A Sign of the Times
Off in a meadow at Sunwapta Pass stand two upright lichen-encrusted stones. They stand unnoticed by the thousands of passers-by on the adjacent Icefields Parkway at the boundary between Banff and Jasper National Parks. In the 1940s and 50s, the stones supported a beautiful two-sided hand-carved oak sign welcoming visitors to both parks. Since the re-routing of the parkway in the early 1960s, the sign has been stored in a national park carpentry shop and in two private homes. It has now been donated to the Whyte Museum and loaned to Jasper National Park, where it is currently on public display at the Icefields Centre, just a few kilometres from its original location.
Hans Mauer, a skilled craftsman, carved the sign at an Alternate Service work camp during the 1940s. Several of these work camps established during WWII gave conscientious objectors an alternate way of serving their country and provided labour for park projects. Recognized as a work of art, the sign was highly valued - it was refinished and stored at the Banff carpentry shop each winter. When the Icefields Parkway was reconstructed around 1960, the sign was permanently replaced. Today, all that remains in the meadow at Sunwapta Pass are the two upright stones which supported the sign.
The sign was kept in storage until 1970
when it was presented to Bruce Mitchell on his retirement from Parks
Canada. Bruce Mitchell joined Parks Canada in 1931 as a Park Warden and
became Park Superintendent of Riding Mountain, Kootenay, and finally,
Jasper National Parks. During World War II, as Chief Park Warden in Banff,
he managed the Alternate Service work camp construction programs.
On June 25th, 2003 the sign, along with an interpretive panel, was unveiled as part of the historical display at the Icefields Centre. The staff of the Whyte Museum would like to extend their gratitude to the Mitchell family, particularly to Randy Mitchell who, like his father, recognized the historical importance of the sign, organized the donation and loan, and did extensive research on the history of the sign. We would also like to thank Rod Wallace, Cultural Resource Specialist for Jasper National Park, for his enthusiasm, additional research, preparation of the interpretive text, and overseeing of the installation of the sign at the Icefields Centre.
– Carol Black, Coordinator of Heritage Collections