Woolford, a small village, lies ten miles east of
Cardston, between the St. Mary River and the Milk
River Ridge. There are three distinct landmarks to show
the location of Woolford, some high rolling hills to the
northeast called Lumpy Butte, a lake calied Butte Lake
and just south of the village was Rush Lake.

Alberta at this time was a district in the Northwest
Territories, and land was open to homesteaders. The
prairie was covered with tall grass, and there were no
roads or fences from Woolford to Cardston. Bill
Aldridge was the first man to settle in this district and he
built a cabin near Rush Lake in 1890. A devastating
prairie fire swept the land and he moved to another loca-
tion.

Ten years later in 1900, Thomas Woolford moved to
the district with his family, and became the founder of
the village which was named after him. He was a
renowned wheat grower, civic worker and humanitarian
-a very important man in the community.

Soon after his arrival the T. W. Ainscough, John
Nelson, Alonzo Lamb, Leo Harris, J. A. Johansen, and
Walter Pitcher families moved in. Later on the families
of J. E. Steed, Bowden, Purnell, Eldridge, Green and
others arrived, all contributing to the building up of this
community.

In 1906 Woolford became a branch of the L.D.S.
Church. W. T. Ainscough was called as Branch Presi-
dent, serving about ten years. J. A. Johansen became the
first Sunday School Superintendent with Walter Pitcher
and Alonzo Lamb as his assistants. Nellie Pitcher was
the first Primary President, and on May 13, 1906 the
Relief Society was organized with Eunice Harris as
President, and Ella Nelson, Eleanor Eldridge, Margaret
Ainscough and Hannah Woolford as assistants.

As soon as there were enough children in Woolford, a
small one-roomed school was built. This building was the
center of all activities, serving as church house,
recreational hall and school.

In 1910 an elevator and store were built, the store be-
ing run by the elevator agent. A branch line of the C.P.R.
was built from Raley to Woolford. There was a large
turntable that was used to turn the engine around for the
return trip to the main line. The plan at one time was to
build the track to Kimball and then on to Cardston. Part
of the road bed was built, but this was later abandoned
and the railroad was extended to Whiskey Gap.

Before the railroad went to Whiskey Gap, the farmers
hauled their grain to Woolford in grain wagons, pulled by
four and six head of horses, some coming from a distance
of 30 miles or more. The horses were bedded down in the
livery stable and the men stayed at Hop Sing's restaurant
and hotel.

Woolford was divided into two parts; the town of
Woolford consisted of three elevators, a Chinese
restaurant, livery stable, large storage granaries, oil
tanks, a two-storey store, lumber yard and office,
blacksmith shop, United Church and eight houses.

A mile to the north east was called Woolford Flat and
here was the school house, the L.D.S. Church and several
houses.

During the early years of Woolford, water was hauled
in barrels from the St. Mary River three miles away for
cooking and drinking, and from the lakes for general pur-
poses. Coal for winter supply was hauled from the
Lethbridge mines by horses and wagons. To supplement
the coal, buffalo chips were gathered in and stored in
sheds. When the train came to Woolford, coal was
brought in but sometimes there was such a small supply
that it had to be rationed out to the families, allowing
only a gunny sack full to each household. Wild berries
were plentiful along the river banks, and the fruit was
bottled for winter use.

Dr. Brant of Cardston was the only doctor, and it was
difficult for him to visit the outlying districts, so the peo-
ple had to depend on their own methods of curing
ailments. Herbs such as yarrow, mint, dandelion, sage
and others were gathered in, dried and used for
medicines. Coal oil and sugar was a sure cure for croup,
and sulphur and molasses cured any sickness. Woolford
had two midwives, Susan Purnell and Ella Nelson, and
they delivered many babies.

The road to Cardston was open prairie, and one could
choose which route to take, so the prairie was marked
with many sets of wheel tracks.

In 1915 Woolford was organized into a Ward, with
W. T. Ainscough as the first bishop. After his release,
Leo Harris became the second bishop, followed in succes-
sion by Arthur Pitcher, J. A. Johansen, J. E. Steed, W.
W. Roberts, LeRoy Pitcher, Lorin Pitcher and Gibb
Smith being the last bishop.

Woolford was a very active and progressive ward,
engaging in such sports as baseball, basketball and other
competitive sports with neighboring communities.
Stampedes were held, which drew people from miles
around. Jack Purnell was the outstanding cowboy at this
time, and at one stampede he successfully rode Wildfire,
a horse that had previously thrown cowboys at the
Cardston Stampede. He was chosen to go to London to
perform in a stampede which was attended by Queen
Mary.

In 1930 the first elevator was burned to the ground,
and later on the store, restaurant, lumberyard and office
and the second elevator burned to the ground and
Woolford began to decline. The United Church moved
out and houses were moved away.

The school children were vanned to Cardston, the
schoolhouse sold and used as a barn. Later many people
moved into Cardston and Woolford became just a name.

In 1977 there are many empty houses and only four
families living on the Flat. The church house is now a
family home. A few people are building homes in the dis-
trlct. When the school and church are withdrawn from a
community, it is never the same, it dies and only
memories remain.

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