Alberta heroes
"To mark the final days of the 1900s, a series will run daily on Page A2 -- the 100 highest-impact Albertans of the 100-plus years in the evolution of this region. A panel of academics, business leaders and average Albertans made the selections for Alberta's Heroic 100" - Don Martin
Don Martin and the Calgary Herald initiated an innovative way to count down the days until the year 2000. Don wrote a column each day on the present-day and historic heroes of our province. Since our members and our web visitors may well have special kinship connection to some of the heroes, we are pleased to offer this finding aid to the newspaper columns that are appeared from September to December 1999.
To view the entire column, you may visit the one of several locations in Calgary where paper and microfilmed copies of the Calgary Herald are kept: Calgary Public Library, Glenbow Museum and Archives, Mount Royal College, or University of Calgary. If you don't live in the Calgary area, you may contact the for copy of the column in question. Please specify the name of the hero and the date of the column in your request.
Many thanks to Lorna Stewart, AFHS Member, for compiling and preparing this information for placement on the AFHS website. And, yes, there are some duplications below as well as missing titles/numbers; this reflects what the newspaper published.
Alberta
Hero |
Headline |
Date |
No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Aberhart | Leader infuriated Baptists | 1 Dec 99 | 35 |
| Maxwell Bates | Reclusive artist banned from club | 20 Nov 99 | 42 |
| R.B. Bennett | One-term prime minister left lasting legacy | 9 Nov 99 | 53 |
| Bob Blair | Blair backed Canadian businesses | 2 Dec 99 | 37 |
| Jim and Bill Brewster | Banff's Brewsters forward thinkers in transportation | 27 Dec 99 | - |
| Kootenai Brown | Waterton remains hero's legacy | 22 Nov 99 | 41(b) |
| Kurt Browning | Browning skated into record book | 14 Nov 99 | 48 |
| John Brownlee | Sex scandal forced out premier | 16 Nov 99 | 46 |
| Pat Burns | Meatpacking baron also had heart of gold | 26 Sept 99 | 96 |
| Joe Butlin | Victorian Calgary built with his stone | 21 Dec 99 | - |
| Ted Byfield | Byfield at heart of conservatism | 3 Oct 99 | 89 |
| Donald Cameron | Educator had a dream | 21 Oct 99 | 71(a) |
| Charles Ora Card | Card led Mormons north | 5 Nov 99 | 57 |
| Douglas Cardinal | Architect among world's best | 28 Sept 99 | 94 |
| Wilf Carter | - | 28 Nov 99 | 40 |
| Art Child | Meat magnate set up Alberta think-tank | 25 Nov 99 | 43 |
| Bob Church | Cowboy Dr. Bob Church is home, home in the lab | 26 Dec 99 | - |
| Joe Clark | Joe Clark is still writing his political history | 5 Oct 99 | 87 |
| Karl Clark | Chemist found key to oil sands | 13 Dec 99 | 25 |
| James Collip | Albertan helped discover insulin for humans | 8 Oct 99 | 84 |
| Philip Currie | Dino curator makes mark | 15 Oct 99 | 77 |
| Archie Dingman | Oilman's discovery triggered first boom and bust | 18 Oct 99 | 74 |
| Robert Dinning | ALCB founder was the baron of booze | 17 Oct 99 | 75 |
| Mary Dover | Walking encyclopedia of Alberta still walking the streets of Calgary | 12 Nov 99 | 50 |
| Bob Edwards | Influential publisher ahead of his time | 19 Oct 99 | 73 |
| William Fairfield | Researcher broke new ground | 13 Oct 99 | 79 |
| Jack Gallagher | Arctic oil dream still just a dream | 17 Nov 99 | 45 |
| The Ghermezians | Family built the ultimate mall | 21 Nov 99 | 41(a) |
| George Govier | Govier's name still carries clout | 13 Nov 99 | 49 |
| James Gray | History died with him | 15 Nov 99 | 47 |
| Jim Gray | Service sets him apart | 30 Dec 99 | - |
| Wayne Gretzky | Top 100 Picks will appear until New Year's Eve | 24 Sep | 98 |
| The Grey Nuns | Sisters set up first hospital to care for starving kids | 27 Nov 99 | 41 |
| Richard Hardisty | Trader helped open the West | 16 Dec 99 | - |
| Eric Harvie | Tycoon made cash work for public | 30 Oct 99 | 63 |
| Frederick Haultain | Top 100 Picks will appear until New Year's Eve | 24 Sep | 100 |
| Stephen Herrero | Expert bent on saving grizzlies | 18 Nov 99 | 44 |
| Vern 'Dry Hole' Hunter | 'Dry Hole' Hunter hit a gusher | 2 Nov 99 | 60 |
| Mel Hurtig | Publisher's nationalism gave birth to encyclopedia | 17 Dec 99 | - |
