Howard Douglas (May 8, 1850 – January 6, 1929) was a Superintendent for

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

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, councillor for

Calgary City Council The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The council consists of 15 members: the chief elected official, titled the mayor, and 14 councillors. Jyoti Gondek was elected mayor in October 202 ...

Early life

Howard Douglas was born in Halton District,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

in 1850. He was the son of Thomas Douglas, a farmer, and the oldest of four boys. Howard Douglas spent his boyhood and youth in the east. He married Alice Maud Johnston, the daughter of a ship captain, in

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

, Ontario on October 11, 1872. Around 1883 Douglas moved west to Manitoba, and later in fall 1883 he arrived in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

and worked as a construction bridge foreman for the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

. In 1885, he resigned from railway service and established a cartage and coal business under the name of Calgary Cartage Company. Douglas was elected as a councillor in

1888 In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...

and again in

1891 Events January–March * January 1 ** Paying of old age pensions begins in Germany. ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new Africa ...

. His wife Alice and their three children, Katie, Thomas and Roy joined him in 1885. In 1890, Alice and Howard's fourth child, Ralph Howard, was born in Calgary.

Working in National Parks

In 1896 Howard Douglas was appointed superintendent of Rocky Mountain Park (later named Banff National Park). He was promoted to Commissioner of National Parks in the West in 1911 which necessitated his move to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

in 1909. During his term of office

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...

Elk Island National Park Elk Island National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada, that played an important part in the conservation of the Plains bison. The park is administered by the Parks Canada Agency. This "island of conservation" is east of Edmonton, alo ...

, Wainwright and

Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada. It borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was the fourth Canadian national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterto ...

were opened. Douglas also arranged for the purchase and transfer of the Michael Pablo herd of bison from the state of Montana.

Later life

When he retired from the Parks position in 1921 he was appointed the first moving picture censor for the Province of Alberta. Douglas was a Charter Member of the Calgary Lodge of Independent Order of Oddfellows, and a member of the Banff Masonic Lodge. Douglas died in Edmonton on January 6, 1929.

Honours

Mount Howard Douglas Mount Howard Douglas is a mountain summit located immediately east of the Banff Sunshine ski resort in Banff National Park of Alberta, Canada. It was named for Howard Douglas (1850-1929), a park superintendent credited with greatly expanding i ...

, a 2,877-metre (9,439-foot) mountain summit in Banff National Park. * Howard Douglas Creek, a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

in Alberta.

References

{{Reflist 1850 births 1929 deaths Banff National Park Calgary city councillors