History Bites Treacherous Traders: Robbery, mischief and murder went unpunished and unchecked in the whiskey trading days of 19th century southern Alberta. In 1875, the North-West Mounted Police built Fort Calgary at the confluence of the Elbow and the Bow, restoring law and order to a land that had fallen into carelessness and chaos. Fishy Facts Fortuitous Fish: The brown trout that thrive in the Bow today attract fly fishers from around the world. But they got there by accident in 1925, when a truck full of trout fry broke down at the Carrot Creek bridge.

the
Bow River
In the beginning, the Bow is a mountain river-with the steady, ice-cold drip of the Bow Glacier, the frosty trickle of Rocky Mountain streams, the breathtaking aqua blue of Lake Louise, the whitewater of the upper gorge, the aspen parklands of the foothills. In the middle, it is a transition river, with rolling foothills to the west, treeless grain fields to the east, criss-cross bridges, pathways and trails, the towering skyline of Calgary, wide, green valleys and grassy banks lined with cottonwood and spruce. In the end, it is a prairie river, bordered by endless fields of wheat, barley and canola stretching across the wind-swept plains.

The Bow River, 623 kilometres in length, flows through Banff National Park, one of the most famous and most visited nature reserves in the world. It forms the heart of the city of Calgary, home to one million people and the commercial and cultural centre of southern Alberta. It provides life-giving moisture to millions of hectares of prairie farmland, and endless excitement to fly fishers, hikers, campers, canoeists, kayakers, birdwatchers and naturalists. It has a proud First Nations history, and, with continuing care, a promising future.