Horseshoe Canyon Badlands

by Blair Wainman

Title

Horseshoe Canyon Badlands

Artist

Blair Wainman

Medium

Photograph - Print

Description

The Horseshoe Canyon is the official name of the pocket of geological landscape where the vast prairie landscape ends abruptly in this irregular hilly landscape of varying geological strata. The geological layers of Horseshoe Canyon were laid down during the Cretaceous period some 70 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the lush forests and swamps of the region. These layers can now be seen on the exposed walls of Horseshoe Canyon.

The first humans to discover fossils here were the First Nations people, who believed the bones belonged to the giant ancestors of the bison. The Alberta badlands were seen as a graveyard for the ancient creatures, protected by the spiritual hoodoos that stood at guard over the bones. The land at Horseshoe Canyon was once within the nomadic domain of the Blackfoot tribe. Bison, their primary food source, also provided clothing, shelter, tools, fuel and ceremonial ornaments.

In 1743, when French Canadian explorers Francois and Louis Joseph de la Verendrye first encountered the landscapes of mesas, buttes and coulees on their travels through the prairies, they described the landscape as "mauvaise terre," or "badlands." The early settlers viewed Horseshoe Canyon as an area that had limited agricultural value and poor accessibility, so the name "badlands" endured.

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August 25th, 2012

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