From 1908 to the early 1920s, an industrial town in the east end of Jasper National Park housed the workers and families of those who supplied coal for the competing railways that ran through the park. A cemetery was created near the former residential townsite. This lonely but important site is often forgotten, as it overlooks the valley from the top of the hill behind Pocahontas Cabins and has no formal trail access.
Over the years, this area has become overgrown, but not abandoned. On Sept. 27, four park stewards worked to brush out the junipers, wild rose and sheperdia bushes obscuring access to grave sites and the markers of people interred there. Volunteers cleared out all junipers within a metre and a half of all fences, cleaned up major overgrown bushes in the gravesites and cleared up an access trail leading into the cemetery’s location. Volunteer equipment was loaned by the Jasper Trail Alliance. Volunteers included Don Pilger, Jerry and Turi Duhamel and Jeffrey Needham from the UK (a familiar face to many in Jasper—a regular visitor and contributor to the Friends of Jasper, who considers Jasper to be his home at heart!) Parks Canada sends a great big thank you to the dedicated volunteers who spent a great afternoon helping with one of Jasper’s lesser-known cultural resource sites.
Several past volunteer efforts over the years have contributed to the upkeep and well-being of this important cultural resource site, and similar work will be needed in the coming years ahead as well.
Both the old mine site and foundations can be explored from an interpretive trail that delves into the park’s early coal mining past.
Do you want to become a park steward? Everyone is welcome and can contribute—the volunteers on this project varied in age from five to 70! For more info on volunteers in Jasper, email: [email protected]
