A Little Bit Ritchie Episode 4 Transcript: Portrait of Mill Creek Ravine
Hello, and welcome to A Little Bit Ritchie, the local history podcast curious about all things Edmonton. I’m your host, Lydia Neufeld. To celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the Ritchie Community League, in every episode, we’ll dive into a new sector of local history to discover what makes Ritchie—Ritchie!
The Ritchie Community League respectfully acknowledges that the land where we gather is Treaty 6 territory and Metis Nation of Alberta Region 4. This land has been a traditional meeting ground for many Indigenous peoples. The territory on which Ritchie stands has provided a travelling route and home to the Cree, Blackfoot, Saulteaux, Métis and other Indigenous peoples. This podcast analyzes the history of the land, and we begin with the understanding that the community, currently known as Ritchie, exists on stolen land. Throughout this year of centennial celebrations, the Ritchie Community League is working to explore what the land means to the community and how we can create a future on this land that assists in undoing the processes of colonization.
A Little Bit Ritchie is more than entertainment and celebration. It is also a mutual learning method. The league has developed a Reconciliation Committee, which aims to understand the history of the lands we call home. The Committee reflects on the Community Leagues’ existence in Ritchie and its relationship to the land. We hope to learn more about the area’s rich Indigenous history and build stronger relationships with today's communities and residents.
In an effort to re-structure how we perceive and interact with the community we serve, the League would love to hear lesser-known stories about the lands currently known as Ritchie and Mill Creek Ravine. These stories can help shape how we acknowledge these lands and support our goals of building an equitable, welcoming community for all through reconciliation and local action. Let us know how you show gratitude for the lands you call home or what brings you joy in your community. If you want to share a story, please contact Seghan at civics@ritchie-league.com.
Mill Creek Ravine lays quietly below a bustling urban center. The ravine, a routine escape in many of our lives, holds tightly to vital stories of Edmonton’s industrial past and perhaps is to thank for the city's early economy. However, Mill Creek Ravine, and the overgrowth below, conceal one of Alberta's most polluted creeks and green spaces.
Today on a Little Bit Ritchie, we’ll dive into the secrets of Mill Creek Ravine. This episode addresses how the history of Mill Creek, as told in the popular past, contradicts itself. We discuss manifestations of the human vs. nature dichotomy and how this conflict has functioned throughout Edmonton’s history. We investigate what has defined the aesthetic identity of Mill Creek Ravine at different points in history and the functions of designated recreational landscapes. Additionally, we question the value of environmental activism when viewed through a colonial lens. This episode explores the stories told within the context of Mill Creek Ravine and the public perception of these stories. What voices have shaped the area as we know it today? Through this discussion, we ask: how can the community interact with these places in ways that promote reconciliation?
For this episode of A Little Bit Ritchie, we spoke to Haeden Stewart about his Ph.D. dissertation, “In The Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” which presents an under-recognized part of Mill Creek’s history. This episode relies heavily on Stewart's work, and his complete dissertation is linked in our show notes.
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Throughout history, Mill Creek has adopted many names. We are aware of the titles Bird’s Creek and Mill Creek; however, the Creek was undoubtedly recognized by other names. The Bird Flour Mill, the project of local Métis businessman William Bird, which stood on the east side of the ravine, is Mill Creek’s modern namesake.1 The Mill was established in 1870 and closed three years later due to the unpredictability of the creek’s water level.2
Mill Creek Ravine formed approximately ten thousand years ago at the end of the Ice Age, as a glacial lake slowly drained and stretched east towards Hudsons Bay. The lake shaped much of the topography in and around Edmonton, and part of its footprint is imprinted in Amiskwaciy, or the Beaver Hills, east of modern Edmonton. The Beaver Hills hold a unique history and bustling ecosystem. In 2016, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization designated the Beaver Hills as a Biosphere.3 This designation acknowledges and fosters environmentally informed land-use planning and economic development in collaboration with local communities.4 Early maps of the Beaver Hills, including one drawn by Chief Papaschase for Joseph Burr Tyrrell in 1886, show how the North Saskatchewan River tethers the Beaver Hills to Mill Creek—the heart of Edmonton.5
As the centuries passed, Mill Creek’s meandering stream hosted colonies of beavers, whose rugged lodges tempered the creek's cascading current. With beaver's modifications to the flow and depth of the water, the stream offered a shady hospice to diverse species of fish, birds, and reptiles.6 White spruce, birch, and aspen dotted the precarious slopes of the ravine, too steep and treacherous for large mammals like bison or moose to scale and disrupt.7 The undisturbed understory of the forest was abundant with saskatoons, raspberries, and wild rose bushes. Thick swaths of wildflowers blanketed the clearings.8 Ravines—just like Mill Creek’s—with their steep slopes and dense biodiversity are essential to the ecosystem of the prairies, as they brace the creeksides and offer a quiet nursery for young deciduous forests.9
On the northern banks of the North Saskatchewan River, in modern Rossdale, archeologists have uncovered artifacts which confirm that for thousands of years, the area has served as a meeting and trading ground for Indigenous people.10 Dr. Dwayne Donald, a Papaschase scholar, asserted that towards the end of the 1700s, the Papaschase and Blackfoot people entered into a military alliance and traded extensively.11 In 1799, the Hudsons Bay Company established trading posts in Rocky Mountain House and Edmonton.12 The company erected both stations in the Blackfoot territory, which shifted the “delicate power dynamics between the Cree and the Blackfoot.”13 In 1807, “there was a Cree attack on the Blackfoot just south of the North Saskatchewan River, where the university is now.”14 There were likely no territory agreements between the two nations during this period. It wasn’t until the establishment of The Peace Hill Treaty in 1867 between the Cree and Blackfoot that there was an indicator of territorial control and expectation.15 In 1880, the Government of Canada designated a 64 Square Kilometer area in modern central Edmonton as the Papaschase Cree Reserve, which the Mill Creek Ravine bisected.16
