HIST 460: Topics in Canadian History:
The History of the Rocky Mountain National Parks
Fall Term, 2009
Department of History and Classics, Faculty of Arts
Thursdays, 9:00 to 11:50 a.m., Room TB 2-58
Instructor: Zac Robinson, PhD
Course Moodle: http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/historyandclassics/moodle/
Keyword (case sensitive): iron spike
Office Hours: after class and by appointment; as well, Dr Robinson normally will reply to email postings
sent between Monday and Saturday noon.
Email: zac.robinson@ualberta.ca
______________________________________________________________________________
Course Description
On November 7, 1885, a white-bearded Donald Smith pounded home the last iron spike to
complete the nation-wide Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), grandly opening the west and its
mountains to what the CPR’s general manager referred to as “the class that travels.” In June,
1886, when the first transcontinental passenger train chugged its way up the grade of the Rockies’
eastern front, the stage was set, technologically at least, for a new age of Victorian tourism.
This course will explore the history of the Rocky Mountain
National Parks, including such themes as the expulsion of Native
groups in order to create "wilderness," the mapping and
legislation of protected areas, and the troubled history of the
relation between the symbolic role of parks in national identity and
Parks Canada's record of managing them as sites for resource
extraction, as pleasure grounds for the rich, and as "unimpaired"
wildlife habitats. Course work will develop a critical knowledge
base about the history of the Rocky Mountain National Parks, and
enhance a scholarly approach to critical thinking, debate, reading,
research, and effective written and presentation skills.
Comparison with the history and function of parks in other areas
of Canada or in other countries will be welcome.
Course Objectives
 to gain exposure to scholarly literature on the history of the ideas of nature/culture and
“wilderness”; and how they’ve shaped the way many have come to think about Canada,
mountain spaces, protected areas, conservation, outdoor pursuits and leisure, travel, and
tourism;
 to critically consider how power, empire, class, gender, “race,” religion, the environment,
economics, politics, nation, and so forth, have informed and affected practices in the mountain
parks; to integrate these factors of analysis in an understanding of the past;
 to understand and contextualize the human history of the mountain parks as an integral and
changing facet of Canadian society and culture;
 and to foster independent study, research, writing, discussion, and presentation skills at a seniorundergraduate level.
Primarily seminar-styled, this course is intended to stimulate student participation and discussion.
All students will be expected to conduct independent reading, participate in discussions, and
present a major research essay.
Assigned Reading
Course readings will be posted in PDF files on Moodle. The only required text in print that has been
ordered for this course is as follows:
MacLaren, I.S., ed. Culturing Wilderness in Jasper National Park: Studies in Two Centuries of
Human History in the Upper Athabasca River Watershed. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press,
2007.
Assignments and Presentations
Seminar Participation:
All students will be asked to respectfully contribute to seminar
discussions. This mark will be based on the student's preparedness,
knowledge of the assigned readings, participation, as well as the
originality of her/his contribution in the seminar over the entire term.
Term Paper Proposal:
The proposal is a starting point for term-paper research. It offers students
the opportunity to begin work and to obtain early feedback on the quality
of their essay writing and research. Proposals should define a specific
research question focused on an identified era and offer a preliminary
thesis argument with questions or themes to explore. A preliminary
research bibliography is required. Due in class on October 1.
Term Paper:
Research subjects for term papers should fall within the scope of the
course, and build on some aspect of seminar readings to develop a
deeper level of analysis related to the student’s individual interests.
Selection of term paper subjects is open in consultation with the
instructor. The final draft should be approximately fifteen-to-twenty pages
in length. Due in class December 3.
Oral Presentation:
Students will present their research papers. Presentations should be
twenty-five to thirty minutes in length and employ multi-media resources.
Presentations will be held during the last two seminars of the term:
November 26 and December 3.
Course Assessment and Evaluation
Seminar Participation:
Term Paper Proposal:
Presentation:
Term Paper:
10%
25%
30%
35%
Marking and grading procedures will be
outlined in class
Evaluation will be completed and expressed in raw marks throughout the course. Grades (using
the letter-grading system) will be assigned only to the final distribution of mark totals for the course.
Such assignment will be based on a combination of absolute achievement and relative performance
in this class and remain unofficial until approved by Faculty Council or its designate (i.e. Associate
or Assistant Dean).
Attendance and Class Notes
Regular attendance of seminars is highly advised. Students are also responsible for taking notes
regarding the subject matter of all seminars (lectures, discussions, slides, films, etc.). Note taking
should focus on the major issues and examples presented in seminar.
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Class Schedule
This schedule may be subject to occasional changes at the instructor’s discretion. Any modifications will
be made with fair warning and general class consent.
