Welcome to Peace River – Peace River, AB
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T0SHEA
N 56° 13.801 W 117° 16.582
11V E 482866 N 6231714
Peace River is located 486 km northwest of Edmonton, and 198 km northeast of Grande Prairie, along Highway 2. The town is possibly best known as the "Home of Twelve Foot Davis".
Waymark Code: WMT302
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 09/16/2016
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The community of Peace River is located in northwestern Alberta situated along the banks of the Peace River, at its confluence with the Smoky River, Heart River and Pat's Creek.
Peace River was the site of the 2004 Alberta Winter Games and, in conjunction with Grimshaw and surrounding municipalities, jointly hosted the 2010 Alberta Summer Games. These Games are held every two years and are Alberta's largest sporting event.
Who was Twelve Foot Davis?
Henry Fuller "12 Foot" Davis - History
Born in the hills of Vermont in 1820, Henry Fuller Davis came to be a legend in the Peace River Country. During his long and colourful career as a prospector and trader in western Canada, the illiterate Yankee established a reputation for shrewd, but honest dealings with Indians and white men alike.
Davis, one of the original "Forty Niners" of the California gold rush, soon moved on to the Cariboo area of east central British Columbia. The new rush there had attracted so many gold seekers that by the time Davis arrived, all the prime claim areas had been staked out.
Two miners were doing particularly well at two adjacent claims. Though he was unable to read and write, Davis discovered that there was a 12-foot gap between them. He quickly filed on this narrow strip and within a short period of time, had extracted $12,000 dollars worth of gold. This was the origin of the nickname he bore for the rest of his life "Twelve Foot" Davis.
As soon as he was satisfied that his claim would yield nothing of further value, he moved on to the Peace River area, where he used his new wealth to establish a string of trading posts.
We visited the site and found the story of "Twelve Foot" Davis most intriguing.
