BANFF NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 46

SIGHTS AND DRIVES
Banff Park Museum
Although displays of stuffed animals are not usually associated with national parks, the
downtown Banff Park Museum (93 Banff Ave., 403/762-1558, 10am-6pm daily mid-May-
Sept., 1pm-5pm daily the rest of the year, adult $4, senior $3.50, child $3) provides an
insight into the park's early history. Visitors during the Victorian era were eager to see
the park's animals without actually having to venture into the bush. A lack of roads and
scarcity of large game resulting from hunting meant that the best places to see animals,
stuffed or otherwise, were the game paddock, the zoo, and this museum, which was built
in 1903. In its early years, the Banff Zoo and Aviary occupied the grounds behind the mu-
seum. The zoo kept more than 60 species of animals, including a polar bear. The museum
itself was built before the park had electricity, hence the railroad pagoda design using sky-
lights on all levels.
As times changed, the museum was considered outdated; plans for its demolition were
put forward in the 1950s. Fortunately, the museum was spared and later restored for the
park's 100th anniversary in 1985. While the exhibits still provide visitors with an insight
into the intricate workings of various park ecosystems, they are also an interesting link to
the park's past. The museum also has a Discovery Room, where touching the displays is
encouraged, and a reading room that is stocked with natural history topics.
MM Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
The Whyte Foundation was established in the mid-1950s by local artists Peter and Cathar-
ine Whyte to help preserve artistic and historical material relating to the Canadian Rockies.
Their museum (111 Bear St., 403/762-2291, 10am-5pm daily, adult $8, senior $5, child
free) opened in 1968 and has continued to grow ever since. It now houses the world's
largest collection of Canadian Rockies literature and art. Included in the archives are more
than 4,000 volumes, oral tapes of early pioneers and outfitters, antique postcards, old cam-
eras, manuscripts, and a large photography collection. The highlight is the photography of
Byron Harmon, whose black-and-white studies of mountain geography have shown people
around the world the beauty of the Canadian Rockies. The downstairs gallery features
changing art exhibitions. The museum also houses the library and archives of the Alpine
Club of Canada. On the grounds are several heritage homes and cabins formerly occupied
by local pioneers.