Mînî Thnî

History

Settlement in the Mînî Thnî area began with First Nations. The arrival of the Methodist missionary John McDougall and his wife in 1873 to establish a missionary outpost in the Bow Valley for outreach to the Nakoda (Stoney) and Siksika (Blackfoot) First Nations. They founded the mission at the request of John's father, George McDougall, the superintendent of Methodist missionary work in Western Canada. but he renamed it Morleyville in honour of his friend Morley Punshon, an Ontario doctor. John McDougall and his wife began their work by constructing a two-room log shack with a sod roof for themselves and a small church. Shortly thereafter, the McDougalls moved their fledgling outpost to a new site to the south, closer to the river. Around 1900, the log walls were covered with board-and-batten siding, and a steeple was built. David McDougall later joined his brother John at Morleyville and helped to found the Indian Trading Post. The homes and the trading post were enclosed by a stockade of heavy logs erected to provide defence in case a party of First Nations warriors attempted a raid. School records indicate that student Evelyn Pocette died there on December 31, 1934, then Susan Two Young Men on June 7, 1935, Annie Hunter on June 16, 1935, Mary Dixon (Morley) on July 6, 1935, and White Bright Star on February 13, 1938. Amos Lefthand died October 17, 1942, Leta Powderface ca. May 14, 1943, then Charlie Amos ca. August 1, 1943, and Isaiah Powerface December 26, 1947. A school textbook was published for teaching English to the students residing there. This textbook makes reference to Morley and McDougall. Morleyville's early prominence declined in the 1880s after the Canadian Pacific transcontinental railroad bypassed the settlement as it was routed through the valley…