European settlers in the Edmonton area were widely in favour of removing the Papaschase people from the ravine—in fact, they never approved of the reserve.17 In 1881, the Edmonton Bulletin published an article that insisted that the Canadian government revise their plan to include the ravine in the reserve.18 The report, written by founder and editor of the Edmonton Bulletin, Frank Oliver, states:
“If the Indians take the reserve at present, a lasting injury will be done to this settlement without any corresponding benefit accruing to them. Now is the time for the government to declare the reserve open and show whether this country is to be run in the interests of the settlers or the Indians.”19
Oliver posited that the Papaschase people did not use their reserve land “properly,” as the earth in the ravine was abundant with natural resources, including coal and lumber. He maintained that the reserve should be relocated and the land reallocated to the settler entrepreneurs for industrial development.20 “Oliver created and sustained a narrative that degraded the Papaschase people and raised the value of the white settlers to the level of great founding fathers.”21 In 1905, Frank Oliver became the Minister of the Interior and Superintendent General of Indian Affairs. He maintained these positions until 1911.22
Industrial lust was complicit in removing the Papaschase Band from Mill Creek Ravine. In 1886, the Canadian Government coerced the Band's people off of their land and relocated many to the Enoch reserve, about 30 kilometres west. “Through a mix of lies, financial incentives [in the form of Métis Scrip], and legal tricks, Thomas Wadsworth, Inspector of the Indian Agencies, obtained a formal surrender of the reserve.”23 The Government absorbed the ravine and sold off the land for the use of industry.24 The local economy skyrocketed, and the Papaschase people did not receive a dime from the sales.25 Industrialists charged into the valley, and quickly, the Edmonton, Yukon and Pacific Railway Company, or EY&P, began constructing a railway through the ravine.
By 1902, the line was complete.26 The train supported the industrial boom as it carted supplies in and out of the ravine. By the time of the railway’s completion, various production plants flooded into Mill Creek “eager to exploit the wood, water, and coal resources, and to take advantage of the transportation opportunities of the railroad.”27 To learn more about the EY&P, listen to our third episode, “Bound by the Rails.”
The production and transportation in the ravine jumpstarted industrial development in Edmonton.28 By 1905, the ravine housed four meatpacking plants, Vogel’s, Gainers, Edmonton Meat Market, and Cornelius Gallagher-Hull. Mill Creek also hosted Twin City Coal Mine, Western Clays Brick Factory, and W. H. Clark’s Edmonton Lumber Mill.29 Mill Creek’s meatpacking plants, which were “among the first modern processing industries” in Strathcona, were primarily inspired by the industry in nineteenth-century Chicago.30 At the time, Chicago was the meatpacking capital of the United States, with over 25,000 people employed in the industry.31 Meatpacking spurred Edmonton's economy and shifted the ecology of the ravine as livestock flooded in.32 Quickly, the capital city became the centre for meat processing and the backbone of Alberta’s farming industry.33 Livestock from all across the province was carted to the ravine to be slaughtered, processed, and packaged. We’ll dive into more detail about Mill Creek’s meatpacking plants in an upcoming episode.
The industry in Mill Creek was one of the largest and first industrial projects in Western Canada.34 Despite the economic boom of the early 1900s, some of Mill Creek’s major industries did not make it into the jazz age. In 1911, Gallagher-Hull Meat and Packing Company shut their doors.35 In 1910, Wilhelm Vogel retired and leased his packing plant to P. Burns Company. However, in 1913, Vogel’s permanently ceased operations. Western Clays Brick Factory went out of business in 1914, likely because their bricks were of poor quality.36 On August 2nd, 1918, the Twin City Coal Mine liquidated its assets as coal began to run thin. The operation continued until June 1921, after miners tunnelled at least a mile into the ravine bank only to find that the coal seam was “exhausted.”37 The underground mine was dismantled and abandoned.
In 1907 Edmonton’s lumber supply was scarce due to high water levels on the river. Mills across the city felt the strain of the scant supply.38 While the business pressed on for a few more years, in 1916, W. H. Clark’s Edmonton Lumber Mill closed and sold its equipment.39Though the other industrial plants fled the ravine, Gainer’s remained.
The factories abandoned material artifacts in Mill Creek: the crumbling packing plants, mounds of clinker—the remnants of burnt coal—“and the decades of organic refuse [of] bones, blood, hair, and sinews that the meatpacking plants had dumped in the ravine.”40
The City of Edmonton claimed most of the abandoned land within Mill Creek. However, the landscape remained vacant as the bones of the industry decayed and seeped into the earth. Locals scavenged brick and metal from the sagging structures that remained, and “the entryway of Twin City Mine began to slump, and everywhere, creeping shrubbery began to grow over the ruins.”41 Though the EY&P line remained active until 1951, the train lost much of its utility.42
Despite the park’s modern reputation as a secluded, natural escape from the bustle of the city, Mill Creek Ravine remains “one of the most polluted parks in Edmonton, containing the most polluted urban creek in the province.”43 After the industry flooded out of the ravine, much was left behind. The abandoned remnants represent “the other side of industrial production: the impact of industrial waste.”44
Haeden Stewart describes his perception of Mill Creek Ravine:
“It looks so lush and green and you peel back and just right below the surface and just this sort of unbelievable massive carpet of bones everywhere and just such an amazing, cause you think you like go down to Mill Creek Ravine and its so green and a lush get away from the city, and right below your feet is this sort of Macabre carpet of uh bones everywhere and old and just old rusted barrels and concrete foundations and its all just littered with intensity underneath the surface.”