Please prepare readings before class. Bring the scheduled readings to class and be prepared for
discussion. Readings for each seminar are listed below:
Date:
Seminar Topic and Required Readings:
Sept. 3
Introduction
Sept. 10
Historical Perspectives on Nature and Parks in Canada
George Altmeyer, “Three Ideas of Nature in Canada, 1893-1914,” Consuming Canada:
Readings in Environmental History, eds. Chad Gaffield and Pam Gaffield (Toronto: Copp
Clark, 1995), 96-118.
R.C. Brown, “The Doctrine of Usefulness: Natural Resource and National Park Policy in
Canada, 1887-1914,” Canadian Parks in Perspective, eds. J.G. Nelson and R.C. Scace
(Montreal: Harvest House, 1970), 46-62.
Sept. 17
Cultured Wilderness, I
I.S. MacLaren, “Cultured Wilderness in Jasper National Park,” Journal of Canadian
Studies 34, 3 (1999): 7-58.
William Cronon, “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature,”
Environmental History 1 (1996): 7-28.
Michael Payne, “The Fur Trade on the Upper Athabasca River, 1810-1910,” Culturing
Wilderness in Jasper National Park: Studies in Two Centuries of Human History in the
Upper Athabasca River Watershed, ed. I.S. MacLaren (Edmonton: University of Alberta
Press, 2007), 1-39.
Sept. 24
Cultured Wilderness, II
Peter J. Murphy, “Homesteading in the Athabasca Valley to 1910,” Culturing Wilderness in
Jasper National Park: Studies in Two Centuries of Human History in the Upper Athabasca
River Watershed, ed. I.S. MacLaren (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2007), 1353.
Tolly Bradford, “A Useful Institution: William Twin, “Indianness,” and Banff National Park,
c. 1860-1940,” Native Studies Review 16, 2 (2005): 77- 98.
Theodore (Ted) Binnema and Melanie Niemi, “‘Let the line be drawn now’: Wilderness,
Conservation, and the Exclusion of Aboriginal People from Banff National Park in
Canada,” Environmental History 11 (2006): 724-50.
Oct. 1
Selling “Canada” in the Rocky Mountain Parks
Lynda Jessup, “The Group of Seven and the Tourist Landscape in Western Canada, or
The More Things Change…,” Journal of Canadian Studies 37, 1 (2002): 144-79.
Gabrielle Zezulka-Mailloux, “Laying the Tracks for Tourism: Paradoxical Promotions and
the Development of Jasper National Park,” Culturing Wilderness in Jasper National Park:
Studies in Two Centuries of Human History in the Upper Athabasca River Watershed, ed.
I.S. MacLaren (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2007), 302-339.
Oct. 8
Victorian Mountaineering in the “Canadian Alps,” I
Zac Robinson, “The Golden Years of Canadian Mountaineering: Ethics, Style, and Form,
1886-1925,” Culturing Wilderness in Jasper National Park: Studies in Two Centuries of
Human History in the Upper Athabasca River Watershed, ed. I.S. MacLaren (Edmonton:
University of Alberta Press, 2007), 302-339.
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Chris Williams, “‘That Boundless Ocean Of Mountains’: British Alpinists and the Appeal of
the Canadian Rockies, 1885-1920,” The International Journal of the History of Sport 22, 1
(2005): 70-87.
Oct. 15
Victorian Mountaineering in the “Canadian Alps,” II
Zac Robinson, “Storming the Heights: Canadian Frontier Nationalism and the Making of
Manhood in the Conquest of Mount Robson, 1906-1913,” International Journal of the
History of Sport 22, 3 (2005): 415-33.
George Kinney and Donald Phillips, “To the Top of Robson,” Canadian Alpine Journal 2, 2
(1910): 21-44.
Conrad Kain, Where The Clouds Can Go: The Autobiography of Conrad Kain, edited and
translated by J. Monroe Thorington (1935; New York: The American Alpine Club, 1979),
308-21.
Oct. 22
Wintertime Tourism in the Rockies
William B. Yeo, “Making Banff a Year-Round Park,” Winter Sports in the West, eds. E.A.
Corbet and A.W. Rasporich (Calgary: The Historical Society of Alberta/University of
Calgary Press, 1990), 87-98.
Zac Robinson, “Off the Beaten Path? Ski Mountaineering and the Weight of Tradition in
the Canadian Rockies, 1909-1940,” The International Journal for the History of Sport 24,
10 (2007): 1320-1343.
Oct. 29
Conflicting Mandates
PearlAnn Reichwein, “‘Hands Off Our National Parks’: The Alpine Club of Canada and
Hydro-development Controversies in the Canadian Rockies, 1922-1930,” Journal of the
Canadian Historical Association 6 (1995): 129-55.
