When we dive into local histories, some of the most interesting stories come from the regular individuals who called the community home for a time. Such is the case with the Bartschies brothers, who may have been born in Switzerland, but would head...
Have you ever wondered about the names of the communities around Vermilion? How did those communities get their names? What made one name stick and stand the test of time, while other names faded away in history? In this column, let’s look at the...
Mills Stopping House in 1907 As the new pioneers came to the Stettler area, they began to follow routes set forth by those who came before. These trails served as the early highways for settlers, both when they arrived and as they traveled...
Early Log Home In Breage It was way back in 1902 that a man by the name of Matthew Brimacombe settled on land near what would one day be Vermilion. One year after he settled in the area, the community of Breage was born and he would become the first...
Many famous people have come from Mannville, including hockey players and actors, but there was one individual who was born in the community on June 28, 1929, that would go on to have a great deal of success in life. Peter Drury Haggerston Gadsden...
When Charles Ora Card and his party of settlers arrived in the area in the spring of 1887, they were ready to begin building a new community. Unfortunately, the site they had chosen for their new home was not going to work. The Cochrane Ranching...
The dairy industry has always been an important part of Canada’s economy. Prior to many of the rules and regulations that popped up in Canada over the past several decades, it was up to towns and communities throughout the country to deal with their...
When any community pops up, it is not long before there is a need for news. Vermilion was no different and it was soon after the founding of the community in 1906 when a man by the name of William Cameron decided to establish the Vermilion Signal...
Louis Botha While it is common knowledge that the name for Stettler came from Carl Stettler, but what about the other communities in the area? How did Fenn, Nevis, Red Willow or Halkirk get their names? One of the most fascinating parts of Canadian...
If it was not for a man from Switzerland, the community of Stettler would be a very different place. It was thanks to a man by the name of Carl Stettler that the community was born, and he had a big hand in helping it prosper in those early years...