If there was anything learned through the Drumheller Heroes is that there were some remarkable people who built the Drumheller Valley.
Through 2011, The Drumheller Mail, in celebration of its centennial, featured profiles of some of the figures who make up Drumheller colourful past. These ranged from the first adventurers that scratched out a living on the land, to some community builders, heroic and sometimes notorious.
It is amazing how it seems only at times of milestones do people take a look back. In newspapers the day to day grind of getting out the most up to date information to readers often trumps reflection of a community’s accomplishments. Truth be known, often the stories that are covered today are the stories of the century tomorrow and the players are the heroes.
It is interesting to look at the front page of the June 28 1961 edition of The Drumheller Mail. This was celebrating the 50th anniversary of The City of Drumheller, 50 years since it was declared a hamlet. In the timeline of history, Drumheller was declared a village in 1913, a town in 1916 and a city in 1930.
The paper then takes a sober moment of reflection to list some of the names of those who made the community what it is today. They include some of the same people the Mail wrote about in 2011 including Jesse Gouge Napier Coyle, Henry Ontkes, Mary Roper and Fanny Ramsley.
At the time, The Mail said, “these may be just names to many of the residents of Drumheller today, but these names, many of whom are still living, were the pioneers that wrote Drumheller history and a colorful history it was, comparing to any legendary place in the west.
These pioneers have a story to tell that would equal any motion picture that has been produced to date.”
As the community marches forward into its undetermined future, a great question would be who is going to lead the community over its next set of hurdles? Who is going to take a risk on something for the betterment of the community, and succeed?
Truth be told it is not hard to find people in the community today that more than live up to this requirement, people whose efforts that today seem small, but will pay dividends for the community.