The bones of the industry, including blood, clinker, and heavy metals, oozed into the soil below and fundamentally shifted Mill Creek’s ecology.45 The soil, once healthy, was alkaline and failed to support the species that depended on it. The brick, metal, and remains that could be salvaged were recycled and removed by scavengers and activists. What could not be reused seeped into the earth, to be slowly overtaken by fauna.46
A child’s description of the area in the 1970s is as follows: “Mill Creek—a lonely, polluted paridise [sic]. Once the water was blue, with fish living in the shining water. People pollution [sic] has pushed the fish out.”
Once shielded by white spruce, the banks of Mill Creek Ravine became infested with balsam poplar in the 1970s, as the species “had an aptitude for surviving disturbed soils, air pollution, and road salt.” A 1973 study found that balsam poplar saturated over 50% of the ravine. Another such species was Caragana.47 Caragana was introduced at a period when Mill Creek’s stream ran thick with blood and clinker, no longer suitable to the wildlife that once thrived in its brooks.
Caragana first arrived in Edmonton in 1901, advertised for sale as an ornamental shrub in the Edmonton Bulletin. Listed alongside Oak, Maple, and English Poplar, these plants were deemed to be vital to life in the North-West.48 By 1906 advertisers stated that, in Edmonton, Caragana was crucial to farming and urban life, as it had the rare ability to provide exceptional practical benefits along with its ability to ‘Beautify Your Lawns.’ $4.00 could buy six shrubs, which one could “advantageously plant to beautify, civilize, and…increase the value of the property for resale.”49
More than simply an ornamental plant, Caragana had been tested by the colonial Experimental Farm System, which was intended to “develop new strands of crops that could survive the brutally cold winters and short dry summers of the Canadian prairies” and “test a whole range of trees, shrubs, and plants that were hardy enough to be used to create a more desirable ecosystem for settlers.”50 Caragana was determined by the Brandon, Manitoba branch of the Experimental Farm System to be “suitable for hedges, wind-breaks, ornamental planting, avenues, and forestry proper.”51
Quickly, Caragana became the most desirable bush for privacy hedges across Northwest Canada.52 Outside of Edmonton, other communities cited Caragana as the remedy to the treeless plains that they called an “abomination of nature.”53 Interestingly, in the post-WWI period, the popularity of Caragana connected with the Vacant Lot Gardens,54 which we discussed in our second episode of A Little Bit Ritchie.
As Stewart puts it,
“The planting of trees and shrubs, and the production of a well-treed environment on the Prairies was deeply interconnected with the ‘legal’ rituals of land appropriation that took place under the signing of treaties between Indigenous groups and the Canadian government.”55
The Experimental Farm System was an instrument of colonization, as it employed flora and fauna, like Caragana, to align the prairie landscape with colonial norms, which further “facilitated the undercutting of Indigenous livelihoods, the commodification and settlement of the land, and the extraction of profitable resources.”56
Caragana was predicted to have spread to the ravine from gardens.57 Its introduction to and infestation of Mill Creek resulted from the Experimental Farm System. Still, the way it thrived and continues to thrive in the ravine is related to the levels of industrial waste and subsequent soil damage that resulted from early industry in the ravine. The waste formed a new environmental habitat where Caragana and other invasive species could flourish.
At the turn of the century, a new greenspace-focussed movement took hold of North American urban planners—the City Beautiful Movement. The City Beautiful Movement “promoted the planned creation of civic beauty through architectural harmony, unified design and visual variety.”58 While early-twentieth-century promotional materials for the Edmonton region—which encompassed Strathcona—used the language of the City Beautiful Movement, neither city had yet officially joined the movement.59
For both Edmonton and Strathcona, the City Beautiful Movement was a way to align the greenspaces of each respective city with the aesthetic eye of a known urban park planner, Frederick Todd. Todd, “An apprentice of Frederick Law Olmstead, favoured working with natural systems rather than imposing artificial order and followed this principle in his work in key Canadian urban sites such as Mount Royal Park in Montreal, Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, and Bowring Park in St. John’s.”60
In 1907, Edmonton and Strathcona recruited Todd for advice on urban park planning.61 From his visit to Edmonton, Todd concluded that areas that could not conform to an urban grid structure were precious.62 On the Strathcona side, the presence of water, slopes, and elevation in places like Mill Creek Ravine deterred urban developers.63 Todd, however, believed that the valleys and ravines “were to be valued not only for the recreational land they represented but also for what their difficult geographies forestalled: straightforward assimilation into the urban landscape.”64 Indeed, Todd stated to the Mayor of Strathcona that the city should “invest very largely in extensive outside parks.”65 Specifically, Todd recommended the land adjacent to Mill Creek for designated park space.
