Banff Avenue during the Canada Day Parade in circa 2020 (Michael Carmichael photograph) and in 1886 (A.B. Thom, Glenbow Archives-NA-0673-027).
Historically, only small groups of Indigenous people occupied Banff’s Bow Valley. Human numbers increased dramatically with the building of Canadian Pacific Railroad, and astronomically as highways and the city of Calgary developed.
Public safety and evacuation in the Bow Valley is a serious problem, particularly if a wildfire closes off roads and damages powerlines (likely). Contributors to this topic have a tough task– maybe an impossible task.