spinsjal: April 2021

Not too many years ago, I had the chance to visit a friend in Alberta. We stopped in Rocky Mountain House, I think on the way back from Olds College Fibre week. There's nothing that I like more than an old museum in a town, devoted to saving items from a town's and an area's history. I look pretty excited on entering...

Rocky Mountain House started as a settlement, dating to the 18th century, as British and Canadian fur traders acquired furs from the First Nations peoples. Rocky Mountain House and Acton House functioned as fur trade posts from 1799 until 1876. Rocky Mountain House was owned by the North West Company; Acton House was established the Hudson Bay Company. The two companies merged in 1821. First nations peoples who traded included the Blackfeet, Piegans, and the Kootenays. I learned that pelts were transported east on the rivers. The Canadian reality show "Quest for the Bay" gave me an idea about the difficulties in transporting furs to the Hudson Bay in York boats.

Rocky Mountain House became a town after the trading post closed. Scandinavians were primary settlers to the area. The museum contained wonderful items from the 200 plus years of the town's existence. The museum has a HUGE collection.

This is an old Scandinavian style spinning wheel, possibly Norwegian.

Drum Carder for sheep's wool.

This is an "Indian Head" for a spinning; these were usually attached to treadle sewing machine bases or a simple spinning wheel and were typically used to spin the thick wool yarns used in "Salish" and Cowichan" sweaters. "Salish" and "Cowichan" refer to indigenous first peoples groups of the Pacific Northwest. Here's an interesting article with more on this topic.