Dead Man's Flats is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

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 ...

within the

Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8 The Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8 is a municipal district (MD) situated in Census Division No. 15 of Alberta, Canada. It is located between Calgary and Banff National Park, north of Kananaskis Improvement District. Highway 1 (the Tran ...

. Statistics Canada also recognizes it as a

designated place A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the ...

under the name of Pigeon Mountain. It is located within

Alberta's Rockies Alberta's Rockies comprise the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. On the southwestern part of the province along the British Columbia border, the region covers all but the south of Census Division 15. The main industry in this region ...

at Highway 1 exit 98, approximately southeast of Canmore and west of Calgary.

History

A variety of explanations account for the origin of the hamlet's name. One explanation associates it with a murder which took place in 1904 at a dairy farm situated on the flats of the

Bow River The Bow River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These w ...

. Francois Marret stood trial in Calgary for killing his brother Jean, whose body he had disposed of in the Bow River, but the jury acquitted him by reason of insanity. Another account states that two or three

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

people who were illegally trapping beaver noticed a warden approaching in the distance. Knowing that they did not have time to flee without being spotted, they smeared themselves with beaver blood and pretended to be dead. The warden, fooled by their deception, ran for help. Meanwhile, the trappers took their beaver pelts and escaped. This account is regarded as dubious; for example, no known description of this incident appears in the official wardens' reports. In 1954, the '' Calgary Herald'' wrote that it was "named only 10 to 12 years ago after a man was found shot in a cabin in the area." However, the phrase "Dead Man's flat" (lower-case "f" without the plural "s" at the end) is used in the August 25th, 1924 edition of the Calgary Herald. In an article that describes some recent events in Canmore it is stated that "A party of Canmore boys...returned last week from a seven days' outing at Dead Man's flat." They went on the outing for the purpose of fishing. From 1974 to 1985 the hamlet was officially called Pigeon Mountain Service Centre, but it changed its name to Dead Man's Flats in 1985 to encourage tourism. The new name had been unofficially used to designate the hamlet for several decades prior. Before the

Trans-Canada highway The Trans-Canada Highway (French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on ...

was constructed through the area in the 1950s, it was sparsely populated Crown land; among the only structures in the area were a corral and a camper's cabin. Proximity to the new national highway spurred the hamlet's development as a commercial service centre and rest stop for travelers and truck drivers. Businesses currently operating include motels, a

Husky Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

truck stop with a 24-hour diner, and the Mad Dog Café and Market. Recently the area has been the subject of proposed developments which would involve the construction of a new residential neighbourhood and a light industrial park.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Dead Man’s Flats had a population of 377 living in 128 of its 162 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 125. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Dead Man’s Flats (Pigeon Mountain) had a population of 125 living in 57 of its 96 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 121. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

References

{{Alberta, hamlets=yes Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8 Designated places in Alberta Hamlets in Alberta

History

Demographics

See also

References