Todd highlighted that a particular feature of Strathcona over Edmonton was the potential for a parks system that incorporated Mill Creek, Black Mud Creek, the river valley slopes to the west, and the area between Saskatchewan Avenue—Saskatchewan Drive today—and the river. He outlined how these areas could be “united with each other, and made accessible to the city by means of boulevards. Aside from the mere connecting of the different parks, so as to form a system,” Todd saw “a splendid opportunity for magnificent scenic drives, that would always be a matter of regret if [Strathcona did] not secure these boulevards.”66
Todd’s perception of what nature “should be” took form in a park as a “natural space” and acted as a bookend of modernity to that of industry. Industry and wilderness needed to exist together to make the city a modern 20th-century marvel of the future. At this time, the River Valley and Ravine were central points in the city, and no neighbourhood was “more than five kilometres from the valley or one of the ravines. The River Valley has been compared to a “‘backbone;’ a central spine, to which metropolitan and area planning can be related.”67
Todd’s recommendation for park beautification was a method of co-opting the agency of the Indigenous landscape and narrowing it into a eurocentric definition of aesthetic place, His ideals represented the idea of place-making as understood through the colonial eye. He asserted that a crucial consideration for a thriving city was to ensure that it is abundant with open green space. “…crowded populations, if they are to live in health and happiness, must have space for the enjoyment of that peaceful beauty of nature…because it is the opposite of all that is sordid and artificial in our city lives, is so wonderfully refreshing to the tired souls of city dwellers.”68
“The period between 1949 and 1983 represent a [time in] Edmonton’s history where environmental protection policy clashed with transportation policy that advocated for the wholesale destruction of the river valley and countless homes.”69 In 1947, oil was discovered near Leduc, and the industry shifted south, as did roadways and urban development.70 The city ached for improved transportation to facilitate Edmonton’s anticipated expansion. By 1960, Edmonton’s industry, population, and economy boomed, and its roadways were not equipped to handle this influx. Traffic was unbearable in the city’s core.
The Edmonton District Planning Commission drafted the Metropolitan Edmonton Transportation Study—METS for short—in 1963, with support from the Member Communities, the City of Edmonton, and the Province of Alberta,71 as a solution to the intense traffic congestion. An interconnected network of four to six-lane freeways would surround the downtown core and trickle to the outskirts of the city. However, to execute this plan, the freeways needed to race through five ravines, including Mill Creek. In addition to the destruction of hundreds of ravine homes, the Freeway would leave roughly 11% of the river valley system stripped of its trees, paved, and essentially in ruins.72
The METS plan is another example of post-war modernization and the perception of what a contemporary and innovative urban area should be to cater to the expansion of industrial interests. In the 1960s, Edmonton’s local government left elected officials with very little power compared to a small group of city commissioners. Therefore, the local government did not accurately represent the views of the citizens. Additionally, the City was in bed with figureheads of local industry, meaning that many of the decisions largely favoured industrial development over environmental conservation.
METS evaluated the established urban areas to assess land use and the need for roadways.73 The team investigated the “size, form, and composition of the city”74 presently and as it was expected to grow “to predict future travel requirements.”75 The study concluded that there would be a “91 percent increase in the population of [the] Edmonton metropolitan area by 1980,” from 336,000 people to about 660,000.76 With an increase in population would come a heightened need for transportation and infrastructure. Further, the study predicted that the average person's daily trips within Edmonton would “double from 1961 to 1980.”77 Through this survey of transportation trends, it was observed that there was inadequate support for thoroughfares around the downtown area.78 Therefore, METS posited that if Edmonton wanted to sustain its population growth, the city needed to invest in the infrastructure to support a surge of motor vehicles.79
After exhausting various options to accommodate the anticipated traffic boom, it was decided that the best solution was to build an entirely new system of freeways that connected to the existing roadways, which eliminated the inefficient stop-and-go of a regular city street.80 A distinctive characteristic of the recommended freeway was the rectangular perimeter of roadways, equalling about 8 kilometres, that outlined the central core, “The Downtown Freeway Loop,” which the other proposed freeways would feed into.
The Downtown Freeway Loop would surround the city's core, beginning north near 106th Avenue, stretching west towards 110th street, south to the River, and east to 94th street. By avoiding the downtown core, the Freeway Loop would allow “distribution of traffic into and out of the central business district” without clogging the inner city.81
The Mill Creek Freeway—also called the South East Freeway—would connect the Downtown Freeway Loop to the South East Corner and Highway 2, which carved a passage to the new industrial area. This branch was proposed to stretch four lanes wide with the possibility of expanding to six. The Freeway would ascend the western edge of the ravine and run under the Whyte Avenue bridge, snake east over the ravine, and divert south towards 91 Street. It would continue to stretch south until it eventually connected with Highway 2. This branch of the freeway was anticipated to have the lightest volume of daily traffic.82 Planners chose the path of the Mill Creek Freeway to preserve much of the recreation and beauty of the ravine, which would offer “a pleasant park drive.”83 Under this plan, Ritchie would lose access to Mill Creek Ravine.
Other proposed branches of the Freeway included the Jasper, West, North East, 98th Avenue, and South Freeways. In addition to Mill Creek, The MET’s plan recommended a freeway passage through the MacKinnon Ravine at the Jasper leg. The Jasper Freeway seemed especially preposterous since Edmonton’s growing population was settling to the northeast and south sides of the city, which made “routes west…seem like highways to nowhere.”84
METS presented the project at roughly $133 million dollars.85 Haeden Stewart asserts, “The fantasy of the highway to suburbia, combined with the burying of Mill Creek, began to harm the appearance of the landscape as merely an abandoned landscape, an ungoverned gap that needed to be filled in by concrete.”86
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The City faced intense pushback from environmentally concerned citizens, who came together to oppose the destruction of natural spaces. In 1957, five people appeared before Edmonton city council to protest any proposal which suggested building a road through Mill Creek Ravine. One of these individuals was Reverend D.J. Elson, Dean of the Faculty of St. Stephen’s College, who lived on the east side of the Ravine in Bonnie Doon. Elson’s primary concern was the loss of parkland that such a road would cause.87 He argued, “As our population grows, we are going to need more, not less, parkland. I am pleading for those who are silent. I am pleading for our children.”88 While City Planners assured the concerned citizens there was no proposal for a road at the time, this petition foreshadowed the community activism which accompanied the Metropolitan Edmonton Transportation Study in the 1960s.89
Carolyn Nutter and her husband, Richard “Butch” Nutter, came to Edmonton from California in the 1960s to attend graduate school at the University of Alberta. In 1968, the Nutters acquired a humble home in Mill Creek Ravine, in which they raised their four children. Their home sat in an area deemed by the City to be an obstacle in the way of the Mill Creek Freeway.
