From Project Gutenberg
[Which is, of course just a copy of the 11th Ed. of Encyclopaedia Britannica]
CALGARY, the oldest city in the province of Alberta. Pop. (1901) 4091;
(1907) 21,112. It is situated in 114 deg. 15′ W., and 51 deg. 41/2′ N., on the Bow
river, which flows with its crystal waters from the pass in the Rocky
Mountains, by which the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway crosses
the Rocky Mountains. The pass proper–Kananaskis–penetrates the mountains
beginning 40 m. west of Calgary, and the well-known watering-place, Banff,
lies 81 m. west of it, in the Canadian national park. The streets are wide
and laid out on a rectangular system. The buildings are largely of stone,
the building stone used being the brown Laramie sandstone found in the
valley of the Bow river in the neighbourhood of the city. Calgary is an
important point on the Canadian Pacific railway, which has a general
superintendent resident here. It is an important centre of wholesale
dealers, and also of industrial establishments. Calgary is near the site of
Fort La Jonquiere founded by the French in 1752. Old Bow fort was a trading
post for many years though now in ruins. The present city was created by
the building of the Canadian Pacific railway about 1883.
I found that rather enlightening AND amusing. Oh how far Calgary has come….
Nothing like a little pre-Great War perspective to put a spin on your weekend.