Maple Creek’s Intriguing Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre

The first shipment of cattle from western Canada left Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, for eastern markets in 1884. Thereafter, the town became known as “The Old Cowtown of Maple Creek.”

Today, Maple Creek’s location just twenty minutes from the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, along with its old west history, make it an important Saskatchewan destination. And the Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre museum does a fabulous job of archiving its intriguing history.

Linda’s Pick of the Exhibits

My favorite spot in the Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre Museum was where we started our tour in The Old West Room.

It’s home to a bright, dynamic collection of painting prints by Charlie Russell. The room also contains a collection of vintage saddles donated by local ranchers.

The 110 piece collection was put together by Rodger Newby, a rancher in the Maple Creek area.

Over the years Newby had collected the prints from vintage calendars and magazines. Then, he framed them.

Charlie (C.M. Russell or Charles Marion Russell) was born in 1864 in St. Louis, Missouri. In the 1880s he traveled west to Montana, where his first painting was commissioned in 1885 by a saloon owner in Utica.

Russell created more than 2000 paintings of cowboys, Native Americans, and landscapes set in the western U.S. and Canada, before passing away in 1926 at the age of 62.

What’s in the Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre?

The Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre is located in the former Jasper Street School. It was built in two sections, 1910 and 1914, using local bricks. After being closed as a school in 1986, it opened as a museum on July 1, 1988.

Today, the museum provides around 20,000 sq. feet of exhibition, meeting, and programming space. Ceilings are still finished with the original molded-tin and hardwood floors. You can almost see children rushing up the well-worn stairs and through the long hallways.

The museum is divided into a number of smaller galleries beginning with the original Fleming Collection. The Fleming collection was from Irvine and Phoebe (Tootsie) Fleming. They were local ranchers who had originally displayed the collection on their ranch.

Now, the Ranch House Room is set up with artifacts from the 19th century.

More Galleries & Rooms

Altogether there are nearly 20 different galleries and rooms covering different periods in Maple Creek and area history, as well as art collections. They’re organized by theme, ranging from a NWMP room to a Victorian Parlour with a dining table originally from the NWMP “A” Division Barracks.

With our family history of rodeo, we spent a lot of time going through the Bert Ingram Rodeo Room. It included information about regional rodeos, the cowboys, and the rodeo stock providers.

Moving on, the Boardwalk Room contained many artifacts from the Dixon Brothers’ Department Store.

The cash register built in 1885 was one of my favorites!

The People

The strength of local museums is always in the histories of those who built the community.

From the Post Office Room with artifacts donated by 1976 to 1986 postmaster, Bill Colquhoun, to the Geraldine Moodie (first professional female photographer working east of Winnipeg and into the Arctic) Women’s Gallery, to the Michel Oxarart Western Gallery (Oxarart was the first official rancher in the Cypress Hills area), its a history rich in story.

Linda’s Road Trip Tips

Maple Creek is located a few miles south of the Trans-Canada Highway in southwest Saskatchewan. It’s a great day-trip destination.

These are some of my favorite places to check out in town:

• Cowtown Kids Toy & Candy: Largest independent toy store in Saskatchewan with over 30,000 products. It’s an amazing place to shop for kids.
• Hill Country Clothing: Excellent collection of cowboy gear for everyone, right down to the kids. You’ll find clothing, footwear, tack, accessories and more.
• Rebellion Apparel, Antiques and Local Artisan Shop: Modeled after a trading post, this proudly Indigenous, passionately local, shop has lots everything from fresh honey to hand-crafted souvenirs.
• Broken Spoke Fine Art Gallery: A wide collection of showings by various Western Canadian artists.
• Cypress Hills Winery and Rafter R Brewing Company: Enjoy some adult beverages.

We also recommend the Jasper Lounge & Liquor Store for a cold one or meal. It’s the oldest tavern in Saskatchewan with 120 years of history!

Who Should Visit Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre?

The Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre Museum is a must-see stop for those interested in how the “west was won” in late 1800s Saskatchewan.

Ranching was a hard life, and the museum explores the lives of cowboys and the women who managed the ranch house.

Due to the arrival of train service in early 1883, just months after it reached the capital city, Regina, the area was settled early in Saskatchewan’s history.