When the Nutter’s learned of this plan, they joined forces with others in the community to fight for their neighbourhood.90 The Nutter's early activism took the form of a petition against the Freeway, in which they detailed the vitality and importance of the ravine’s recreational offerings. The appeal asserted that “By virtue of Mill Creek Ravine's unique elongated shape it has served, not only the year-round recreational needs in a large area otherwise without such facilities, but has also provided a natural wildlife sanctuary.” Accompanied by other neighbourhood activists, the Nutter’s canvassed the neighbourhood and garnered the support of seventy-two of seventy-five homes.91 Local historians PearlAnn Reichwein and Jan Olson state that those who refused to sign the petition commented:
“‘I work for a contractor who does business with the city. If I sign this petition the city may stop doing business with my boss’; ‘The freeway is needed. I'll move to a different part of town’; ‘The ravine is so messy and dirty. The freeway will clean it up.'”92
In September of 1968, Butch Nutter brought the petition to the attention of Edmonton city council, who were shocked to hear the staggering resistance to the Freeway.93
In addition to individual activists, formal groups formed in opposition to METS. The Save Our Parks Association—or SOPA—and The Urban Reform Group of Edmonton—or URGE—were two anti-METS activist groups formed in the 1960s.94 Of the two, SOPA was the most outspoken and unwavering group against the Freeway. The group was primarily concerned with the ecological impact the Freeway would have on Edmonton’s River Valley and ravines, and their activism manifested in the forms of protests and petitions.95 SOPA protesters frequently gathered in MacKinnon Ravine, wielding signs that read messages like, “Treeways Not Freeways.”96 In 1965, SOPA petitioned 1,400 signatures, enough to force a referendum on the decision to build Capilano Bridge, which was proposed to cross the River Valley to the east of downtown.97
SOPA argued that “human values should guide decisions on new infrastructure projects [which] would rank recreational landscapes higher than transportation infrastructure.”98 The group posited that though engineers may be able to design efficient roadways, they are not qualified to assess “human values.”99 SOPAS humanistic opinions connected to “the broader urban reform movement emerging in this period that was characterized by middle-class efforts to protect favoured areas within the urban landscape.”100
SOPA was also concerned with a lack of park space for children's development. The group asserted that parks were fundamental to secure “recreation and character-building zones for our younger generations.”101 SOPA protesters wielded signs that touted “Roads in the Valley, Kids in the Alley,” highlighting the implied benefits of natural urban space and the drawbacks of the freeway on childhood development.102 SOPA’s “think of the children” argument mirrors those of the anti-reserve protesters we have discussed in past episodes, including those involved with the Social Center Movement.
Media coverage of SOPA’s efforts was generally dismissive, labelling activists as “homeowners” or “housewives.”103 Specifically, The Edmonton Journal was dismissive of opinions that opposed METS and published pieces that supported the automotive-oriented plan.104
In the early 1970s, the University of Alberta's Department of Extension released a collection of projects which assisted in the reframing of the ravine's future.105 Gerald Wright, a member of the Department of Extension, echoed SOPA’s anti-freeway sentiments to offer “a distinct way of thinking about transportation in Edmonton.”106 The University’s involvement with anti-METS activism demonstrated a shift in civic decision-making, as it encompassed “cooperative undertakings involving engaged citizens, university-employed academics, professional experts, and even employees with the City of Edmonton.”107
In 1970, the ecological movement was active and in full force in Edmonton when the activist group Save Tomorrow Oppose Pollution—or STOP—was established at the University of Alberta by students. In addition to protesting the freeway, they began their work by opposing the Federal Govenrmnet’s use of DDT.108 The group worked on a variety of causes, from asbestos awareness campaigns to a video series on a variety of pollutants.109
Just south of downtown, the James MacDonald bridge stretches across the North Saskatchewan River and connects to an entangled system of overpasses. The City began construction on the bridge as part of the Downtown Freeway Loop in the early 1960s, and it was completed in 1971. These roadways are the only parts of METS to be completed.110 In 1972, the City re-estimated the cost of the Freeway network to be roughly $750 million dollars. It is partially due to the consistent activism of SOPA, URGE, and STOP, and the high cost of the freeway system that, on May 26, 1972, Edmonton City Council voted to scrap METS. “City administration settled on an LRT system that balanced protection of the existing natural and urban environments found in Edmonton while hopefully making a dent in the perceived transportation crisis that loomed in the future.”111
While STOP had a broad focus on generalized anti-pollution activism, the group looked to counteract what the community saw as the decaying state of Mill Creek Ravine by reinventing the space as a community park. In 1973 local organizations and community leagues joined forces with STOP to create Mill Creek Build A Park, headed by Gurston Dacks, Butch Nutter, and Roger Deegan.112 As the name suggests, Mill Creek Build a Park pushed to turn Mill Creek Ravine into an official city park.113
STOP viewed the ravine as a natural environment threatened by the waste that littered its riparian.114 The group's perception of the ravine influenced locals, and quickly, residents became increasingly protective of a greenspace threatened by pollution and roadways.115
The board felt that the urban citizen was too far isolated from nature. The conversion of Mill Creek to a park would allow "the community to revalorize their relationship to the environment and fight against human alienation from nature."116 Build a Park surveyed residents that reported 92% of people were for the removal of pollution from the ravine.117 In response, the board wanted to clean up the ravine and convert Mill Creek into a "peoples park."118
Mill Creek Build a Park aimed to execute community-led initiatives that pushed for environmental protection and education in the form of parks. These initiatives included community outreach, such as puppet theatre programs in local parks, school initiatives in Mill Creek Ravine, and The Mill Creek Story, a compilation of research and programming materials that the group developed. The Mill Creek Story contained oral history interviews, school curriculums, newsletters, research papers, and other materials.119
