livinghistory
IT HAPPENED IN LETHBRIDGE:
FACT OR FICTION?
BELINDA CROWSON
P H O T O G R A P H Y : C O U R T E S Y O F G A LT M U S E U M & A R C H I V E S
How good are you at determining what’s truth and what’s
a lie? How well do you know your Lethbridge history?
Test yourself by seeing if you can separate fact from
fiction in these 12 tales from Lethbridge’s history.
A H , A P R I L F O O L’ S D AY. That opportunity once a year
to play a harmless prank or joke on your nearest and dearest
or, thanks to the Internet and media, perhaps on the entire
world. It is also the day when you have to negotiate your
way through information and decide whether it’s true or
not.
While April Fool’s Day is dedicated only to April 1, there
are so many legends, myths, and false stories out there
related to Lethbridge’s history, we decided not to wait but
to share these stories early to help you prepare. These are
stories connected to local history. Some fact. Others fiction.
And some we’re not entirely sure how true or false they
are, so we’ll put before you the facts and information as we
know them, and let you decide.
Chinooks
The strong westerly winds of Alberta that bring warm air
down from the mountains and rapidly raise the temperature
of the area are called chinooks, because “chinook” means
“snow-eater,” in a First Nations language.
Fiction. While for many years people have believed that
the word “chinook,” used with respect to our chinook
winds, was a First Nations word that means “snow-eater,” it
appears that the word refers instead to the Chinook people
of British Columbia, and that the wind comes from the land
of the Chinook.
Streets paved with coal
When the community of Lethbridge was built on the
prairie level in 1885–1886, the first sidewalks were made of
coal.
Fact. In April 1886, Ell