Joe Smith's Snowshoes
Previous
Acquisitions
Gifts of the Helen Shandruk Estate and Jack Fuller Sculpture
Joe Smith’s ingenuity and resourcefulness are
vividly
illustrated in a pair of handmade snowshoes,
carefully
constructed of barrel staves and wire in 1882. Donated by Jim
Rouse, they were passed down to him by his aunt Rhoda Rouse, a mountain
climbing enthusiast who befriended Joe Smith during her trips to the
mountains from Calgary. In 1937, shortly before he passed away, Joe
presented her
with the snowshoes as a
gift.
Joe Smith (1851-1937), was working on the
construction of the CPR line east of Calgary in 1883 when he heard word of
a “strike” of silver at Castle Mountain, west of Banff. Joe made a beeline
to the site, and along with a stampede of others, created a boom town
known as Silver City. Estimates of the new town’s population range from
1500 to 3000. There were four stores, a post office, poolroom, bakery,
blacksmith shop, lime kiln and brickyard. At various times, Joe Smith ran
the poolroom, a store, hotel and a restaurant. Within two years the boom
town became a ghost town, with one lone resident staying on as a
caretaker. Joe Smith spent the next
fifty-four years as the “Hermit of Castle Mountain” maintaining the remaining
buildings, trapping and prospecting, ever hopeful of
finding the precious mineral he believed existed in the
area.
Joe’s snowshoes are absolutely unique in our collection and we are grateful to Jim Rouse for the donation, to Rhoda Rouse for preserving them, and to Joe Smith for his resourcefulness.
– Carol Black, Coordinator of Heritage Collections