C.J. Taylor, “Legislating Nature: The National Park Act of 1930,” To See Ourselves/To
Save Ourselves: Ecology and Culture in Canada, ed. Rowland Lorimer, Michael
M’Gonigle, Jean-Pierre Revéret, and Sally Ross. Montreal: Association for Canadian
Studies, 1991: 125-37.
Nov. 5
Depression and War
Leslie Bella, Parks for Profit. Montreal: Harvest House, 1987. Chapters Four and Five.
Pp. 59-105.
Bill Waiser, Park Prisoners: The Untold Story of Western Canada’s National Parks, 19151946. Fifth House Ltd., 1999. Chapters Two and Five. Pp. 48-84, 175-216.
Nov. 12
Postwar Parks and Tourism
C.J.Taylor, “The Changing Habitat of Jasper Tourism,” Culturing Wilderness in Jasper
National Park: Studies in Two Centuries of Human History in the Upper Athabasca River
Watershed, ed. I.S. MacLaren (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2007), 199-231.
Leslie Bella, Parks for Profit. Montreal: Harvest House, 1987. Chapters Six and Seven.
Pp. 105-51.
Nov. 19
No seminar: Work on Essay
Nov. 26
and Dec.
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Selected Topics: Student presentations TBA
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Plagiarism, Academic Offences, and Scholarly Practices
All students are reminded of the University’s rules governing plagiarism, cheating, and other
academic offences. Plagiarism and academic offences are serious and punishable and can result
in expulsion from the university, suspension, and the grade “F.” The University Calendar prohibits
plagiarism as follows: “No Student shall submit the words, ideas, images or data of another person
as the Student’s own in any academic writing, essay, thesis, project, assignment, presentation, or
poster in a course or program of study.” [See U of A Calendar, Sec. 30.3.2 (1)]. Furthermore, it is
an offence to submit the same work for credit in more than one course without advance written
permission from the instructor.
Students are responsible for reading and observing the Code of Student Behaviour as per the
following policies: “The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic
integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding
academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are
particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour
(online at www.ualberta.ca/~unisecr/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially
result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation or aiding and abetting any of these
offences. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion
from the University.”
Careful note taking and proper citation using footnotes/endnotes are scholarly citation practices to
avoid plagiarism. Term papers must cite both direct quotations and indirect references to credit the
source of information. Footnotes are the preferred form of documentation for history papers. Use
the Chicago Style governing citation; do not use the APA style for history papers.
Format for Assignments
All assignments must be typed double-spaced in 12-point font on 8.5" by 11" paper with 1"
margins. The title page should note the essay’s title, the student’s name, course number and
section, instructor’s name, the Faculty’s name, the university’s name, and the date. Pages should
be numbered in the upper-right hand corner.
Guides, Documentation, and Chicago Style
Term papers should be well written and documented. For more information about what makes a
good research paper and how to write, see the attached handout from the University Library or
consult the Library website at www.library.ualberta.ca.
WHERE DO I BEGIN?: “Research Guide for History of Sports and Recreation in Canada”
This excellent starting place for the essay is located online on the U of A Library homepage.
It links to searching databases, journals, style guides, and more. Try it! It was created by
librarian Josie Tong to assist students with their independent research.
 http://www.library.ualberta.ca/subject/physicaleducation/history/index.cfm
GUIDE TO WRITING HISTORY ESSAYS: Try this book for practical instructions on how to
write a history essay from start to finish: Marius, Richard and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to
Writing about History. New York: Longman, 2002.
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The history discipline follows the conventions of the Chicago Style; do not use the APA format.
Several different style guides exist for different scholarly purposes and disciplines. Historians use
the Chicago Style because it best suits the practice of writing history. Footnotes or endnotes are
the preferred form of documentation for history papers. Use footnotes to give proper credit to the
sources of direct quotations and paraphrased information. Footnotes appear at the foot of each
page in the essay. Most word processing programs will automatically align and number footnotes
on the page. Finally, a list of sources (works cited) should be presented alphabetically at the end
of the essay. You may wish to buy the book by Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide
to Writing about History for a concise how-to guide for writing, researching, and documenting
history essays.
For further reference, consult the Chicago Style manual or Kate Turabian’s manual in the library
reference section, bookstore, or online for detailed guidelines regarding how to format an essay,
citations and lists of sources. Students can consult these titles for further direction:
University of Alberta Library Homepage: http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/citation/index.cfm.
Check this site for examples of how to cite electronic sources according to Chicago Style.

