I headed downslope to where the cubs were feeding and came up at them, hoping to scare them into one or another of my mining shafts for protection. It worked perfectly, as they ran for the nearest dark hole, and I went in with my ropes on the ready to see if I could catch one. I could hear the little fellows squealing in the dark and I paused a moment to let my eyes adjust. Just then I heard a tremendous roar and knew the sow was coming on the run looking for her wayward offspring. It didn’t take her a moment to pick up the scent and she headed straight for the mouth of the shaft bent on destruction….”

−Bill Peyto’s Mountain Journal May 15, 1910

In AIN'T IT HELL, Travel back in time through the fictional journal entries of Bill Peyto, Banff’s most legendary figure. Along the way you will marvel at his accomplishments as an early park warden, be amazed by his adventures as a mountain guide, and be drawn in by his infamously unsophisticated personal life.

E.J. (Ted) Hart is the executive director of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff, Alberta. He has been actively involved in the archival and museological fields of Canadian Rockies history for nearly thirty-five years and has served as mayor of the town of Banff.

E.J. (Ted) Hart's profile page