Names

Canada has some great names for its towns and places. We are currently in Medicine Hat and yesterday we visited Fort Whoop Up in Lethbridge. We drove close to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump near Calgary but did not detour to see it - we wish we had, just to say we had been there! Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump is, as we understand it, a place where buffalo were herded and driven off a cliff - so the name makes perfect sense. Fort Whoop Up is a trading fort that also served as a NW Mounted Police outpost and the place where a battle was fought with the local Blackfoot Indians. It was originally called Hamilton, but when describing the place, apparently some traders said it was a place were people really "whooped it up" - and the name stuck! This was a really interesting place to visit to gain some local history and we spent some time talking to some local Blackkfoot Indians and to the forts curator.