Last Day in Golden

On our last day we decided to do some shopping and more exploring in Golden. Graham’s boots had started to die and we wanted some freezer bricks for our cooler bag. Tomorrow we would be travelling again and we wanted to take our foodstuffs with us.

We also decided that we would go to the local museum. These latter in small towns the world over are testimony to the dedication of some rare individuals who value what the past can tell us about a place. We had a lovely chat with one of the archivists who thanked us for our donation.

A large part of the displays in the Golden Museum concerned the First Nations people whose territory ranged across what we now think of as “Canada” and the “USA”. These people moved seasonally around their country as did the Indigenous peoples of Australia. They had complex spiritual beliefs and beautiful arts and crafts.

I was fascinated to learn about another group of people called the Métis who are of mixed Indigenous and Euro-American ancestry. They are officially recognised in the Canadian Constitution. A Métis man, Baptiste Morigeau, who married two women (one after the other), one Indian and one Métis, and had 14 children, was an important early settler of Golden. Graham also found a little display on Edward “Bulldog” Kelly (1857-1889) - an outlaw - who reminded us of our Ned Kelly (1854-1880) Such coincidences are so intriguing.

The day was filled with beautiful sunshine. Graham found and bought his favourite boots and we found the freezer bricks we had searched for previously right under our noses at the Dollar Shop. We had a light meal of leftovers and retired happy ready for our adventure driving up the Icefield Parkway, from BC to Jasper in Alberta, one of the great scenic drives in the world. Wow.Read more