Big Valley Inn
BP 4.0 & 4.1: Big Valley Inn. Big Valley Alberta. Visited: July & August 2023. Team: Rob, Margarit, Chris & Connie. Cameras used: 4×5″ Ebony Film, Contax 35mm Film, Canon 6D & 70D.
The Big Valley Inn dates to 1952 and until the ’70s used the name Big Valley Hotel. The Frontenac Hotel earlier occupied this same lot from 1913 on, but when it burned down it was replaced by the current structure.
This location, directly across from the train station, was once advantageous and where the action was. The railway brought in customers. The depot still stands and the trains still run, but today they transport people out for a day’s fun.
The Big Valley Inn is home to an eatery, and rooms are available to rent. Some older hotels rely on the bar (or Beer Parlour in the old parlance) as the sole source of income, and often extra space goes to waste, but here they’re able to utilize it all.
Interestingly there are hitching rails to tie up a horse, just outside the bar, but Big Valley is after all a cowboy kind of town.
The community is named after the broad lowland in which its located and was founded around 1910. This was concurrent with the the coming of the Canadian Northern Railway and the town served as a divisional point initially. There are numerous historic remains and many have connections to the railway.
There were coal mines nearby, and in the early 1950’s oil was discovered in the Big Valley area.
Today the railway line is used by Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions out of nearby Stettler. For the last thirty plus years they’ve operated a tour train, often using an old steam locomotive, into Big Valley and back.
The Reynolds Raiders play the role of outlaws and “hold up” passing trains on horseback. The local constabulary seems unable to stop these desperados and their crime sprees are done brazenly out in the open. Money collected is donated to charity and passengers come away with fond memories.
The Raiders stopped by the Big Valley Hotel, all thirsty from their latest heist, and obliged us by posing for a few photos. For wanted posters perhaps. They came on horseback, whoopin’ and hollerin’, got a touch too rowdy, received a stern talking too by the local (one-member) temperance league, and generally caused trouble for the town’s populace.
The Raiders later invited us to their outlaw saloon where they played the night away. And we had a little photography fun in process. It was such a fantastic experience, in both places, that we returned a second time to do both all over again.
Big Valley, Alberta: Population about 330 (vs a peak of about 800 in the early days) and it is located in Stettler County north of Drumheller.
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