Farewell

This is a bittersweet day: I am saying goodbye to History in Photos. I've been at this for five years and have put a lot of time and effort into finding historical photos that - to me, and hopefully to you - are interesting, educational, and have something to say about the human condition. Other priorities are now calling, but it has been a vastly interesting - and occasionally obsessive - journey for me. I never did this for page views but I hope it has been interesting for you as well. 

I end, somewhat symbolically, with the final set of photos from the 1954 road trip taken by the four Canadian ladies.

Audrey James and Marg Thompson with a dog in the back 

of a truck, De Winton, Alberta, August 12, 1954

  

Helen Salkeld, Anna Brown, Audrey James, Rosemary Gilliat and the 

Thompson family stopping for lunch, Kananaskis, Alberta, August 15, 1954

 

Billy Thompson and Helen Salkeld, Kananaskis, Alberta, August 15, 1954

 

Anna Brown in the Rockies, Kananaskis Road, Alberta, August 15, 1954

 

Rain, Fraser Canyon, British Columbia, August 19, 1954

 

Helen Salkeld eating in her tent near Fraser River, British Columbia, August 19, 1954

 

Anna Brown and Rosemary Gilliat writing and reading by candlelight 

at a camp near Fraser River, British Columbia, August 19, 1954

 

Anna Brown eating by a tent at a camp site in Garibaldi 

Provincial Park, British Columbia, August 23, 1954

 

Pipe band playing on ferry near Bowen Island, 

Howe Sound, British Columbia, August 21, 1954

 

After the rain all belongings are spread out to dry in 

Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia, August 25, 1954

 

Helen Salkeld and Anna Brown erecting tents near 

Copper Mountain, British Columbia, August 27, 1954

 

Anna Brown and Rosemary Gilliat erecting a tent, 

possibly Belmont Lake, Ontario, September 5, 1954

 

 Source: BiblioArchives/LibraryArchives Canada

Vintage Alberta

Eleven women in a play, Wetaskiwin, 1930

  

Helen McCalla with squash, August 29, 1915

 

Last Harvesters' Excusion Train

 

Making sheaves for harvest, Little Smoky, Alberta, 1946

 

McCalla family in skates on log in ravine near Edmonton, 1914

 

Woman with rifle, ca. 1915

 

Christmas at the Bamber home, December 1919

 

Christmas sleigh ride, Fort McMurray, 1926

 

Schofield family Christmas, Mountain Park, 1933

 

Source: Alberta Provincial Archives

Road Trip 1954

On July 31, 1954, freelance photographer Rosemary Gilliat and her girlfriends, Anna Brown, Audrey James and Helen Salkeld, packed up Helen’s Plymouth station wagon and began their 12,391-kilometre road trip across Canada. During the next 38 days, they crossed five provinces and four states, travelling through Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota, and returning to Ottawa on September 6. This is part two of the road trip photos.

Who likes washing dishes anyway...Kenora, Ontario, August 4, 1954

Makeshift bath in Prairies. Audrey James washing up, 

Portage-la-Prairie, Manitoba, August 5, 1954

Helen Salkeld and Anna Brown feeding pigs, 

Portage-la-Prairie camp, Manitoba, August 5, 1954

  

Anna Brown, Audrey James, Helen Salkeld and two 

cowboys, Brandon, Manitoba, August 6, 1954

 

 

 Anna Brown getting dressed at a campsite, vicinity of 

Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, August 7, 1954

  

Main street in a small town in the Prairies, Saskatchewan, August 7, 1954

  

Audrey James walking on a bridge 

in southern Saskatchewan, August 8, 1954

  

Anna Brown at the Salkeld family farm, 

Eston, Saskatchewan, August 9, 1954

  

Anna Brown and ferry operator Mr. Weekes on Lancer Ferry, 

South Saskatchewan River, August 10, 1954

  

Saskatchewan Prairie town, August 10, 1954

  

Helen Salkeld, Anna Brown and Audrey James setting up 

their camp by the Oldman River, Alberta, August 10, 1954

  

Audrey James and Anna Brown by the 

Oldman River, Alberta, August 11, 1954

Source: BiblioArchives/LibraryArchives Canada

Vintage Alberta

Ballet dancers, Vermillion Lakes, Alberta, July 1957

  

Banff, Alberta, 1952

 

Lunch overlooking the mountains, Alberta, 1953

 

Mrs. C. Hamill paints a scene from roadside 

in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, 1952

 

Queen Elizabeth at Lake Louise, Alberta, July 1959

 

RCMP constable Wright and police dog named 

Rough, Calgary, Alberta, August 1948

 

Students paint the scenery, Banff national park, Alberta, July 1957

 

Water skiing at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, August 1961

 

Source: Yesterday's Print

Robert McKay Brebner

Alan, Mary, and Robert Brebner, ca. 1900. Spruce Grove, Alberta

  

Brebner children, ca. 1900

 

Brebner family members and friends on the Brebner homestead 

with bear skin and sleigh, ca. 1900. Spruce Grove, Alberta

 

Horse-drawn buggy, Brebner homestead, ca. 1900

 

Two men with a horse-drawn sleigh, ca. 1900

 

Unidentified woman with a horse, ca. 1900

 

Site: Alberta Provincial Archives

Godby Family Collection

Beulah Godby and friends in costumes, Mountain Park, Alberta, 1934

  

Formal dinner with unidentified family, ca. 1930

 

Group portrait, Lovett, Alberta, 1916

 

Man playing horseshoes, possibly in Saskatchewan, 1916

 

People at Mountain Park ice rink, ca. 1920

 

Source: Alberta Provincial Archives