The group wanted to create "'adventure play grounds' with the cooperation of Edmonton Parks and Recreation." Build a Park believed that these efforts would help the ravine and demonstrate to children in the community that they can play a role in local decision-making.120 The board of directors recommended that the park facilitate the 30,000 residents within walking distance, be accessible to all, not damage or disturb existing homes, adopt a historical theme with educational signage, use the remains of Gainers as an educational center, involve an extensive network of pedestrian and bike trails, and not be developed beyond what is necessary.121
Despite Build a Park's detailed proposal, City Council had park plans of their own. Without notice, the city began to demolish trees in the ravine. Jan Olson and Pearl Ann Reichwein write:
“One September morning [in 1975], writer Barbara Dacks, a resident and parent who lived on 87th Avenue, phoned Carolyn Nutter and other neighbourhood women. She said that a large truck had stopped at the end of her block, and a bulldozer was being driven off the truck. 'What can we do?' was her question. Nutter responded, 'We can stop the bulldozer. Get your kids. We'll bring ours. And we will stop the bulldozer.’”122
Nutter, Dacks, and their children were later joined by neighbours who blocked the path of the bulldozer and prevented further demolition of the ravine in a peaceful act of grassroots environmental activism.123 After this incident, tensions were high between Build a Park and the city.
Barbara's husband, Gurston Dacks, gathered nearly 50 neighbourhood dwellers for a meeting in the Ritchie Community Hall. Here, Gurston stressed the importance of Build a Park's vision for Mill Creek Park.124 "The residents questioned why the city repeatedly proposed grand schemes for the ravie” This plan ran against the public's desire for a park that appreciated nature, encouraged play, and fostered outdoor education as an essential focus.125
At the core of Build a Park was the belief that Mill Creek was a natural environment that required conservation because of the inherent value of the outdoors. While the group's actions demonstrated the importance that area residents placed on the ravine, the beliefs that Build a Park held about the ravine were inherently contradictory to the complex transitions of the ravine's history.
The Mill Creek Build a Park movement, and its vision of what outdoor recreation could be was the culmination of many of the different historical transitions within Mill Creek Ravine. The group centred on the anti-pollution narrative of their contemporaneous organizer, STOP, and also reflected many of Frederick Todd's ideals of "that peaceful beauty of nature."126 As Haeden Stewart demonstrated, industrial expansion in Mill Creek Ravine during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries established the environmental profile of 1970s Mill Creek. This meant that the Mill Creek beloved by Build a Park was not the same as that which predated the establishment of the industry within the banks of the ravine.
The Mill Creek Build a Park acknowledged the recent history of the creek's environment with the intent of developing a theme park with a focus on industry. However, Build a Park’s narrative did not recognize that these industries interrupted and fundamentally altered the environment as it existed before and the lives of the Indigenous people who called the ravine home.
In the 1970s, a group of Papaschase descendants funded research regarding the surrender of the Papaschase reserve “to identify the invalid history of the surrender of the Papaschase Reserve, to help identify appropriate levels of restitution for the descendants, and to locate other descendants of the Papaschase band.”127 Ken Tyler, a student at the University of Alberta, conducted archival research and oral interviews about the forceful surrender of the Papaschase reserve.128 Through his research, Tyler came across a group of Papaschase descendants residing all over Alberta. While many of these individuals were offered treaty status through reserves, including the Enoch Reserve, many were not.
Two years later, in 1973, some of the Papaschase descendants “filed a claim through the Enoch First Nation to the Indian Claims Commission—or ICC—declaring that the 1888 surrender of the [reserve] was invalid.” Their claim was dismissed in 1975, as the ICC asserted that the descendants “did not officially represent the interests of the Papaschase”129 A separate collective of unaffiliated descendents teamed up with a local lawyer in 1974 to organize a land claim petition; however, this claim was also unsuccessful.130
During the 1980s and 1990s, two distinct associations formed from the Papaschase descendants, the Papastayo First Nation Association of Alberta, whose members were broadly not recognized as having official status and belonging to a designated band.131 The second group—the Interim Papaschase Committee—consisted mainly of Papaschase descendants who were recognized as holding status through various Nations.132 Stewart states, “The Chiefs of the Confederacy of Treaty Six facilitated the joining of these two groups into a representative council for the descendants of the Papaschase Band with a newly written council code. On August 21, 1999, an officially sanctioned election was held, electing the first chief of the Papaschase band since Papaschase himself, along with nine councillors.”133
The fight for compensation for the 1880s Papaschase Reserve has been ongoing. In 2008, the Supreme Court rejected a Papaschase Band claim to those reserve lands. At that time, the lands were valued at $2.5 billion dollars.134
Today, Mill Creek Ravine remains part of the recreational landscape of southside Edmonton and the Ritchie neighbourhood. As we have told part of the story of historical land use in the ravine, other actions have been taken to tell under-recognized histories. The Flying Canoe Volant festival illuminates the trails and banks of the Bonnie Doon side of the ravine every winter. The festival aligns with the City of Edmonton’s Winter City Strategy and blends Métis folklore and history on the banks of Mill Creek.135
The recreational use of Mill Creek was a colonial redefining of the ravine. Settler's perceptions of the ravine transformed from a resource-rich valley to an unofficial dump, to lush endangered parkland, and finally, to a modern escape from the chaos of the city. Central to this discussion is the knowledge that a single place can hold tightly to a multitude of interconnected histories, which though interconnected, may not be equally understood.