Marius, Richard and Melvin E. Page. A Short Guide to Writing about History. New York: Longman,
2002. [A step-by-step guide to writing history papers, with examples of the Chicago Style.]

The Chicago Manual of Style. 14th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. [This book
is summarized in Turabian’s handbook.]

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th edition.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. [An easy reference handbook on how to use the
Chicago Manual of Style rules.]

Hellstern, Mary. The History Student Writer’s Manual. Toronto: Prentice Hall, 1998.
Policies for Assignment Deadlines
Submit assignments at the beginning of class on the scheduled due date. Assignments submitted
later than the due dates stated in the course outline will be considered late and subject to a
deduction penalty.
Assignment extensions will be granted in advance only for documented medical conditions, severe
personal or domestic affliction, or pressing academic concerns. Late assignments, without an
approved extension, will be penalized 5% per day. Essays that are more than four days late
without an approved extension will not be accepted. If you are unavoidably prevented from
meeting a due date, please contact the instructor as early as possible by phone. Students are
advised to see the U of A Calendar regulations re. illness/afflictions, etc.
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CHICAGO STYLE SHEET
Here is a brief summary of rules relative to using the Chicago Style for citations. For more information
see Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing about History, any of the guides listed
above, or check the University of Alberta Library Homepage at
http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/citation/index.cfm.
1. A Book by One Author:
Footnote:
1
Carl Berger, Science, God, and Nature in Victorian Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1983), 77.
The first time the source is cited, use the full footnote format above; for subsequent references to the
same source, abbreviate the footnote with a new number as shown below:
2
Berger, 77.
Bibliography:
Berger, Carl. Science, God, and Nature in Victorian Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1983.
2. An Author’s Article in a Book with Editors:
Footnote:
Robert Craig Brown, “The Doctrine of Usefulness: Natural Resource and National Park Policy in Canada, 18871914,” The Canadian National Parks: today and tomorrow, eds. J.G. Nelson and R.C. Scace (Calgary: University of Calgary,
1968), 94-110.
2
Bibliography:
Brown, Robert Craig. “The Doctrine of Usefulness: Natural Resource and National Park Policy in
Canada, 1887-1914.” The Canadian National Parks: today and tomorrow. Eds. J.G. Nelson and
R.C. Scace. Calgary: University of Calgary, 1968, 94-110.
3. An Article in a Journal:
Footnote:
G. Winham, “Attitudes on Pollution and Growth in Hamilton,” Canadian Journal of Political Science, 5 (1972):
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389.
Bibliography:
Winham, G. “Attitudes on Pollution and Growth in Hamilton.” Canadian Journal of Political Science, 5
(1972): 389-400.
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HIST 460 — Evaluation Form for Term Papers and Proposals
Mark: ___________
Please note areas indicated for improvement.
□
CONTENT:
Ensure the essay presents your own clearly stated essay thesis (main idea/argument) and argues consistently from
beginning to end.
□
Offer your own critical responses to the research question.
□
Demonstrate understanding and insight.
□
Substantiate your thesis based on specific evidence/examples drawn from identified sources.
□
Situate your arguments in the context of the historical literature and debates on the subject at hand.
□
Provide adequate research/additional sources, including an academic journal article.
□
STRUCTURE, FORM:
The title page includes: a descriptive essay title, course number and section, professor’s name, and student’s name, and
the date.
□
The introduction establishes the subject of the essay, sets the context of the research, and states the essay thesis.
□
The conclusion is consistent with the thesis of the essay and closes by emphasizing its final meaning.
□
Paragraphs are structured with a thesis statement, supporting sentences, and a concluding statement. The first line of
each paragraph is indented. Avoid paragraphs that are extremely short or long. Control paragraph length by presenting
one main idea per paragraph. Aim for clear concise writing style. Rewrite long, rambling, awkward or incomplete
sentences.
□
Quotations longer than three lines are indented single-space without quotation marks. Shorter quotations are set inside
quotation marks within the main text.
□
Reference (i.e. footnote/endnote) both ideas and direct quotations to credit the source of information and avoid plagiarism.
□
Consult a style manual re: grammar, syntax, punctuation, formal writing style, citation (footnotes or endnotes), list of works
cited. The Chicago Manual of Style is the preferred style guide for history papers; it offers directions for how to
footnote/endnote. Use a dictionary or spell check to improve spelling. Number pages (upper-right corner). Proof read
carefully.
□
Final term paper: needs to adequately take into account feedback from the proposal stage of marking.
COMMENTS:
NOTE:
Holistic evaluation assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the essay in its
constitutive elements (see above), and ranks a mark based on overall performance
using a percentage scale (mark out of 100%).
Students can use the evaluation criteria in advance as guidelines to note for writing
essays.
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