Iddesleigh, Alberta

Iddesleigh is named for Walter Northcote, 2nd Earl of Iddesleigh, chairman of the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1869 to 1874.^[4][5]

Iddesleigh rests upon one of the densest dinosaur bone beds on Earth.^[6][7] Between 1974 and 2025, thousands of pachyrhinosaurus specimens have been unearthed in the area.^[6]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Following the Great Sioux War of 1876 in the United States, a conflict between an alliance of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne against the United States, thousands of Sioux took refuge in the area now known as Iddesleigh.^[8] Among them was Sitting Bull, who met with the Crowfoot of the Blackfoot people, and attempted to convince Crowfoot to join their resistance by mounting an uprising against the North-West Mounted Police.^[8][9] Crowfoot declined, but convinced the Blackfoot to leave the Sioux in peace.^[9]

In 1907, the first settlers arrived in the area that would later become known as Iddesleigh.^[9] They established a blend of ranches and grain farms over the next few decades.^[9] The locality was originally served by the now-extant community of Rainy Hills (which was also briefly known as Denhart).^[10] Rainy Hills Cemetery began serving both the residents of Denhart and Iddesleigh in 1911.^[11]

In 1914, Iddesleigh was founded as a siding of the Canadian Pacific Railway along the Bassano subdivision.^[5][12] The next year, Rainy Hills Church was established to serve the local Lutheran community,^[13] and an Iddesleigh post office opened in December 1915.^[14][15] A grain elevator was introduced to the community by the end of the decade.^[16]

Iddesleigh grew rapidly into a local commercial centre by 1920, hosting services including a barber and various stores.^[17] Iddesleigh School District No. 3608 was established on February 18, 1918.^[18] Classes were initially offered in a hall owned by the United Farmers of Alberta.^[18]

As with many dry belt towns, Iddesleigh experienced depopulation throughout the 1920s, as poor weather and crop yields prompted residents to leave in search of better agricultural conditions.^[19] One resident reported salvaging just 45 bushels of wheat from 300 acres in 1924.^[20] Residents primarily moved to settlements within the County of Paintearth No. 18.^[19]

Notable resident Bud Olson, future member of Parliament for Medicine Hat, was born in Iddesleigh in 1925.^[21] He operated the family farm and general store in Iddesleigh until 1956; he subsequently donated the building to serve as a local pioneer museum, which was operated by the Rainy Hills Historical Society until around the late 1980s.^[21][22]

Iddesleigh School received a permanent building in 1939.^[18] The school shut down by 1960, as the building was sold that year.^[18] As of 2019, the building now hosts Iddesleigh Hall, a community centre.^[23][24]

In 1967, Iddesleigh was one of several small hamlets in Alberta that hosted a parade to celebrate Canada's centennial.^[25]

Farmers based in Iddesleigh and Jenner formed the Rainy Hills Grazing Co-op in June 1967, in order to purchase 2,800 acres of farmland from the provincial government.^[26] As of 2022, the co-operative is still active.^[27]

Train services through Iddesleigh ended some time after 1983.^[28] In 1984, Rainy Hills Lutheran Church congregants were among the contributors to a cookbook published by the Lutheran Women's Missionary League, Family Favourites.^[29] Rainy Hills Lutheran Church celebrated its centennial in 2015.^[13]

In November 2022, the largest solar power field proposed for Southern Alberta was approved by provincial regulators.^[30] Once completed, Greengate Power’s Jurassic Solar + Battery plant will span 1,170 acres, near Iddesleigh.^[30][31]

Iddesleigh recorded a population of 14 in the 1991 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada,^[1] down from 22 in 1988.^[32]