Displays are spacious, so there’s lots of room to see and explore. Historic information is provided about each grouping of artifacts, along with many individually identified items.

The museum has an elevator and stairs between the floors.

We spent a couple of hours in the museum. However, those who have less familiarity with ranching and rodeo will likely need longer.

How Do You Visit the Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre Museum?

Maple Creek is around 100 km from Medicine Hat, Alberta, just a few minutes from the Trans-Canada Highway.

Street Location: 311 Jasper Street, Maple Creek.

The museum is open year-round. Check the days and hours at the Jasper Cultural and Historical Centre website.

Learn more about the museum and keep up to date with what’s happening on the Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre Facebook page.

Take a virtual tour of the museum with The Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre video on YouTube.

Or, check out the opening for the Geraldine Moodie Women’s Gallery on YouTube.

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Check out all of guide2museum.com’s reviews of museums in Saskatchewan.

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• Maple Creek’s Intriguing Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre

• Front Street Cowboy Museum: Ogallala, Nebraska

• Discover the Mormon Handcart Historic Site & Devil’s Gate in Wyoming

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• New Iceland Heritage Museum: Gimli, Manitoba, Canada

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#Canada #cowboys #history #lifestyles #museums #pioneers #Saskatchewan #TransCanadaHwy #travel

Inside the Cattle Raisers Museum: Fort Worth, Texas

Visit Fort Worth, Texas, to explore all aspects of raising cattle in the Southwest United States. The Cattle Raisers Museum, located in Fort Worth’s Cultural District, shows how cattle ranching shaped the economy, culture, and landscapes of Texas and at least 20 other states.

Linda’s Pick of the Exhibits

I lived on a cattle ranch for many years — in fact, a few of my books for YA readers are about driving cattle in the old west.

So, I found all the history interesting — but the I’m in What display jumped out as my favorite.

It was full of fascinating pieces of information!

Beef at the grocery store, of course, is the main thing we get from cattle.

Its essential nutrients include protein, iron, B-vitamins and others.

More than 2/3 of beef at the store meet government guidelines for lean.

However, there’s a lot more as I learned. Uses can be edible by-products or inedible by-products or medical by-products. How many by-product uses can you name?

Beef by-products are found in hospitals and drug stores. Where? Collagen from beef hides is used in medical applications for such things as wound dressings, burn ointments, surgical sutures, and tissue regeneration. Ground beef-derived materials are also used for biomedical research, dental fillings, and some orthopedic products like bone screws. Wow! Who knew?

As well, medical by-products include more than 100 individual drugs!

Got allergies or are diabetic? Insulin, vaccines, and allergy medications have traditionally used beef by-products. Indeed, it takes the pancreases from 26 cattle to provide enough insulin to keep one diabetic person alive for a year.

Beef by-products are also used in firecrackers! Indeed, beef collagen-based casings or binders can replace or supplement traditional materials like white clay or paper tubes. Why? They provide moisture resistance and durability, so they protect the firecracker’s explosive powders until ignition.

When you’re washing your face, you may be using another important beef by-product. It’s called beef tallow, which is rendered from beef fat. This ingredient moisturizes and nourishes the skin with natural vitamins like A, D, E, and K. It also contains natural antimicrobial and antibacterial properties that reduce skin irritation and promote clearer skin.

Beef fats yield oleo stock and oleo oil used for margarine and shortening. Oleo stearin is used in making chewing gum and some candies.

Gelatin produced from bones and skins is used in marshmallows, ice cream, canned meats, and gelatin desserts!

And here are a few more uses:

• Stearick acid, used in making rubber for tires that are more durable, is derived from beef tallow
• Beef tallow contributes to producing lubricants found in hydraulic brake fluids and antifreeze
• Beef tallow is converted into sodium tallowate and used in many traditional laundry soaps and detergents
• Leather from the hide of cattle is used to make many types of sporting goods from footballs to ball gloves
• Collagen is used in various sports strings and bindings, like tennis racket strings and bowstrings, due to their strong and flexible properties
• Products such as adhesives and greases derived from beef fat may be used in equipment maintenance or assembly
• Camel hair artists’ brushes are actually made from the fine hair found in the ears and tails of beef cattle
• Bones, horns, and hooves are used to produce buttons, bone china, piano keys, glues, fertilizer, gelatin for photographic film, paper, wallpaper, sandpaper, combs, toothbrushes and violin string

How many uses did you list? This is just a starter list, so you may have found lots of the additional ones listed on this PDF from Iowa State Extension and Outreach.

