Fonds whyte-1060 - Ralph (E.W.) Edwards fonds

Ralph Edwards was born in Ramsgate, Kent, England and was educated at the City of London School. In 1888 Edwards moved to eastern Canada with the intention of farming but soon moved west to the mountains. Edwards worked in the mines at Canmore for two years before moving to Banff where he worked as a guide and packer for Tom Wilson, the outfitter, as well as Bill and Jim Brewster. Ralph Edwards was one of the earliest guides, trappers, and prospectors in the Banff and Lake Louise area. Edwards accompanied many of the climbers and explorers of the period, notably Walter Wilcox. Edwards often worked and travelled with Bill Peyto and other well known individuals in the earliest days of the area's settlement. In 1914 Edwards joined the C.P.R. working on bridge crews and doing carpentry work. Edwards also worked for the Highways Department as a road foreman-timekeeper on the Banff-Windermere, and Lake Louise to Golden Highways. In 1940 Edwards worked with the government information bureau at Banff, and held positions as secretary-treasurer to Banff Municipal Hospital, secretary to the Banff Advisory Council and secretary-treasurer to the Banff Winter Carnival. Ralph and his wife Mary Jane (Jenny) had two sons and a daughter. In 1950 Edwards published "The Trail to the Charmed Land" which recounts his life as a guide and outfitter in the Rocky Mountains. Edwards died in Banff in 1958 at 90 years of age.