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of A Little Bit Ritchie. If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a rating and a review! A Little Bit Ritchie is brought to you by the Ritchie Community League Centennial Celebration Committee. Erin Fraser and Seghan MacDonald chair the committee. This episode was researched by Linnea Bell and written by Elyse Colville. Thank you to Haeden Stewart for speaking to us about your expansive knowledge of Mill Creek Ravine. A Little Bit Ritchie is produced by Castria Communications and Media Solutions. This project is supported by the Edmonton Heritage Council and the City of Edmonton. Thank you to Tierra Connor for creating our artwork.
To see photos of the locations and people mentioned in this episode, detailed show notes, a transcription, and references for this episode, visit the link in our description.
If you have a story you would like to share in a future episode of A Little Bit Ritchie, send us an email at community-planning@ritchie-league.com. And don’t forget to pop over to Farrow to try the “Always Sunny in Ritchiedelphia” sandwich!
On our next episode, we’ll take a closer look at the Gainers Meatpacking Plant. Thanks again for tuning in to this episode of a Little Bit Ritchie. I’m Lydia Neufeld.
Endnotes
1. Christine Stewart, "Propositions from Under Mill Creek Bridge: A Practice of Reading" in Sustaining the West: Cultural Responses to Canadian Environments, edited by Liza Piper and Lisa Szabo-Jones, (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2015), 241-258.
2. Christine Stewart, "Propositions from Under Mill Creek Bridge: A Practice of Reading" in Sustaining the West: Cultural Responses to Canadian Environments, edited by Liza Piper and Lisa Szabo-Jones, (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2015), 241-258.
3. Linnea Bell, PearlAnn Reichwein, Katja Schreiner, and Jan Olson. Biosphere Stories: Sharing an Environmental History of People and Places in the Beaver Hills, Final Report. December 2020. Edmonton: Beaver Hills Biosphere. https://www.beaverhills.ca/public/download/files/190711
4. https://www.beaverhills.ca/learn/what-is-a-biosphere
5. Beaver Hills Biosphere, 8,“Tyrell and Papaschase, Part 1: Of Maps and Men,” written and directed by Dylan Reade, 2022, Beaver Hill Biosphere, https://vimeo.com/656367855.
6. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
7. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
8. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
9. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
10. Christine Stewart, "Propositions from Under Mill Creek Bridge: A Practice of Reading" in Sustaining the West: Cultural Responses to Canadian Environments, edited by Liza Piper and Lisa Szabo-Jones, (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2015), 241-258.
11. Christine Stewart, "Propositions from Under Mill Creek Bridge: A Practice of Reading" in Sustaining the West: Cultural Responses to Canadian Environments, edited by Liza Piper and Lisa Szabo-Jones, (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2015), 241-258.
12. Christine Stewart, "Propositions from Under Mill Creek Bridge: A Practice of Reading" in Sustaining the West: Cultural Responses to Canadian Environments, edited by Liza Piper and Lisa Szabo-Jones, (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2015), 241-258.
13. Christine Stewart, "Propositions from Under Mill Creek Bridge: A Practice of Reading" in Sustaining the West: Cultural Responses to Canadian Environments, edited by Liza Piper and Lisa Szabo-Jones, (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2015), 241-258.
14. Christine Stewart, "Propositions from Under Mill Creek Bridge: A Practice of Reading" in Sustaining the West: Cultural Responses to Canadian Environments, edited by Liza Piper and Lisa Szabo-Jones, (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2015), 241-258.
15. Wetaskiwin. 2012. “History: The Legend of the 'Hills of Peace.'” Wetaskiwin. https://www.wetaskiwin.ca/documentcenter/view/48.
16. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
17. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
18. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
19. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
20. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
21. Christine Stewart, "Propositions from Under Mill Creek Bridge: A Practice of Reading" in Sustaining the West: Cultural Responses to Canadian Environments, edited by Liza Piper and Lisa Szabo-Jones, (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2015), 241-258.
22. Christine Stewart, "Propositions from Under Mill Creek Bridge: A Practice of Reading" in Sustaining the West: Cultural Responses to Canadian Environments, edited by Liza Piper and Lisa Szabo-Jones, (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2015), 241-258.
23. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
24. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
25. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
26. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
27. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
28. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
29. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
30. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
31. Louise C. Wade, “Meatpacking,” Encyclopedia of Chicago, 2004. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/804.html.
32. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
33. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
34. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
35. Lawrence Herzog, “Edmonton’s Lost Packing Plants,” Edmonton Heritage Council - Herzog on Heritage, 2012 Oct. 12, http://www.edmontonheritage.ca/herzog-on-heritage/edmontons-lost-packing-plants/
36. “South Side News,” Edmonton Journal, 1914 Oct. 6, 3.
37. “Coal Product and Live Stock Leading Features,” Edmonton Journal, 1919 Jan. 1, 9; “Twin City Coal Mine Dismantled,” Edmonton Journal, 1921 June 28, 6.
38. “Lumbermen Ask Governement Aid,” Strathcona Evening Chronicle, 1907 June 19, 1.
39. “For Sale…,” Edmonton Journal, 1916 Apr. 8, 5.
40. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
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47. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
48. “Trees for Sale,” Edmonton Bulletin, 1901 May 6, 1.
