As many did through and after the June flood, Wendy Bush had to reflect and think about making some drastic life changes as a result of having witnessed the damage.
She also gave a lot of thought to how much worse it really could have been at her property if flood water travelling down Grotto Mountain had been a few dozen meters to the right.
The event made her realize it was time to say goodbye to family heirlooms and mementos holding a strong personal connection to her father.
Bush decided, (more out of future protection) she would donate two 19th century sulkies to the Remington Carriage Museum in Cardston, AB. The museum is one of the largest of its kind internationally, where close to 250 pieces of horse-drawn transportation are on public display.
“During the 1960s my father had quite an extensive carriage collection,” Bush said when displaying a photo of her father taken in 1961 at the Blue Bonnets Raceway in Montreal in one of the sulkies. “This is one vehicle that he found in an attic, down in Sherbrook, Quebec... it was probably built in 1880s, 1890s.”
Bush, originally from Quebec, brought the sulkies with her when she moved and settled in Alberta.
“I’m the postmaster in Exshaw and I got a call at 6:30 in the morning from a cleaner there that said, ‘don’t worry, it hasn’t washed away, but the garage is going’. ”
Bush, fearing the worst for her property, rode on a bike from work to home on the closed highway. “Candice Crouse, who works at the post office in Canmore, said she was over here (Bush’s property) feeding the horses. I went over and got on my bike and went on the closed highway and crossed over what looked like two waterfalls going over the highway. I came through there and ended up staying here two nights,” Bush said.
Luckily, none of Bush’s horses were injured, or property was severely damaged during the flood, but it made her take stock of the value of the sulkies and think about finding a permanent home where she knows they will be taken care of and the public will have the opportunity to admire true craftsmanship from a bygone era.
“During the flood I looked at taking these carriages down from where I had hung them in the rafters in my shed, but I couldn’t do it by myself and I thought, well, if my shed goes, I guess there goes a 120-year-old antique cart’,” said Bush.
The event set Bush into action by contacting the Remington Museum, which was more than happy to take Bush up on her offer. She plans to take them to Cardston in a week, where visitors will be able to admire historical Canadiana at its finest.
Visit www.history.alberta.ca/remington for more information on the Remington Carriage Museum.
