Tourism Interpretive Centre - Grande Cache, Alberta
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T0SHEA
N 53° 53.188 W 119° 06.629
11U E 361292 N 5972954
Tourism Interpretive Centre in Grande Cache is located at 9701 AB Hwy. 40.
Waymark Code: WM11668
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 08/23/2019
Views: 1
Our town is called Grande Cache, which is of course French. The story on how we got that name is very interesting. Ignace Giasson was an Iroquois employee of the Hudson Bay Company who was stationed at St. Mary's Fort near Peace River. He was originally from the Montreal area, so he spoke French.
Giasson was active in the Grande Cache area during the years 1818 to 1821. He would travel into what is now British Columbia and bring back large quantities of furs. On one of these trips, he was heavily laden with pelts and the snow was very deep, so he constructed a winter fur cache on the banks of the Sulphur River. Eventually, the whole area became known as Grande Cache.
Transcribed from sign
Tourism Interpretive Centre in Grande Cache was officially opened on October 5, 1996. There are at this location a free museum, wildlife displays, Esson Gale Art Gallery and Bighorn Gallery Gift Shop. Meeting rooms are also available. Tourism Interpretive Centre offers local and regional tourist information, maps and brochures.
The Grande Cache Tourism & Interpretive Centre showcases the history of the area through exhibits and displays featuring ice age artifacts, dinosaur tracks, Aboriginal heritage and fur trading.
Nearby is the Bird’s Eye View Park features interpretive trails and picnic areas. You can see a replica of a "cache” along with other historic buildings.
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