Nordegg: A German
Entrepreneur's Bold Dream and Heartbreak
When Mountain Park closed, miners raced to other nearby
Coal Branch towns for work. Scores journeyed south to Canmore and
the Crowsnest Pass. But some headed southeast to Big West Country—a vast alpine wilderness just inside the first eastern range of
the Rocky Mountains. It was a land of pioneer dreams since British
explorer David Thompson trailblazed there in the early 1800s.
A century later, a German entrepreneur named Martin Cohn unveiled
another vision—a revolutionary Rocky Mountain garden city
paradise known as Nordegg. It was planned to be a coal mining
community unlike any other. But the town ultimately faced
heartbreak and oblivion. And so too did its founder.
By the turn of the 20th century, thousands of European
immigrants had established roots in the Prairies. Officials in
Ottawa were looking westward. The Canadian government advertised
heavily to lure foreign investment. European bankers were
attracted, and in 1906 the German Development Company sent
ambitious young entrepreneur Martin Cohn to scout out business
opportunities in the new country.
Cohn had a talent for people. Everywhere he went he was liked,
by rich and poor. This talent proved important throughout his
Canadian story, and it enabled him to mix and survive in any
social and political circle. Shortly after arriving in Canada,
Cohn was in the company of Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier and
senior Ottawa bureaucrats. The prime minister suggested to Cohn he
look into mining ventures and the German businessman followed his
lead.
When Cohn met noted Dominion Geological surveyor Donaldson
Bogart Dowling in 1907, he had already located, mapped and
assessed large quantities of coal strata in the Rocky Mountains,
north of areas being mined in the Crowsnest Pass and Banff. Using
his high-powered Ottawa connections, Cohn persuaded Interior
Minister Frank Oliver to have Dowling accompany him on a western
prospecting tour.
After
setting up camp at the magnificent Bighorn Falls in the summer of
1907, the prospecting team staked four coal fields in Big West
Country. That same year, another coal field was staked southwest
of Banff on Mount Allan, the eventual site for alpine skiing at
the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. On that tour, Dowling also drew the
first boundaries for Jasper National Park.
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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