Alberta..........

Longview, Alberta to Fort Macleod, Alberta (sightseeing)

August 30 - September 1, 2016

Fort Macleod is the site of the first headquarters of the Northwest Mounted Police (now known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police).  One of the major attractions is the Fort Museum of the NW Mounted Police which recreates the era of the fort back in the late 1870's and early 1880's.  If you ever watched Sargent Preston of the Yukon back in the 50's you'll appreciate this museum and the story of the Mounties.

Overall view of the fort and the parade grounds.

One of the buildings in the fort.

A typical NWMP outpost.  Anyone he jailed was close at hand.

Inspection time - by one of the audience members.
The little girl behind the Mountie took it all quite seriously.

Maple leaf design on the rump of each horse.

Mounted Patrol Musical Ride.
We were fortunate to see the last one of the season!
They aren't real RCMP but rather college students hired for the summer.
They do the inspection and show 4 times a day!

Time for a bath and some oats and hay.  Did someone say the season is over?  Hooray!

Near Fort Macleod is another outstanding attraction called "Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump".  The location is one of many used by the plains Indians to round up and kill large numbers of buffalo to provide food for the winter months.  The "Head-Smashed-In" refers to the sad story of a young Indian brave who stood under the cliff to see the buffalo as they tumbled over it.  As the bodies piled up he was crushed between the cliff and the buffalo.

There is a wonderful museum at the site with great information on how the plains Indians lived in this area long before Europeans arrived on the scene.  It really is one of the most memorable Native museums we've seen.  They show a 15 minute re-enactment movie which is a must see while you are there.





The Museum's depiction of the jump area.



The actual jump area. 
The area below the jump is now much higher than it was when the jump was in use.

Luck was with us when we went to this site.  We happened to visit on a Wednesday when they were having Native dancing.  It was their last performance of the season and we were there to see it. 



Can't dance without drummers!



At the end of the individual performances the entire crowd got up, held hands and danced until we had completed one revolution around the dance area.  After that we had a chance to talk to the individual dancers.



This made us chuckle.  The dancers on their cell phones!