National Historic Sites in the Mountain National Parks

Howse Pass National Historic Site of Canada

Interactive Map of the National Historic Sites in the vicinity of the Mountain National Parks
© Parks Canada

View of Howse Pass from Saskatchewan Crossing Viewpoint
© Parks Canada

Cultural Landscapes

In 1971, on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), the Minister responsible designated six mountain passes as being of national historic significance. In 1978, a seventh pass was designated - Howse Pass in the Rocky Mountains.

Fur Trade Expansion

By 1800, fur traders were searching for new trade partners and lands not yet exhausted by a century and a half of trapping, as was the case with many of the areas east of the mountains. John McDonald and Duncan McGillivray were building North West Company posts along the North Saskatchewan River throughout the 1790s and heard stories of a tribe living west of the mountains, in the Columbia River Valley, the Kootenay, now known as the Ktunaxa.

With the aim of providing a trade centre for the Ktunaxa, McDonald established Rocky Mountain House in 1799 on the headwaters of the North Saskatchewan River. McGillivray and experienced trader and cartographer David Thompson, soon joined him and sought to discover a route across the Rockies to reach the Columbia River Valley.

Transportation Corridor

Howse Pass was part of the ‘Kootenay Trail’ linking the eastern slope of the Rockies with the Columbia Valley, a traditional Aboriginal transportation route for many years. This route was most likely used from the 18th century onwards by the Ktunaxa to gain access to the buffalo herds on the plains east of the mountains.

In 1807, David Thompson and a North West Company party traversed the pass, and established Kootenae House in the Columbia River Valley to provide easier trade with the Ktunaxa. Joseph Howse, the Hudson's Bay Company employee after whom the pass is named, first crossed in 1809. Both companies established trading posts along the Columbia River Valley, and used Howse Pass until 1810.

The approach to Howse Pass
© Parks Canada

Fur Trade and Aboriginal People

The influence of the fur trade on First Nations peoples in the region altered the culture of warfare and tribal relationships. The sudden introduction of guns and trade goods transformed the balance of power between the Pikani and the Ktunaxa. After 1810, Howse Pass was eclipsed by Athabasca Pass. European traders travelled the more northerly Athabasca to avoid hostile Pikani seeking to block trade with their rivals. Athabasca Pass became the fur-trading route of choice across the Rocky Mountains from 1811 to 1854.

A view of Howse Pass from the Saskatchewan Crossing Viewpoint on the Icefields Parkway
© Parks Canada

Location

Howse Pass is located on the border of British Columbia and Alberta. Beginning at the junction of the Saskatchewan and Howse rivers, it follows the Howse River to the confluence of the Freshfield, Forbes and Conway Creeks, to the Alberta-British Columbia border. From there it continues through Crown lands controlled by the Province of British Columbia to the junction of the Blaeberry River and Cairnes Creek. The pass can be reached by hiking 26 km west from the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North).