Altorado, Alberta

Altorado is a ghost town in the County of Forty Mile No. 8, Alberta, Canada.[1] It is 22 kilometres (14 mi) south-west of Etzikom.[2]

Toponymy

The name may have been selected by early settlers as a play on (or misspelling of) El Dorado.[3][4][1] Some researchers have also proposed that its name is a combination of the words Alberta and Colorado, owing to the number of settlers from the United States represented in its founding population.[3][5]

History

Founding: 1911-1913

Beginning around 1911,[6] the Altorado Union, composed of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, settled the area that became known as Altorado.[7] Early settlers anticipated that the area would soon be served by the Canadian Pacific Railway, connecting Weyburn, Saskatchewan to Stirling, Alberta.[7][8] Residents petitioned politician William Ashbury Buchanan to hasten the introduction of rail,[4][9] only for the Canadian Pacific Railway selected another location in 1913: Foremost, Alberta, situated three miles east and six miles south of Altorado.[7][10]

By this time Altorado was a village populated by around 100 people.[7] The predominantly agricultural community was served by two general stores, three blacksmiths, a teacher, and a physician.[1][4] The community contained a church, Sacred Heart, that received interments at its attached graveyard.[1] Altorado also briefly hosted a baseball team constituted of locals that played against similar teams in nearby hamlets.[11]

Altorado held an annual picnic at its schoolhouse, inviting residents of nearby areas to celebrate Dominion Day (now Canada Day), until the community ceased to exist.[4][12][13] The first event, held in 1912, was attended by William Ashbury Buchanan, who slept on the floor of a resident due to the absence of a hotel in the area.[4][9] Attendees participated in horse racing, baseball, and other outdoor activities.[13]

Dissolution: 1914–1918

After Foremost's founding, Altorado began to depopulate as residents moved closer to rail connections.[3][7] The settlement was further impacted by substantial crop failures.[4] Altorado's municipal representatives wrote to Prime Minister Robert Borden in August 1914, requesting coal, clothing, and provisions following a "complete failure of all crops" owing to drought in the area.[4] An Altorado post office opened in 1915, only to close permanently by February 1918.[3][7][14]

Altorado as a community ceased to exist soon after,[15] though some agricultural operations remained active.[2] A post office operating under the name Birdsholm, so named because it began in the homestead of the Bird family,[3][13] served remaining settlers and surrounding homesteads until 1949.[16][17]

Places of interest

As of 2026 all that remains of Altorado is Sacred Heart Cemetery and the abandoned Sacred Heart Church.[1][18] The cemetery, which remains open to the public, received interments until the late 20th century.[1]

In media

  • Altorado features in the novel Napi's Dance (2012) by Alanda Greene.[19]

Notable residents

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Alberta Family Histories Society. "Sacred Heart Cemetery (Faith, Forty Mile County)". Alberta Ancestors. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  2. ^ a b Wrigley's Alberta Directory. Calgary: Wrigley Directories. 1920. p. 80.
  3. ^ a b c d e Speirs, Dale (ed.). "Birdsholm / Altorado" (PDF). Journal of Alberta Postal History. 1 (27): 29, 31 – via Postal History Society of Canada (PHSC).
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Butterwick, Alyce (1975). Shortgrass Country: A History of Foremost and Nemiskam. Foremost Historical Society. pp. 22, 36, 83–90 – via University of Calgary.
  5. ^ Thomson, Colin (January 1, 2004). The Romance of Alberta Settlements. Brush Education. p. 17. ISBN 978-1550592702.
  6. ^ McKenzie, H. (August 9, 1911). "Alberta Section". The Grain Growers' Guide. p. 20.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Fryer, Harold (1976). Ghost towns of Alberta. Langley, B.C: Stagecoach Pub. Co. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-0-88983-002-8.
  8. ^ Klatt, Pauline (June 7, 2011). "Klatt's celebrate 100 years farming". The 40 – Mile County Commentator. p. 2.
  9. ^ a b Steele, Charles Frank (1961). Prairie Editor: The Life and Times of Buchanan of Lethbridge. Ryerson Press. pp. 73–74.
  10. ^ Village of Foremost. "About our Community". Foremost Alberta. Foremost Chamber of Commerce.
  11. ^ Finstad, Helen, ed. (1970). Prairie Footprints: A History of the Community in Southern Alberta Known as Pendant d'Oreille. Pendant d'Oreille Lutheran Church Women. p. 135.
  12. ^ Glenbow Archives (July 1, 1913). "Picnic at Altorado, Alberta". University of Calgary Digital Collections.
  13. ^ a b c Short Grass Historical Society (1974). Long Shadows – A History of Shortgrass Country (1 ed.). Bow Island: Commentator Publishing. pp. 63, 124.
  14. ^ Canada, Library and Archives (November 25, 2016). "Altorado Archives / Post Offices and Postmasters". recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  15. ^ Elves, Joanne (October 27, 2001). "Ghostly tales from bygone towns". The Vancouver Sun. p. 77.
  16. ^ Canada, Library and Archives (November 25, 2016). "Birdsholm Archives / Post Offices and Postmasters". recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  17. ^ Bernhart, Jill (July 24, 2012). "Place names in the Foremost area". The 40 – Mile County Commentator. p. 5.
  18. ^ Bachusky, Johnnie (January 1, 2003). Ghost Town Stories II: From Renegade to Ruin Along the Red Coat Trail. Heritage House Publishing Co. Ltd. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-1551539928.
  19. ^ Greene, Alanda (2012). Napi's dance. Toronto: Second Story Press. ISBN 978-1-926920-87-0.
  20. ^ Country Guide and Nor'west Farmer. Vol. 4. Manitoba Grain Growers' Association. 1911. pp. 17, 20.
  21. ^ Robertson, George W. (March 22, 2013). "Memories of Foremost". Alberta History. 61 (2).
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