| William Irvine | Former MP world peace advocate | 10 Dec 99 | 28 |
| Peter Karsten | Artist put city zoo on the map | 15 Dec 99 | - |
| Illingworth Kerr | Painter put Prairies on artistic map | 25 Oct 99 | 68 |
| W.P. Kinsella | Alberta is author's field of dreams | 7 Oct 99 | 85 |
| W.P. Kinsella | Alberta writer made dreams come true | 6 Nov 99 | 56 |
| Frank King | '88 Olympics chairman set standard for excellence | 23 Oct 99 | 70 |
| Ralph Klein/Peter Lougheed | Dead heat for political greatness | 31 Dec 99 | - |
| Herman Linder | Linder a king of cowboys | 6 Dec 99 | 32 |
| Father Albert Lacombe | Missionary assumed role of provincial ombudsman | 11 Oct 99 | 81 |
| Sir James Lougheed | Senator was man of vision | 7 Dec 99 | 31 |
| Peter Lougheed | Led Tories to power | 29 Dec 99 | - |
| Peter Lougheed/Ralph Klein | Dead heat for political greatness | 31 Dec 99 | - |
| Grant MacEwan | Province owes much to famous citizen | 27 Oct 99 | 66 |
| Charles Magrath | Water engineer | 23 Dec 99 | - |
| Ernest Manning | A politician who served | 20 Dec 99 | - |
| Preston Manning | Manning led Reform out of wilderness | 6 Oct 99 | 86 |
| Fred C. Mannix | Recluse had finger in every pie | 9 Dec 99 | 29 |
| Fred C. Mannix | - | 29 Nov 99 | 39 |
| Maskipitoon | Warrier chief turned to peace | 4 Oct 99 | 88 |
| Wop May | Alberta pilot pushed the envelope | 3 Nov 99 | 59 |
| Nellie McClung | Radical hero Alberta's gain | 23 Nov 99 | 40 |
| Grant McConachie | Top 100 Picks will appear until New Year's Eve | 24 Sep | 99 |
| John McDougall | McDougall champion of native causes | 4 Dec 99 | 34 |
| Louise McKinney | A politician that never acted like a non-person | 16 Oct 99 | 76 |
| Marshall McLuhan | 'Global village' forecasts eerily close to reality | 7 Nov 99 | 55 |
| Frank McMahon | McMahon famed for oilpatch touchdown | 1 Oct 99 | 91 |
| Betty Mitchell | Mitchell sparked Calgary theatre | 25 Sept 99 | 97 |
| Roland Michener | Michener fit noble role | 28 Oct 99 | 65 |
| Emily Murphy | Emily Murphy battled for rights | 19 Dec 99 | - |
| Eric Newell | Educator makes a difference | 20 Oct 99 | 72 |
| Arne Nielsen | Alberta's original blue-eyed sheik | 11 Nov 99 | 51 |
| Charles Noble | Farmer helped stop soil airlift | 27 Sept 99 | 95 |
| Grant Notley | Earned respect of political foes | 28 Dec 99 | - |
| Frank Oliver | Started Edmonton newspaper | 12 Dec 99 | 26 |
| Irene Parlby | Parlby was first woman in cabinet | 4 Nov 99 | 58 |
| William Pearce | Pearce made irrigation, parks come true | 30 Sept 99 | 92 |
| Jerry Potts | 'Bear Child' a noted warrior | 11 Dec 99 | 27 |
| J. Harper Prowse | Feisty lawyer became leader of non-existent Liberal party | 12 Oct 99 | 80 |
| Normie Quong | - | 30 Nov 99 | 38 |
| Ken Read | Crazy Canuck was rare animal on ski slopes | 9 Oct 99 | 83 |
| Chester Ronning | Diplomat a tireless booster of China | 5 Dec 99 | 33 |
| Andy Russell | Cowboy earned Order of Canada | 3 Dec 99 | 36 |
| A.C. Rutherford | First premier started battle | 14 Oct 99 | 78 |
| Sahpo-Muxiho | Crowfoot was peace advocate | 14 Dec 99 | 24 |
| Arthur Sifton | Top justice stood tall in the West | 18 Dec 99 | - |
| Clifford Sifton | The patron saint of immigration | 29 Oct 99 | 64 |
| Jimmy Simpson | Mountain man beat 'green' trend by decades | 10 Nov 99 | 52 |
| Arthur Smith | Oilman pushed diversification | 29 Sept 99 | 93 |
| Sam Steele | A Policeman of Empire | 22 Dec 99 | - |
| Ralph G. Steinhauer | Former lieut.-gov. promoted farming | 24 Nov 99 | 44 |
| Stephan Stephanson | Icelandic poet found fame | 31 Oct 99 | 62 |
| Richard Taylor | A Nobel achievement | 1 Nov 99 | 61 |
| Mark Tewksbury | Swimmer defines Olympic glory | 8 Nov 99 | 54 |
| Tom Three Persons | Cowboy rode out Cyclone | 8 Dec 99 | 30 |
| Henry Marshall Tory | U of A founder was in a hurry | 19 Nov 99 | 43 |
| Ian Tyson | Sparked a renaissance in songs about the cowboy life | 24 Dec 99 | - |
| Col. James Walker | Man of many firsts second to no one | 26 Oct 99 | 67 |
| Walking Buffalo | Chief was symbol of Alberta's natives | 26 Nov 99 | 42 |
| Max Ward | From bush pilot to aviation legend | 10 Oct 99 | 82 |
| John Ware | Black cowboy left mark | 24 Oct 99 | 69 |
| Guy Weadick | Stampede founder a bold cowboy | 22 Oct 99 | 71(b) |
| Henry Wise Wood | refused to be premier | 3 Oct 99 | 90 |
