Nordegg
Historical Society
http://www.nordegghistoricalsociety.8m.com
Suggestions
for Preparation for Schools, and Other Groups, Planning to Tour the Brazeau Collieries Minesite:
National Historic Site of Canada.
Preliminary
Information:
The
Brazeau Collieries Minesite
is situated approximately one mile/1.6 kilometers from the old town of Nordegg,
which now is classified as a ghost town. At the present time, to visit the Minesite, it is necessary to be accompanied by an authorized
Tour Guide. However, if you wish to customize your tour in order to fulfill a
specific curriculum, or to cater to a specific purpose/outcome, please present
this request in writing to the Head Office of the Nordegg Historical Society,
Box 550, Rocky Mountain House, AB, T4T 1A4, or by email to:
pforsyth@county.clearwater.ab.ca It also is suggested that, a few days prior to
your arrival at the Nordegg Heritage Center, you arrange to speak with the Guide
who will be assigned to conduct your tour, in order to discuss your specific
requests/requirements. (Phone 403-721- COAL (2625).
Preliminary preparation
can be as in-depth as you wish, but it is suggested that at least some
preparation take place prior to departure for the field trip. The following
information guide is based upon total immersion in the topic. Please
note that this guide will be more intense than the majority of institutions will
wish to follow. A brief synopsis is given with each heading listed.
Please select those items that fit the criteria for the objectives that have
been established for your study.
Nordegg
Town
Background
information regarding the town of Nordegg, and the social aspects of life in a
company-owned resource town, are closely tied to the mining operation.
Considerable information is available within the resource material to be
discussed, but the main focus of this guide is upon the Brazeau Collieries.
If your field trip includes a
study of the town, and every-day life of the people, please request a copy of
the Driving and Walking Tour Map of Nordegg. This will show the
original plan of the town, superimposed with locations of historic buildings
still standing, and structures erected after closure of the mining town. On the
back of this map is a brief explanation of the numbered areas. A few local
hiking trails also are illustrated. You are granted permission to make copies
of this map to the extent that each tour participant has a copy.
To
explore the town, it is suggested that the tour leader create, and discuss with
the other supervisors, a plan of action whereby small groups can be taken on a
walk of discovery through the area of the town. Each group would cover the same
points of interest and related general material, but not necessarily all at the
same time.
Information on the town of Nordegg can be found on the Historical
Society website page: Nordegg, Past, Present, and Future. Information on
both the town and the general area is on the website page: Nordegg and the
Nearby Area. These can be accessed through the
Historical Society Home Page:
http://www.nordegghistoricalsociety.8m.com/
One
area which connects to both the Brazeau Collieries
Mining Operation and to the town of Nordegg, is the special graveyard set aside
for the 29 miners killed in the explosion of #3 Mine on October 31, 1941. This
is located next to the Nordegg Heritage Center. It can be found just south of
the back entrance to this building. Three of the miners killed were buried
elsewhere; 26 lie in this graveyard.
Some
knowledge of the location and the background of development of the mining
operation, as well as the people involved in this, is
helpful in understanding subsequent events. It aids in the appreciation of the
part played by Brazeau Collieries in the unfolding of
Canadian history and in Canadian resource development in the 20th century. This
study can be done as a brief overview, or as a detailed examination.
This
listing (below) begins with a brief overview, and becomes more comprehensive as
it progresses:
PART
ONE:
This
(following) is directed at all age and grade levels.
This (following) study
is sufficient for Upper Elementary Students.
Primary Grades: the
teacher/tour organizer will need to adapt a simplified version of this
information
Section
A..
1) Prior to your visit, read the historical information given on the top portion
of the Homepage of the Historical Society website (until you reach the update
section on present day news.) Further down the page, there are photos and
information about restoration work done on the minesite in recent years, which you may wish to
cover.
http://www.nordegghistoricalsociety.8m.com/
2)
Next, click on the link to Nordegg Town
http://www.nordegghistoricalsociety.8m.com/town.html
3)
and click on the link to Nordegg and Nearby
Area.
http://www.nordegghistoricalsociety.8m.com/area.html
These
three pages will give a brief, but reasonably complete, overview of all aspects
of the area, town, and industrial complex. They may be printed for reference
purposes.
PART
ONE
Section
B
(optional) more detailed and broader scope of
information.
If
you wish to have more in-depth knowledge, the following two sites will give you
more complete information, with the second being the most comprehensive of the
two.
1a)
*For Kids - This is an 'alphabet' page, with three items to give information on
Nordegg, the man and the town.
http://www.albertasource.ca/alphabet/flist_selected_letter.php?letter_id=n
1b)
*The following site has a five-page write up on the
Nordegg story, and it is in more detail than the one above (suitable for the
older child, or the better reader):
http://www.abheritage.ca/albertans/bachusky/nordegg_1.html
**Advanced
Grade Six, Middle School (Junior High), High School, and Post-Secondary
Groups**
1c)
*The following site has a four-page write up on the
Nordegg story, and it is in more detail than the ones above:
http://www.albertasource.ca/aspenland/eng/region/region_cities_towns.html
Click
on the map where it says Nordegg (It is actually shown north of where it should
be located). A small box about Nordegg is displayed. Click on the words, Read
More. This brings you to the settlement page, the first of four pages
of history, as listed in the box on the right.
Click
on these to advance.
2)
*If you prefer more in-depth knowledge, about Alberta mining communities, and
the place of Nordegg within the Alberta picture, go to:
http://www.albertasource.ca/abitalian/background/rockies_cb.html
This
site was constructed around the history of the Italians who came to Canada, to
work in the coal mines. Nordegg had a disproportionately high number of Italian
immigrants. The historical information is very thorough, compiled and presented
as a project of the Heritage Community Foundation.
