Comments on: Mesa Butte loop http://kananaskisblog.com/mesa-butte/2010/ Hiking, Skiing and Snowshoeing Mon, 21 May 2012 15:44:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Gillean Daffern http://kananaskisblog.com/mesa-butte/2010/comment-page-1/#comment-361 Gillean Daffern Sun, 11 Apr 2010 02:53:21 +0000 http://kananaskisblog.com/?p=1717#comment-361 You are quite right. Potted naming history coming up:. In the 1890s A.O.Wheeler who was knocking around the foothills with the irrigation survey named it Mesa Hill for obvious reasons. Over the years it got changed to Mesa Butte and was officially recognized as such in 1949. The creek on the east side was named Mesa Creek at the same time. Later, a loosely knit community to the east came to be known as Square Butte —though it doesn’t seem to be an officially recognized name. You pass Square Butte community Hall on Hwy. 762 en route to Hwy. 549. Presumably these people did not know the name of the hill they could see to the west, though it has been marked on maps as mesa something since before 1914. Things possibly came to a head with the building of a multimillion recreational ranch property called Square Butte Ranches in view of the hill. (You can’t miss it if you look northeast from the summit.) Anyway, a few years back the locals were clamoring for a name change and shamefully, in my opinion, Alberta Geographical Names acquiesced. To make things worse, the name was transposed to a hill to the west. This hill is not mesa-shaped, so why name it Mesa Butte? In fact, Wheeler called it Death’s Head after the shape of the sandstone rocks neat the summit. There are many other instances of unacceptable name changes throughout the foothills, perhaps the most flagrant being the changing of Bull Creek to Cutthroat Creek in the Bull Creek Hills. You are quite right.
Potted naming history coming up:. In the 1890s A.O.Wheeler who was knocking around the foothills with the irrigation survey named it Mesa Hill for obvious reasons. Over the years it got changed to Mesa Butte and was officially recognized as such in 1949. The creek on the east side was named Mesa Creek at the same time. Later, a loosely knit community to the east came to be known as Square Butte —though it doesn’t seem to be an officially recognized name. You pass Square Butte community Hall on Hwy. 762 en route to Hwy. 549. Presumably these people did not know the name of the hill they could see to the west, though it has been marked on maps as mesa something since before 1914. Things possibly came to a head with the building of a multimillion recreational ranch property called Square Butte Ranches in view of the hill. (You can’t miss it if you look northeast from the summit.) Anyway, a few years back the locals were clamoring for a name change and shamefully, in my opinion, Alberta Geographical Names acquiesced.

To make things worse, the name was transposed to a hill to the west. This hill is not mesa-shaped, so why name it Mesa Butte? In fact, Wheeler called it Death’s Head after the shape of the sandstone rocks neat the summit.

There are many other instances of unacceptable name changes throughout the foothills, perhaps the most flagrant being the changing of Bull Creek to Cutthroat Creek in the Bull Creek Hills.

]]> By: Derek Ryder http://kananaskisblog.com/mesa-butte/2010/comment-page-1/#comment-360 Derek Ryder Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:41:32 +0000 http://kananaskisblog.com/?p=1717#comment-360 Now I could have SWORN that was Square Butte, not Mesa Butte. One of my favourite places for a quick picnic. Now I could have SWORN that was Square Butte, not Mesa Butte. One of my favourite places for a quick picnic.

]]>