.
Geography
East of Exshaw are smaller company town villages of Kananaskis (lime plant) ( not the recreational area Kananaskis, Alberta) and Seebe (now closed) (power dam). A small ranch area, now mainly dude ranches, is also near the community. Of note is the Brewster's Kananaskis Ranch & Golf Course, which sits on the original homestead property of Bud Brewster and has remained in the family's possession since the 1880s.
A number of smaller parks with camping facilities have also developed in the east Bow Valley. Directly across the Bow River south from Exshaw is the recreational community of Lac des Arcs although no bridge communicates between the two communities. Heart Mountain is also to the south. About 15 minutes west further up the valley is the community of Canmore.
A dam on the Bow River is east of the community at Seebe.
The smaller Exshaw Mountain, 1783 m (5850 ft.), is north of the community, and is locally known as Cougar Mountain. Across from the community south beyond Lac des Arcs is Heart Mountain, known as an easier scramble. People often marry outdoors on this mountain because of the heart shape.
Exshaw Creek, locally known and identified on the 1A bridge as Canyon Creek, runs through the hamlet. The eastern portion of the hamlet is on the flood plain for Juta Creek. In 1937, P.S. Warren described outcrops on the banks of Jura Creek, naming these the Exshaw Formation.
Grotto Creek, 3 km west, has pictographs, including a possible "fluteplayer" Kokopelli image that may be from the Flute Clan of the Hopi tradition.
The local area is known for wildlife, despite the industrial development. Duncan MacGillivray, with explorer David Thompson on his survey of the Canadian Rockies, first encountered a Big Horn Sheep, near Exshaw, on 30 Nov. 1800, which lead to the specimens collected and subsequent scientific naming.
History
Sir Sanford Fleming named Exshaw after his son-in-law, E. William Exshaw (B. 15 Feb 1866, Bordeaux, D. 16 Mar 1927; of Anglo-Irish decent; and Sailing Olympic Gold Medalist at the Paris 1900 Summer Olympics), who with Fleming helped establish the Western Canada Cement and Coal Company. William Exshaw visited in 1908 when a banquet was held in his honour by the staff of WCC&C.
Robert D. Hassan, an American mechanical engineer, was hired in 1906 to build a mill in Exshaw, Alberta for the Western Canada Cement and Coal Company. He was assisted in building the plant by Alexander Graham Christie, 1880-1964, a mechanical and electrical engineering graduate from the University of Toronto, who later in 1909 became associate professor of engineering at the University of Wisconsin, and in 1914 joined the School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Although the original cement plant was further west, the community has had a large plant for many years. The cement plant, now owned by Lafarge North America, is the main industry in the community. The limestone is quarried on the mountain north of the plant.
A number of other plants and quarries are in the area east and west. Wast is Baymag calcined magnesium oxide plant, and east, Graymont lime and limestone products plant.
Edwin Loder organized a company, Loders Lime, to take over lime kilns already in operation at the hamlet of Kananaskis, three km east of Exshaw, Alberta. Due to the need for more capital a new company was incorporated in 1906 and a new plant completed by 1908. A peak on Door Jam Mountain, above the hamlet and plant, is nammed after him. The Loder name is still connected with the area.
Roy Zeller, [ca. 1895-1947], from Kitchener, Ontario, and married to Lucille, 1896-1982, established together a garage in Exshaw, Alberta about 1926. During the summers Lucille ran the Bowfort Service Station and tea room nine miles east of Exshaw, at 'The Gap'. They retired to the New Westminster area, BC, in 1943 or 1944.
In 1935, Mr. Zeller recognized the three Doukhobor bandits, Posnikoff, Voyken and Kalakous, who had shot Sergeant T. S. Wallace, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, near Banff, which lead to their capture.
Bruno Gerussi, a Canadian television actor who is best known for the lead role in the CBC series The Beachcombers, grew up in Exshaw.
Notes
Further reading
- Alexander, Rob, and Dene Cooper. Exshaw: Heart of the Valley. Exshaw, Alta: Exshaw Historical Society Centennial Project, 2005. ISBN 1553830938
 |
Banff | Lake Minnewanka | |
|
| Canmore |  |
Highway 1A Cochrane | ||
 Exshaw  |
||||
 |
||||
| Spray River | Kananaskis Country (park) | Trans-Canada Highway Calgary |
|
|||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
