Two stories linger at Historic Morleyville. One Indigenous. One settler. Together they tell the complex histories of the people that made this area home.
Indigenous peoples have lived in the foothills and mountains of southern Alberta for thousands of years. These lands have enduring cultural significance for the Îyârhe Stoney to this day. The Îyârhe Stoney call this area Mini Thnî, meaning clear water. Methodist missionaries and then settlers arrived in the 1870s bringing Christianity and a different way of life.
The Morleyville settlement extended east down the Bow River to Ghost River. The mission church and trading post were the hub of a thriving community of over 200 people. Faint traces of the former settlement remain, including old wagon trails, foundations, and stone circles.
The mission was abandoned in 1921, and today, the story of Morleyville is shared on this 43.9 acre historic site.
Located on Highway 1A (Bow Valley Trail) 27 km west of Cochrane or 4km east of Mini Thnî (Morley), AB.