What’s in the Cattle Raisers Museum?

The Cattle Raisers Museum occupies around 10,000 square feet. It’s located on the second floor of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History in the Cultural District.

Visitors explore history in three main chronological sections:

• 1690 to 1890: Origins of Texas ranching and the first cattle drives of the 1850s. This section includes how cattle were introduced by Spanish settlers and era of vaqueros (cowboy or cattle herder)
• 1890 to 1950: The gradual end of raising cattle on the open range due to barbed wire fences, railroads, and Ft. Worth’s transformation into a cattle market and meatpacking center
• 1950 to the present: Modern ranching practices and technologies

There are interactive galleries with video storytelling and holograms that I found very engaging. After all, I haven’t met many animated talking cattle! Artifacts include things like saddles, spurs, western hats, tools, and rare photographs. Floor-to-ceiling informational panels provide tons of information.

Linda’s Road Trip Tips

When you visit the Cattle Raisers Museum, try to leave enough time to visit the other travel attractions in Fort Worth’s Cultural District.

• Four additional world renowned museums including the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Amon Carer Museum of American Art
• Will Rogers Memorial Center: Historic home to the annual Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, as well as other events
• Fort Worth Botanic Garden
• Fort Work Zoo

We did the Cowgirl Museum and the Science and History Museum, which gave us a discount for doing both on the same day.

If you want to rest your feet between visiting the museums, stop at the Exhibit Cafe in the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. The Texas 2 Step plate was tasty!

Who Should Visit the Cattle Raisers Museum?

The Cattle Raisers Museum will be of interest to anyone involved in ranching or farming, past or present. It’s also a great place to get an understanding of how the cattle industry has impacted the history of the Southwest.

We spent an hour going through the museum, but I was already familiar with a lot of the history. If it’s your first Texas visit or if you know little about ranching, allow at least double that time.

While there are some fun interactives, kids 10+ will likely find the museum more interesting than younger children.

The museum is wheelchair and handicapped accessible. There are some wheelchairs available for guests on a first-come, first-served basis.

How Do You Visit the Cattle Raisers Museum?

The Cattle Raisers Museum is easy to find in Fort Worth’s Cultural District.

Street Address: 1600 Gendy Street, Fort Worth, Texas, on the 2nd Floor of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

The museum is open year-round, but you can check days and hours open on the Cattle Raisers Museum website.

Keep up-to-date with what’s happening at the museum with the Cattle Raisers Museum Facebook page.

Take a virtual tour with this Cattle Raisers Museum video on YouTube.

Plan your visit with Google maps.

More Texas Museum Reviews

Check out more of our reviews for museums in Texas.

More History Museums

• Inside the Cattle Raisers Museum: Fort Worth, Texas

• Plains of Abraham Museum & Battlefield Park: Quebec City

• Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto Review

• Amazing Giant Bison, Beaver, Mammoths & More: Yukon Beringia Museum in Whitehorse

• Royal Saskatchewan Museum & World’s Largest T-Rex Dinosaur

• Fick Fossil & History Museum: Buffalo Bill to Prehistoric Fish in Oakley, Kansas

• Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum: Simi Valley, California

• Morro Bay Maritime Museum: Morro Bay, California

• National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame: Cowgirl history in Fort Worth, Texas

• Bell Barn Museum: Historic Round Barn in Indian Head, Sskatchewan

• Naranjo Museum: Dinosaurs & Fossils in Lufkin, Texas

• Texas Seaport Museum: Gulf Coast History in Galveston, Texas

• Levine Museum of the New South: Charlotte, North Carolina

• Jefferson Historical Museum in Big Cypress Bayou: Jefferson, Texas

• Museum of the Fur Trade: Chadron, Nebraska

• Mystic Seaport Museum: Historic Seafaring Village in Mystic, Connecticut

• Range Riders Museum: Old West Lives Again in Miles City, Montana

#cowboys #history #lifestyles #museums #oldWest #pioneers #Texas #travel #US_

Canadian Museum of History: National Museum in Gatineau, Quebec

The Canadian Museum of History is one of Canada’s most-visited museum attractions. Located on the banks of the Ottawa River, in Gatineau, Quebec, it’s just across from Ottawa’s Parliament Hill. It’s one of three Canadian national museums located outside of Ottawa.