49. “Beautify Your Lawns,” Edmonton Bulletin, 1906 Sept. 8, 2; Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019. 140-141.
50. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019, 132.
51. George Bryce, Prairie Agriculture: Containing A List Of Chemical Experiments, A Series Of Experiments On The Growth Of Seeds, A Description Of How Plants Grow, A Sketch Of The Formation Of The Prairie Soil By Water And Ice Action, An Account Of Farming Operations And Of Crops Adapted To Manitoba, A Description Of Diseases Of Crops, Of Insects, And Of Birds, An Account With Illustrations Of The Breeds Of Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Swine And Poultry Adapted To Manitoba, Advantages Of Mixed Farming, (Winnipeg: Consolidated Stationery, 1895), 253.
52. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
53. “The Tree Belts of the Prairies: The Treeless Plains are an Abomination to Nature,” Didsbury Pioneer, 1918 Jan. 31, 5.
54. ‘Edmonton, A Garden City,”Edmonton Bulletin, 1918 May 3, 9; Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
55. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
56. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019, 125.
57. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
58. Edwinna von Baeyer, “City Beautiful Movement,” Canadian Encyclopedia, 2018 May 24, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/city-beautiful-movement
59. Edmonton Board of Trade, ”The last West: Edmonton and opportunities, agricultural, industrial, commercial,” (Edmonton: Bulletin Co. ca. 1906), 21; Edmonton Printing and Publishing Company, “Edmonton, city beautiful, capital of Alberta,” (Edmonton: Edmonton Printing and Publishing Company, 1907).
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65. Correspondence from Frederick G. Todd to W.D. Mills, Mayor of Strathcona, 1907 May 6, MS-348, Box 4, File 44, City of Edmonton Archives, Edmonton, AB.
66. Correspondence from Frederick G. Todd to W.D. Mills, Mayor of Strathcona, 1907 May 6, MS-348, Box 4, File 44, City of Edmonton Archives, Edmonton, AB.
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72. Bruce Cinnamon, “Margaret Chappelle: The artist who saved the MacKinnon Ravine,” Edmonton City as Museum Project, 2021. https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2021/11/02/margaret-chappelle-the-artist-who-saved-the-mackinnon-ravine/#_ftn12.
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86. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
87. “Petition Signed by 700 Opposes Road Through Mill Creek Ravine,” Edmonton Journal, 1957 Feb. 21, 17; “NMetropolitan Church,” Edmonton Journal, 1957 Jan. 12, 6; “Petition Signed by 700 Opposes Road Through Mill Creek Ravine.”
88. PearlAnn PearlAnn and Jan Olson, “The Mill Creek Park Movement and Citizen Activism in Edmonton, 1964-7” in Bucking Conservatism: Alternative Stories of Alberta From the 1960s and 1970s, edited by Leon Crane Bear, Larry Hannant, and Karissa Robyn Patton, (Edmonton: AU Press), 202,. 258.
89. “Petition Signed by 700 Opposes Road Through Mill Creek Ravine,” Edmonton Journal, 1957 Feb. 21, 17.
90. PearlAnn PearlAnn and Jan Olson, “The Mill Creek Park Movement and Citizen Activism in Edmonton, 1964-7” in Bucking Conservatism: Alternative Stories of Alberta From the 1960s and 1970s, edited by Leon Crane Bear, Larry Hannant, and Karissa Robyn Patton, (Edmonton: AU Press), 2021. 257.
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97. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
98. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
99. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
100. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
101. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
102. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
103. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
104. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
105. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
106. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
107. Shannon Stunden Bower, "The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta," Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine, 44 no. 1-2 (2015-2016): 59-72.
108. “Collection of DDT Urged to Avoid ‘Civil Disaster’,” Edmonton Journal, 1970 Feb. 10, 40.
109. “New Look at Asbestos,” Edmonton Journal, 1973 Mar. 20, 9; “STOP Plans FIlm Series,” Edmonton Journal, 1973 20 Aug. 30.
110. Kruper, Cole. “Confused Planning: The Clash Between Freeways, Parkland Preservation and LRT in Mid-20th Century Edmonton
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120. PearlAnn PearlAnn and Jan Olson, “The Mill Creek Park Movement and Citizen Activism in Edmonton, 1964-7” in Bucking Conservatism: Alternative Stories of Alberta From the 1960s and 1970s, edited by Leon Crane Bear, Larry Hannant, and Karissa Robyn Patton, (Edmonton: AU Press), 2021. 253-267.
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124. PearlAnn PearlAnn and Jan Olson, “The Mill Creek Park Movement and Citizen Activism in Edmonton, 1964-7” in Bucking Conservatism: Alternative Stories of Alberta From the 1960s and 1970s, edited by Leon Crane Bear, Larry Hannant, and Karissa Robyn Patton, (Edmonton: AU Press), 2021. 253-267.
125. PearlAnn PearlAnn and Jan Olson, “The Mill Creek Park Movement and Citizen Activism in Edmonton, 1964-7” in Bucking Conservatism: Alternative Stories of Alberta From the 1960s and 1970s, edited by Leon Crane Bear, Larry Hannant, and Karissa Robyn Patton, (Edmonton: AU Press), 2021. 253-267.
126. Correspondence from Frederick G. Todd to W.D. Mills, Mayor of Strathcona, 1907 May 6, MS-348, Box 4, File 44, City of Edmonton Archives, Edmonton, AB.
127. Haeden Eli Stewart, “In the Shadow of Industry: The Lively Decay of Mill Creek Ravine,” Ph.D. diss, The University of Chicago, 2019.
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