15x45
acrylic/oil on panel
SOLD
$2000 Just south of me is the WILLMORE WILDERNESS area. You may wonder why do we need environmental protection here because we still have so much wild country in northern British Columbia, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Alaska?

It's because of the rapid invasion of the oil and gas industry! Metis families that had lived near Jasper were told by the government to move away because a National Park was going to be established. This was about 1912. The government first confiscated there weapons and then kicked them out. It didn't matter that their roots stretched back 100 years and there ancestors had helped David Thompson establish the boundaries for a country called Canada. They had to go!

About one hundred Metis, men women and kids took their horses and cattle and headed north, throught the mountains, to the historic area called Grande Cache. It was one hellofa hard trip. They made Grande Cache home. Then in the 1960's the oil and gas started to move in. These Metis were earning a decent living by guiding American and European hunters into the best wilderness in all of north America.

Once again their lifestyle was threatened by outside political forces. This time they fought back and won. Legislation was passed to turn their guiding area into a wilderness park.

I packed into this area many years ago and was impressed by the abundance of wildlife, especially the bighorn sheep. This is about the extent of their northern range. In the Peace River area, we have no sheep at all in our mountains...just goats. North of us are Stone and Dall sheep. It was my first exposure to the beautiful bighorns, thus the painting.