Linda’s Pick of the Exhibits

My favorite part of the Canadian Museum of History was the First People’s Hall. Showcasing centuries of history “from time immemorial,” the hall covers approximately 35,000 square feet. That’s a lot of display room!

I love bright and colorful, so the Aboriginal peoples of Canada displays are a perfect fit for me. Many of the displays could be classed as artworks. However, they’re much more than that. They show the cultural diversity of the many groups that are part of Canada’s early history.

Welcome to the First Peoples Hall. “We include Inuit, First Nations and Metis. Together, we have often been called Native. Now we are more often known collectively as Aboriginal. It has been hard to find a common name because we are, in fact, hundreds of distinct peoples. Each of these peoples has its own name, language, ancestral lands and culture.”

~ Canadian Museum of History

The displays in the First Peoples Hall were guided by a pan-Indigenous advisory committee. Indeed, the team included Indigenous scholars, artists, and leaders. This helps ensure authenticity and reflection of their histories and lived experiences.

Three zones make up the Hall:

• Aboriginal Presence: Displays cultural diversity and early settlement.
• An Ancient Bond with the Land: Emphasizes Aboriginal spiritual and ecological connections.
• Arrival of Strangers: Traces the history of European interactions through to modern political rights and cultural resilience.

Displays in the Hall represent groups from across Canada. I discovered everything from Inuit snow goggles to contemporary artworks such as Shelley Niro’s Sky Woman.

Totem Poles

And of course, I also found many examples of totem poles. Located in the Grand Hall, the Canadian Museum of History showcases the largest collection of totem poles in the world.

Totem poles served various purposes for the different Aboriginal groups that carved them. They represent storytelling traditions and carry many levels of meaning.

The poles were often memorials to represent and commemorate ancestry, histories, people and events. Like the dance collars, the totem poles may indicate a family’s lineage, clan membership and crest. So, the totem poles may have served as house or entrance posts.

All groups of Canadian Aboriginal peoples didn’t carve totem poles. Rather, the peoples of the Pacific Northwest made totem poles, usually from Western Red Cedar. This type of tree is straight-grained and easy to carve. Before taking a tree for carving, many coastal First Nations peoples performed a ceremony of gratitude and respect in honor of the tree.

The totem poles in the Grand Hall are displayed in a huge area of natural light along with reconstructed house facades. Often called the “Poles along the Windows” section, it’s an impressive sight!

These totem poles are tall! Indeed, they stand 10 to 12 metres (33 to 39 feet) high. The Grand Hall wall height, behind them, is around 15 metres (49 feet).

I found them awe-inspiring!

What’s in the Canadian Museum of History?

The Canadian History Museum is situated on around 9.5 hectares or about 24 acres of land. According to the museum website, the museum spans 93,000 square m (111,227 sq. yards). It’s big!

Actual exhibit space of course is lower, with about 25,000 sq. m (269,000 sq. ft). In fact, it’s the largest museum exhibition area in Canada. The big advantage of having so much space to store artifacts is that the exhibits rotate frequently. So, there’s always something new to see.

In addition to exhibits, the museum includes:

• Restaurants including the Panorama Cafe and Second Cup
• Boutique / gift shop
• 295-seat 3D (formerly IMAX) theatre
• 500-seat performance theatre

Levels & Galleries

The Canadian Museum of History has four levels.

The Lower Level includes the Grand Hall, the First Peoples Hall, Tsimshian Prehistory, First Peoples of the Northwest Coast, and the Canadian Stamp Collection.

Level 2 includes the Main Entrance (Laurier Street), the Canadian Children’s Museum, Special Exhibits, Gift Shop, theatres, and restaurants.

