Alberta Prairie Scenes

Two weeks ago, I set out with Bob Bear to shoot some prairie scenes, east of Calgary. We were looking for scenes of the prairie landscape and the landmark structures that typify the plains of eastern Alberta.

I begin with a couple of scenes from the flatlands. The first picture, Thunderhead forebodes a building storm. It didn’t live up to the early signs. Two hours later, we experienced some gentle rain that soon dispersed. Interesting clouds, though.

This next scene was taken near the abandoned town of Rowley, our prime destination for the day. The prairies are a good place to practice minimalist photography. This scene may qualify as minimalist. That doesn’t mean it can’t display some items of interest. I particularly like the wildflowers, evident in the foreground. I also like the rudimentary road on the right, disappearing over a distant hill, emblematic of the vast, open plains of the prairie landscape.

The open spaces are often broken with sloughs, a side channel or inlet, or a natural channel that is only sporadically filled with water. They serve an obvious purpose, watering the livestock.

We arrived at Rowley soon after 10:00 am. This abandoned town is located north of the Red Deer River Valley, 40 km (25 miles) north of Drumheller.

Rowley dates from the turn of the 20th century, when the Canadian Northern Railway came through. Along the way, the line passed through numerous small towns, their growth spurred by the arrival of rail transportation. The original railroad was taken over by the Canadian National Railway in the 1920’s.

It took a few years for Rowley to take off and most of what we see in town today dates from the late teens to the 1920s, when it had grown to over 100 residents.

Rowley began its decline with the Great Depression, as it was the case with nearly every small, prairie town. By the late 1970s, the last business closed and only a few people people still lived here. Today’s residents are preserving the town, maintaining the main street and its buildings, much as they appeared in their earlier days.

One of the remaining landmarks are the town’s grain elevators, dating back to the 1920’s. Sections of the original rail lines are still there, one supporting an old, yellow Canadian Pacific caboose.

One of the remaining buildings is the old railroad station. The second floor windows attracted my attention and I chose to feature this part of the building in this photograph.

I ventured down to the south end of the town, where I found the remnants of an old farm. In this picture, you seen an old wagon, with two dilapidated sheds behind.

Here’s a shot zeroed in on one of those old sheds. It’s in bad shape. The Livery Barn in the background appears to be in better shape and looks like an interesting subject.

So, I moved on to the barn which once belonged to a Henry Swallow. (No relation to Barn Swallow). I looked him up but was unable to find much information. He was presumably a farmer and lived from 1887-1976.

After leaving Rowley, we had some lunch in Drumheller and headed for home via Lyalta, a hamlet 50 km (30 miles) east of Calgary. Lyalta’s claim to fame is the “Buffalo” style grain elevator.

It was built by the Alberta Wheat Pool in 1982 with a capacity of about 190,000 bushels of grain in 30 bins. It was owned by the Pool initially, then Agricore after the Pool merged with UGG. Today it is owned by Canada Malting. It does not appear that the railroad is still active. Presumably, raw materials and finished malt are moved by truck today.

It was a long day, beginning with our departure from Canmore at 7:00 am and our return home at 4:30 pm. It was a round trip of about 550 km (340 miles). A lot of driving but well worth it.