At the beginning of the 20th century, southwestern Alberta boomed when thick veins of coal were discovered underneath the Rocky Mountains. An ambitious group of workers and entrepreneurs arrived from all over Canada, as far away as Europe and even Russia for the chance to earn a respectable wage of $125 per month. An eclectic mix of miners, surveyors, engineers, doctors, nurses, wives and children set about building a new life for themselves in the valley of the Crowsnest Pass. (continue...)
