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The First North-West Mounted Police Christmas: Fort Macleod, 1874
Posted by HPOC Staff on
December, 1874 was a cold month in many ways for the newly-arrived North-West Mounted Police at their posts in modern day Alberta. They were homesick and had suffered a long and arduous journey across the prairies. Lt. Col. James Macleod brought together his men and the local Indigenous people, to mark the occasion and lift spirits at the newly constructed fort named after him. A true one-of-a-kind Christmas story is shared here by researcher-writer Laura Kirbyson. HPOC will be seeking information on this historic day from the area First Nations and Métis communities, and will provide an update with any information that is uncovered to add to the story.
Revisiting Mother Barnes’ Plum Hollow Log Cabin
Posted by Lori Ann Sanche on
Lori Ann Sanche, co-Editor of HPOC.ca, brings you this article.
Mother Barnes’ bucolic early 19th century hewn log cabin, located on what is now called Mother Barnes Road near the rural community of Plum Hollow in Eastern Ontario, is a superbly restored testament to a renowned clairvoyant’s prolonged life and work in this region. Elizabeth Barnes, known locally as Mother Barnes and more widely after her death by the specious title of “The Witch of Plum Hollow”, bought her cabin in the late 1850s or early 1860s, and stayed there until her death in 1891, providing reportedly accurate tea-leaf readings daily to the large numbers of enthralled patrons who came to see her from all over Canada and the USA.
Also, watch our first HPOC Show about Mother Barnes' cabin!
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Posted by HPOC Staff on
Edelweiss Village in Golden BC, Canada, is the historic home of the famous Rocky Mountain Swiss Guides. In 2021, the entire village property was put up for sale and was at risk for demolition. If this happened, one of the last remaining links to the golden age of Canadian mountaineering, and its Swiss-Canadian heritage, could have been lost. Fortunately, the Swiss Edelweiss Village Foundation has managed to secure the property. Working with significant financial limitations, how is this non-profit heritage organization managing to succeed? For the potential answer, and a description of this significant village/past, see our latest HPOC article by Stephen Robbins, researcher-writer. For this article, he spoke to Dr. Ilona Spaar, co-founder of the Swiss Edelweiss Village Foundation.
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