Given that Waterton Lakes National Park is the world's first Peace Park, this is an obvious place to find a Peace Pole. This one stands about twenty feet from Waterton Lake, near the Peace Pavilion in the town of Waterton. Hexagonal in form, the pole has ten languages on it and two faces with symbols. Possibly they represent text, as well.
Waterton Lakes National Park came into being as a Dominion Forest Park on May 30, 1895, when a 140 sq. km (54 sq. miles) area was protected by the federal government. Though its park status, boundary and name have varied over the years, and it is now known as
Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada.
The park is the
only one in the world designated as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, an
International Peace Park, the
first in the world, and a
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. 505 square kilometres (195 sq mi) in size, this park of mountains, lakes, rivers, wildlife and many other
natural wonders attracts close to 500,000 visitors each year. Activities available in the park include sight seeing, hiking, climbing, and an assortment of water activities. Within the park's boundaries are also two National Historic Sites, the
Prince of Wales Hotel and the
First Oil Well in Western Canada.
In 1932, the
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was created to commemorate the peace, goodwill and cooperation between Canada and the U.S.A. In 1979, Waterton became Canada's second biosphere reserve and the first Canadian national park to take part in this UNESCO program. Finally, in 1995, the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was designated as a world heritage site.