Keeping Memory Alive: The Rock

In 1875, the North West Mounted Police established Fort Calgary at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers, laying the foundation for the city of Calgary. In 1914, the federal government transferred the land to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, and for the next 61 years the birthplace of the city was hidden under a tight industrial site. In 1917, on the 42nd anniversary of their arrival, the NWMP Veterans and the Colonel Macleod Chapter of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the British Empire placed a sandstone boulder and a plaque to mark the location of the original Fort Calgary. The rock remained the only visible reminder of the city’s origins until the 1970s, when the site was reclaimed for the people of Calgary. From 2008 to 2013, Jack Marshall, grandson of Sgt. JJ Marshall, served as chairman of the board of the Fort Calgary Preservation Society, and his passion and commitment were instrumental in preserving and advancing Fort Calgary during the planning of East Village.

Alberta · Canada