Whiskey Gap, originally known as "Fareham", is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

Cardston County Cardston County is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located in Census Division 3 around the Town of Cardston. The municipal district was established on January 1, 1954, through the amalgamation of the ''Municipal Dist ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. The former community is approximately south of the city of

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

, southeast of the town of Cardston, west of Del Bonita on Highway 501, and roughly north of the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

History

In the 1860s and 1870s American traders crossed into what would eventually become Alberta to trade goods and alcohol for buffalo robes and furs. One of the main routes for this trade, the Riplinger Road, crossed the border just west of Whiskey Gap. Many of the wagon cart trails from the early settlers from this era can still be seen over a hundred years later throughout the valley. During the Canadian prohibition period in Alberta between 1916 and 1924 alcohol was smuggled through this area from the United States into Canada. Later alcohol was smuggled in the opposite direction when the American prohibition was declared between 1920 and 1933. The local post office was named Fareham in 1918. When the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

reached the area, the community boomed. Consisting of three

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

s, a store, and other businesses and houses grew up around the railway. In 1929 with some hesitation from local

LDS LDS may refer to: Organizations Religion * Latter Day Saint movement (LDS movement), a collection of independent church groups **The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest group within the Latter Day Saint movement * Latvijas ...

families, the community was officially renamed Whiskey Gap. Although little remains of this once thriving community, its name reflects its long and colourful past and strategic location. Only a historic plaque with various foundations spread throughout the site are visible through the overgrown prairie grass along the abandoned railway next to highway 501. A small church building was moved from the community of Jefferson sometime in the 1980-1990s to be used as a private dwelling. It now remains the only structure in Whiskey Gap. Many of Whiskey Gap's commercial buildings have since been moved to the nearby community of Del Bonita, Alberta. These buildings were used as a tourist attraction and bed and breakfast called the Little Ghost Town on the Prairie Ltd., now closed.

Geography

The town site is in a pass through the Milk River range of hills on a watershed between the

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and

Saskatchewan River The Saskatchewan River (Cree: , "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining of the North Saskatchewan River and South Saskatchewan River just east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan ...

drainage system, which suggests the name "gap" at first glance.

Media

In 1961 Colin Low of the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

created ''Days of Whiskey Gap'',Days of Whiskey Gap - National Film Board of Canada - 1961
/ref> a short film depicting tales of the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

efforts to enforce "the Queen's law", ensuring

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

did not become a lawless frontier like the early "Wild West" of the

American frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the Geography of the United States, geography, History of the United States, history, Folklore of the United States, folklore, and Cultur ...

. In 1976 Whiskey Gap hosted the production of

Terrence Malick Terrence Frederick Malick (; born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. Malick began his career as part of the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers and received awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and ...

's period film ''

Days of Heaven ''Days of Heaven'' is a 1978 American romantic period drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, and starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. Set in 1916, it tells the story of Bill and Abby, lovers who trav ...

''. Covered wagons, coaches, old-fashioned trucks, and hundreds of people dressed in period clothing bustled about the area during filming.

References

External links

Cardston County

Days of Whiskey Gap
-

The Little Ghost Town on the Prairie Ltd.
- Closed {{Coord, 49, 01, 57, N, 113, 01, 53, W, display=title, region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Ghost towns in Alberta Alcohol in Alberta Localities in Cardston County Populated places established in 1918 Fur trade Smuggling Prohibition in Canada Prohibition in the United States American frontier

History

Geography

Media

See also

References

External links