Fort Whoop-Up has received a new fireable cannon (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Embracing history

Replica cannon donated to Fort Whoop-Up

Jul 8, 2019 | 11:29 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A community donation is adding to the experience at Fort Whoop-Up.

The historical tourist site has received a new replica of the cannon that was originally stationed at the fort in the 1800s. Galt Museum & Archives Curator Aimee Benoit said the team behind the project came together about a year ago.

“We worked with a local historian named George Kush, who was able to provide us with scale drawings of the original cannon, so he had measurements and all of the specs on file. He worked with us, and a member of the Fort Whoop-Up Black Powder (Society) as well, who brought his expertise on the period firearms that would have been used historically in the fort,” Benoit told Lethbridge News Now.

“We had a very kind donation from D & D Machine Works (Ltd.) in Lethbridge. They actually produced the replica of the cannon based on those historical documents and photographs.”

The cannon was completed, along with a “cannon carriage” in the spring and Benoit said the hope is to fire the cannon for the first time on Thursday, July 18.

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Following that initial firing, the cannon will be used in programs and presentations at Fort Whoop-Up. The new replica can currently be seen by visitors in the fort.

A photo of Bill Peta of the Fort Whoop-Up Black Powder Club loading a cannon muzzle for a demonstration firing (Photo courtesy: Galt Museum & Archives)

The Galt Museum & Archives took over operations at the fort in the summer of 2016.

Benoit said when they took over operation, most of the materials (including a cannon previously used for demonstrations) were not available to the Galt.

“Most of the materials that had been in the fort previously had been removed,” she explained.

She said visitors to the fort will also notice a display cannon on-site.

“That replicates the second historical cannon that was at the fort, but this (new cannon) will be the only that actually fires and it’s very close to the original specs of the two-inch muzzleloader cannon that was used at the fort in the 1870s,” she added.

“This brings back an element that was really important to the fort’s history and I know a lot of visitors remember having the cannon still in use up to a few years ago. This will be exciting, I think, for visitors to take part in an experience.”

Benoit said the whole crew at the Galt is grateful for the help of those involved in the project, including all in the community.

“We had donations of expertise, time and skills, of knowledge. Those are things that we really depend on the community to invest in the fort as part of what we can offer back to the community,” she said.

“We’re grateful for the donation of all that expertise and knowledge, and we’re really excited because the cannon was an integral part of the fort’s history in the 1870s and 1880s, so this brings back that element we’re able to interpret as part of the storyline of the fort.”