Bert Riggall fonds

In 1907, William T. Hornaday, Director of the New York Zoological Society, wrote to his friend Bert Riggall, guide and outfitter near Twin Butte, Alberta:

"I am very much obliged for your last letter and the very fine collection of photographs which accompanied it. Naturally, I was most impressed by the view of the mountains taken from your ranch. You are to be envied the daily possession of such a grand panorama . . . Whenever I think of you, my impression is that you own the whole southwestern corner of Alberta. You have made me feel quite in touch with that locality and I am glad that a good game protector is located there." 1

Here Hornaday captured the essence of Bert Riggall, a man who embraced a broad view of life. Of course, Riggall only owned a homestead and parcel of land adjacent to what is now Waterton Lakes National Park, not the whole southwest corner of the province. But he was determined to live in this beautiful, yet difficult country. He sought out sweeping panoramic landscapes, photographed them and became their advocate.

Between 1904 and 1959 Riggall shared those high country panoramas and his correspondingly wide range of interests with generations of his clients, friends and family. The archival legacy of his life, his papers and photographs, form a wonderful new gift to the Archives of the Whyte Museum.

Bert Riggall was born in comfortable surroundings in Gayton-le-Wold, Lincolnshire, in 1884. During a school vacation trip to Switzerland, he became entranced with high mountains. In 1904 he set off to see the world. He got as far as western Canada and stayed. Upon reaching Calgary, Bert got a job working on a ranch for C. W. Peterson, Minister of Agriculture, North West Territories. In short order he was introduced to both the woman with whom he would share the rest of his life and the wild country where they would live.

At the ranch, Bert met Dora Williams (1877-1951), an Irish Quaker woman who also sought adventure in Canada. Dora and her sister had emigrated in 1902 and by 1904 Dora was working as a cook at the Peterson ranch. While surveying in 1905, Bert saw the Waterton Lakes region for the first time. Dora and Bert married in 1906 and resolved to eke out a living in the spectacular mountains where the borders of British Columbia, Alberta and Montana converge.

The Riggalls endured huge hardships. They homesteaded, toiled at nearby Gloyne's oil-well drilling camp and built a succession of cabins. Their first home blew into Cottonwood creek, a victim of the notorious wind storms of the region. In 1911, Bert and partner Cyril Watmough undertook a 1000 mile pack trip from Fort Steele, B.C. up to and beyond Yellowhead Pass. On his return, he discovered his son Dickie, age four, had died.

In all, three children died in infancy. Two daughters lived and instantly became a key part of the family's quest to live amongst the mountains. They were Kay Russell (1909-1984) and Dora "Babe" Burton (1910-1999), both experts with horses, guns, fishing and lovers of life on the trail.

Bert's guiding business thrived with prominent hunting clients such as Phillip R. Goodwin, artist and illustrator and Phimister Proctor, renowned sculptor. In 1913, the first of the Minneapolis clients came. Big Horn Sheep drew American hunters including Martin Bovey of that city, who shot a world record ram as a consequence of Riggall's expert guiding.

The Boveys, Crosbys, Bennetts and McKnights, wealthy millers from Minneapolis, were so impressed with Bert Riggall that they contracted him to provide four trips each year, effectively monopolising his large outfit of pack and saddle horses. In 1923, the "four families" built a hunting lodge, "Hawk's Nest," high above the Waterton Valley.

As the Riggalls' early haunts became well known and when the National Park was established in 1916, Riggall extended his territory into the Livingstone Range and the headwaters of the Upper Oldman River. Until 1947, when Riggall experienced his first heart attack, the Riggalls and their pack outfit conveyed fortunate clients on fishing, hunting and photography expeditions through some of the world's finest alpine country. Andy and Kay Russell continued the business until 1960 and members of the Russell family still live on part of the Hawk's Nest ranch.

Beyond the wilderness aspects of these trips was the experience of travelling with Bert Riggall. Client George Crosby explains:

"My father never missed a year with Bert, who was one of the most remarkable men I have ever known... As children, we always fought to ride next to Bert. It was a liberal education in itself to be exposed to this unusual man. He was qualified to hold a chair in any university in any of the natural sciences, geology, astronomy, botany, physics, ballistics and mathematics. In addition, he was an expert photographer. He had a photographic memory. Winters he spent keeping up on his many interests, particularly current events... The opportunity to be associated with this unique man was fully appreciated by all of us. In addition to the intellectual stimulation, we learned woodmanship, wildlife habits, rifle shooting, fly fishing and how to get along with other people in sometimes difficult and trying situations." 2

Bert, the expert photographer, created thousands of photographs. He was especially interested in panoramic photography, using two models of the Kodak Panoram camera. In an era when camera equipment was heavy and noisy enough to startle birds and animals, Riggall procured camera wildlife trophies.

Riggall was fascinated by natural colour photography and experimented widely with Dufaycolor, an early transparency process. When Kodachrome was introduced, he became a convert. With photographs, Riggall documented the fine art of throwing the "Diamond Hitch," essential to packing horses. His photographs make up a large part of his personal archives.

In addition, the Riggall fonds include extensive diaries, notes, correspondence and manuscripts concerning the guiding business, ballistics, outdoors magazine articles and advancing the cause of conservation. Accompanying the papers are unique pack train artifacts including a rare early pack box complete with light-weight camp utensils. The Riggall papers have special value in the context of the Kay Russell diaries and the Andy Russell personal and professional papers which are also preserved in the Archives.

Through a generous donation by great-grandson Dale Burton, Bert Riggall's extensive archives recently found a permanent home in the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies. Dale's grandmother, Babe, carefully tended Bert's papers following his death in 1959. More than a caretaker, she painstakingly wrote a testimonial to her parents, Bert and Dora and to her sister Kay in a self-published book: Bert Riggall: Mountain Guide Extraordinary.

When Babe passed away last year at age 88, Bert's legacy was entrusted to future generations through this donation. John Russell donated additional Riggall negatives. We are very grateful for these gifts. Like the grand panorama Hornaday admired, Bert Riggall's multi-faceted archives can continue to be enjoyed today and in the future.

To learn more about this collection, please contact the Archives and Library.

— Don Bourdon, Head Archivist

1. Letter, William T. Hornaday to Bert Riggall, June 29, 1907 M376 Bert Riggall fonds

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