Howse Pass

On the outskirts of downtown Banff is the Banff Park Museum, housed in a log building built in 1903.

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Howse Pass Details

In the late-1700s and early-1800s, fur trading was a big part of life in western Canada, and traders were always seeking new trade partners, especially in the Canadian Rockies. During that timeframe, North West Company traders were building posts and made plans to find a route across the Rockies to reach the Columbia River Valley and establish trade relationships with the Ktunaxa tribe. In 1807, a North West Company party first traversed the pass, long a traditional Aboriginal transportation route, and in 1809, Joseph Howse from the Hudson's Bay Company first crossed; the pass was named for Howse. The two companies continued to use the pass until 1810, when the pass was forsaken for Athabasca Pass, which became the fur-trading route of choice. Today, Howse Pass is one of several Canadian national historic sites related to the fur trade, and can be accessed by hiking 26 kilometers (16.2 miles) west from the Icefields Parkway.

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Low

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