On Levels 3 and 4, you’ll find three galleries. They include:

• Gallery 1: Early Canada – including earliest times to 1763
• Gallery 2: Colonial Canada – covers the period from 1763 to 1914, the start of World War I
• Gallery 3: Modern Canada – includes 1914 to the present day

So what happened in 1763 in Canada? First, you have to consider the political landscape of the time. The British and French had both established colonies in what’s now Eastern Canada. In the West, French and British fur traders paddled up and down the rivers trading European goods with Indigenous trappers.

In other words, there was a lot of competition between the French and the English! And not just in the new world. The competition was worldwide.

It all came to a halt with the Treaty of Paris. This treaty ended the Seven Years’ War global conflict between the Great Powers, who were primarily Great Britain and France. Major battles occurred in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, and India.

However, in 1763, France officially ceded New France (in Canada) to Britain through the Treaty of Paris. You can learn more in this Canadian Encyclopedia article about The Royal Proclamation of 1763, issued by King George III, to establish the new administrative structure.

The galleries contain a smattering of everything! Models of galleon ships from the 1500s. A 1700s plow that would have been pulled by oxen or horses to break up grasslands for farming. Maternity clothes and children’s toys from the 1950s baby boom.

As you’d expect in one of Canada’s National Museums, the information boards are extremely well done. There are lots of images blown up to wall size to illustrate different periods that make the museum a very visual experience.

Linda’s Road Trip Tips

The Canadian Museum of History was one of my stops on Ottawa’s Hop On, Hop Off bus. It’s a great way to see the city if you’re visiting without a car during tourist season. I used the two-day pass to get to all but one (it’s not a stop) of the National Museums.

I got to the museum at lunch time, so walked through the Grand Hall across to My Bistro. The Bistro menu had several comfort classics from poutine to burgers. My choice, a Smashed Cheeseburger, had beef, American cheese, lettuce, pickles, and burger sauce. It was tasty!

Who Should Visit the Canadian Museum of History?

The Canadian Museum of History is designed to appeal to everyone from the youngest to the oldest. With interactive displays in the Canadian Children’s Museum and rich, immersive galleries throughout, it’s a fascinating place for all visitors to the city.

I spent a couple of hours on my visit, but that barely got me through the museum. So, start with the level you’re most interested in and pace your visit accordingly! Better yet, especially if you’re a local, visit a couple of times.

The museum has a full range of amenities, general services, and accessibility accommodations.

In addition to public washrooms with diaper-changing tables on all levels, there’s a private nursing room located on the first level.

Coat checks and lockers are available, so if you’re on your way back to the airport you can store your bags after they’re screened.

Courtesy strollers and wheelchairs are available–just ask at Information.

Accessibility services include wheelchair accessibility from the parking garage and allowing service animals. Elevator buttons are in Braille along with an induction loop system in the CINÉ+ theatre for those using hearing aids.

How Do You Visit the Canadian Museum of History?

The Canadian Museum of History is located alongside the Ottawa River, which forms the border between the cities of Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Quebec.

Street Address: 100 Laurier Street, Gatineau, Québec.

Visit the Canadian Museum of History Website.

Keep up-to-date with what’s happening with the Canadian Museum of History Facebook page.

Take a virtual tour of the museum with this YouTube video from the Canadian Museum of History.

Plan your visit with Google Maps.

Read More Quebec Museum Reviews

Check out all these museum reviews for the Canadian province of Quebec!

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• Minnesota Discovery Center: Iron Range Mining History Museum

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• Pioneer Auto Show Museum: Cars & More in Murdo, South Dakota

• Fred Light Museum: Battleford, Saskatchewan

• Bishop Museum: Cultural Treasures in Honolulu, Hawaii

• Vilas Historical Museum: Snowmobiles to Paul Bunyan in a Wisconsin Museum

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• Rosebud County Museum: Homesteader History in Forsythe, Montana

Acknowledgments

During my visit to Ottawa, Ontario, I received a national museum pass, and hop on, hop off bus pass, from Ottawa Tourism. I appreciate their support!

#Canada #history #Indigenous #lifestyles #museums #pioneers #travel

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