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Sundre, Settlement

David McDougall, son of Missionary George McDougall from Morley, Alberta, was the first man to live and ranch on the flats west of the Red Deer River in 1893. Aboriginals who roamed the foothills had described the region to him as one of limitless grasslands. One year after McDougall started his ranching operation, three families arrived in the area. Slowly, others began to hear about the abundance of good land and proceeded to form small settlements in the region. The hamlet had a store, co-operative creamery, a community hall but the nearby settlement of Derbytown became the centre of all activity.

Around 1905, N.T. Hagen bought McDougall's land holdings and turned the farmhouse into a store and post office. In the early days, when a post office was opened the government required a name for the location. N.T. Hagen decided to name it after his birthplace in Norway. On December 15, 1909 the village was officially named Sundre. The settlers worked hard to make a living off of the land, but struggled due to the poor quality of the soil in the area. In time, the settlers and their children learned that, while the area was not suitable for grain production, it was an ideal place to raise grass, legumes and to ranch. Homesteaders came and went, but land was rarely left vacant.

The General Store

The General Store

Log Cabin

Log Cabin