Follow each section of the
Quick Links (red box on right side of page) to see the complete
story.
PART
TWO:
Section
A
Allow
enough time in Nordegg, prior to your tour start time, for students to view an
introductory video, Vision in the Valley, at the Nordegg Heritage
Center.
If this is an annual visit, and your institution has materials
relating to Nordegg, this video could be shown and discussed prior to making the
trip to Nordegg.
Section
B
1)
*Students also can trace development of the mining complex by reading and
viewing the information presented in the Museum (see information below, heading
of *NOTE : Museum Material).
Also,
background information on the 1941 explosion, that killed 29 miners, is
available in the Museum. This explosion will be discussed briefly during your
tour. Following the tour, have the students stop at the Miners Graveyard, where
26 of the 1941 explosion victims are buried. They may walk inside the cemetery
fence, provided they maintain a respectful approach. Then return to the Heritage
Center, just to the north, to complete their study.
There
is a section in the Museum which is devoted to the explosion, Included is a map, used at the inquest, showing
where each of the victims was located, within the mine.
OR
2)
*If you wish to view this material using a different approach, do these
activities prior to taking the tour. Allow a minimum of one half hour to
covering the material in the Heritage Center Museum, and another half hour to
view the background video, Vision in the Valley.
**There
are three videos, Vision in the Valley, Nordegg: Ghost Towns of
Canada, and Nordegg Sports Days, 1947/48. As supplementary material,
any of these videos will be played upon request. These videos also are sold in
the Gift Shop (**see complete list of available materials, at the conclusion
of this Study Guide).
*NOTE : Museum Material:
The
Museum material is arranged chronologically, beginning with the folding boards
immediately inside the Museum entrance. This section covers the Kiska Waptan Nakoda Natives, originally
known as the Wesley Stoneys. They lived in this area
prior to development of the town of Nordegg. Their history is a fascinating one,
strongly tied to the history of Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise, and Rocky Mountain
House. (For example, the well known name, Tom Wilson, the first non-Native
individual to see Lake Louise, and the Guide for Major Rogers in plotting the
route for the railway, had a small trading post on Kootenay Plains, west of
Nordegg. Three children of Tom Wilson became permanent residents of
Nordegg.)
Following the Native information and photos, the history of the
various stages of development of Nordegg is given, along with photos, as you
walk around the Museum, following counter-clockwise.
Younger children would
benefit by going in small groups, accompanied by a supervisor, who reads the
information to them, and answers their questions. Some Upper Elementary
students, Junior High students, and above, are capable of absorbing the material
on their own, with a supervisor available to answer their questions.
If
certain questions require further reference, it is suggested first to try the
person at the Tourist Information Desk, as many of the Old Timers from Mining
Town Nordegg help out in that capacity from May to September.
Reference
and study material may be available through the gift shop.
Video
*
The Nordegg Story, told in video format:
Vision
in the Valley - $19.95. This
video traces Martin Nordegg from Germany to Canada, and then to Alberta. It
follows the building of the Brazeau Collieries coal
mine operation, and the development of the town, also called Nordegg. This video
is available in both NTSC (North America) and PAL (Europe) formats.
*
The Nordegg video segment of the Ghost Towns of Canada
series which runs on the History Channel and other documentary-styled
stations, now is available for purchase - $19.95
*
Also available is the video, Nordegg
Sports Day - 1947-48 - $10.00. This
shows the people of Mining Town Nordegg, and illustrates many of the traditional
activities, including the Cowboy Race, Pillow Fights, Teepee Raising Race,
Tug-of-War, and much much more, all set to a musical
soundtrack (no spoken audio).
CD
Dave
Campbell, who now lives in Edmonton, has recorded two CDs in his basement
studio. These CDs contain the type of music played by Nordegg dance bands, that produced the music for Saturday night dances in
the Empress Theatre/Dance Hall. Dave was a member of one such band of Old Mining
Town Nordegg and, in this nostalgic trip down "memory lane", Dave takes the
listener back to those days gone by.
*
CD Dave's Tunes : $10.00
* CD More Tunes
: $10.00
BOOKS
The
most recently available book, When Coal Was King ($12.95), tells the
story of the Brazeau Collieries mining complex from
its inception in 1911 to closing in 1955. This book concentrates on the actual
mining procedure, and the support structure required for an efficient operation.
It also discusses, at length, the process of making briquettes, an operation for
which Nordegg became famous.
There are a large number of photographs,
maps, and diagrams to illustrate the information.
Small
Moments in Time: the story of Alberta's Big West Country
- $34.95 (From the distant past to present day - the North Saskatchewan River
Corridor, the Shunda Basin, Brazeau Collieries, and Nordegg); by Anne (McMullen) Belliveau. This book is based upon the area, and discusses
the many visitors and travelers who spent time within the region. It also traces
the rise and fall of the only non-Native settlement in the area, that of
Nordegg.
Martin
Nordegg: the Uncommon Immigrant.
- $24.95 The
story of Martin Nordegg, his life, his adventures, and his family; by W. John
Koch. This traces the life of the very private individual, Martin Nordegg, from
his birth to his death. There is a wealth of background information on him and
his family.
To
the Town that Bears Your Name. $12.95 the story of the travels of
Martin Nordegg and his daughter, Marcelle, west from
Rocky Mountain House to Lake Louise by horseback. This included a visit to the
new mining area which later would be called Nordegg; translated from German
(Journal of Martin Nordegg), by Maria Koch.
Also
available in German (when in stock)
Items
are available through the Nordegg Heritage Centre and Museum from May to
September.
Or, if you prefer, email Phyllis, or phone her at
403-845-4444, or mail inquiries to Nordegg Historical Society, Box 550, Rocky
Mountain House, Alberta, T4T 1A4 .
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