Waterton Lakes National Park lies in southwestern Alberta, where the Rocky Mountains meet the prairie and the border meets Montana’s Glacier National Park. First protected in 1895 after advocacy by William Pearce and Frederick William Godsal, it was later expanded into a national park valued more for scenery and recreation than for oil prospects. Its compact area contains striking ecological and geological variety, from foothills parkland to alpine terrain, with more than 1,000 plant species and distinctive wildlife. Waterton also gained prominence through the Prince of Wales Hotel, the 1932 Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, and later international recognition for its biodiversity, climate, and conservation significance.