Chop wood, carry water, and love large
By Wildly Supply Co. & Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies are filled with stories of adventure and adrenaline, hope and heartache, and of course- love. And while each tale from the trail holds a special place in our hearts, this Valentine’s Day we want to highlight one of the most cherished and classic love stories out of Banff National Park.
Dorothy and Ed Carleton with wood stove at Windy Cabin. Photo courtesy: Mike Carleton
From Great Britain to the backcountry of Canada, Ed and Dorothy Carleton’s time together spans over World War Two, the Atlantic Ocean, and 49 years of marriage. In 1943, a Calgary Highlander sent to help with the British war effort from Didsbury, Alberta, (Ed) met a shorthand typist for the English Forestry Association who had also been an air raid marshal during the Blitz (Dorothy) at his brother’s wedding in England. Their own wedding would happen two years later. Ed received a honourable discharge after sustaining a head injury in France and came back to Canada, where he waited for Dorothy and their three-month-old son Michael to receive the proper paperwork from the Canadian government for them to board the Letitia to Pier 21 in Halifax, alongside many other war brides.
“I ended up in Calgary where my husband was there to meet me. I scarcely recognized him in civilian clothes. I was now a war bride embarking on a new life,” recounted Dorothy in We Live in a Postcard: Banff Family Histories.
Photo courtesy: Mike Carleton
After Ed joined the Banff Park Warden Service, their new life quickly took the trio to a one-room log cabin at Bow Summit where they had no running water, indoor plumbing, electricity, or neighbours for 40 kilometres. Instead, they had a nearby creek, a wood-burning barrel heater, and an oven the likes of which Dorothy had never seen before: “I had never seen anything like it in my life. To make sure the oven was close to the right temperature for baking I would test it with my hand. Remarkably, I didn’t get burned.”
Photo courtesy: Mike Carleton
This English rose leaned into the Wild Rose Country ways and worked shoulder-to-shoulder with her husband to forge a life together in the forest. They went on to live at Stoney Creek where they continued to haul water from the creek and keep the woodpile stocked for heating and cooking. While Ed was away on patrol, Dorothy would walk with the kids on the trails, even pushing the new baby Terry in a pram. In 1953, a decade into their relationship, the small family moved to a frame house on the Buffalo Paddock where the school bus would pick up Michael and where they would bring their third son, Brian, home from the hospital in Banff.
Then in 1955, they moved into a two-bedroom log cabin at Mt. Eisenhower (Castle Mountain) and eventually Dorothy decided to make two trips a day into Banff to drop off and pick up the children at school, driving almost 130 kilometres a day. Ed packed in water and groceries on his horse and so it went- until 1961 when Ed was transferred to Banff as a town warden.
Picnic at Mt. Eisenhower (Castle Mtn), Dorothy and Terry, 1958. Photo courtesy: Mike Carleton
“We purchased a house in Banff, which seemed so luxurious after log cabins. No outside biffy, all kinds of hot water and electric lights. Those days in the bush are treat memories,” stated the couple in a 1984 warden reunion booklet. “They were wonderful years and the fellowship and support of all of the park wardens and their wives were greatly appreciated and enjoyed.”
Ed passed away in 1994, and Dorothy continued contributing to community in all sorts of ways: director of the Banff Senior’s Choir, volunteer at St. Martha’s Place, member of the I.O.D.E. and the Banff Legion’s Ladies Auxiliary. She stayed in close touch with the Park Warden Service Alumni Society, baked chocolate chip cookies in the Windy Cabin behind the Whyte Museum for Back to Banff Days, and she didn’t miss a Seniors versus Grade 6 baseball game. She was a bright, effervescent light in the community and was awarded a Banff SHINE award in 2012. Dorothy also became quite the storyteller and shared her adventures in the wild generously.
Ed and Dorothy Carleton, n.d., Bruno Engler/photographer, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Bruno Engler fonds (V190/IV/B/II/PA-11)
For example, Dorothy sat down with mountain writer Lynn Martel to tell her about her life and the advice she’d like to impart to us.
And she participated in a fireside chat with local legend Chic Scott for the Whyte Museum.
Dorothy passed away at the age of 98 in 2018, marking the end of an era in Banff National Park. Today, Whyte Museum librarian and reference archivist Kayla Cazes calls the Carletons a pinnacle couple whose story resonates deeply.
“They’re really reflective of the time and everybody in the community knew them and knew their story. That makes it more meaningful,” says Kayla.
When asked to imagine what it was like for Dorothy to move into the backcountry from England, Kayla says it was a vastly different landscape to anything Dorothy had ever experienced before.
“Chopping firewood, cooking on a wood stove, and making sure you have all of your tools and supplies – it must have been terrifying at first to give up the comforts of then-modern homes. The things you do for love, right? Or else she wouldn’t have done it.”
A NOTE FROM WILDLY: You, the reader, are responsible for your own safety and gathering the information you require to tackle these trips. Please adventure safely.
