Monday, July 23, 2012

Run, the buffalo are coming!

Part 3 of 3

July 5 - 20, 2012
Great Canadian Barn Dance RV Park
Hill Spring, Alberta

Yep we're still here in Alberta.  There are so many things to see in this area.  On our way to the Musical Ride we toured the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, just 20 min north west of Ft. Macleod.  This is a World Heritage Site.   http://www.history.alberta.ca/headsmashedin/default.aspx  Before the Plains People had horses they organized complex communal buffalo hunts.  It was quite an undertaking as it might take months to complete the set up of the hunt and then the winds had to be just perfect so the buffalo couldn't smell the people.  Everything was done on foot even having a runner in front of the buffalo stampede leading them down the narrow "road" to the cliff, then at the last minute the runner turned to get away from the buffalo.  The end result was the buffalo kept running and went over the cliff.  Check out the excellent web site to learn more.  This was very fascinating I wish we could have stayed longer.  If you go plan on a minimum of three hours.



Going over the edge



Above the cliff



 Looking up the cliff

 Later in the evening we had a superb dinner at the "Barn" of Alberta Beef that had been cooking all day, and it was so tender all you needed was a fork.  After dinner The Kunkels gave us an extraordinary two and a half hour show.  Wow, they cook, serve, clean up, sing, tell stories, and who knows what else, they are always busy.  I'm sure that they will sleep in after all of us leave.

This really is a barn, constructed in 1910 with a dance floor upstairs so there are many support beams which makes it challenging to take pictures.

Trevor on the right and his father Lloyd


Trevor



 Trevor's 14 year old son, a very accomplished musician 


Trevor's wife, Cindy



Left to right, Uncle Ed, Trevor's 22 year old son and Lloyd (Trevor's father)




The end to a perfect day


Safe Travels, thanks for stopping by

Joe and Nancy

3 comments:

  1. I'm glad you were able to visit the Buffalo Jump. We were impressed when we visited there. It sounds like you are having a great time and seeing all the sights!

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  2. We have seen a number of places where buffalo were hunted in this manner. sure saves on arrows:)

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  3. We visited the Buffalo Jump 8 years ago on our first trip to Alaska. I enjoyed seeing it again in your post.

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